By Amy Epstein Gluck They can’t, entirely. But let’s discuss this. Late last week and over this weekend, I, along with the rest of the country I’m sure, read about the horrific events that occurred in a municipal building in Virginia Beach. There, a “disgruntled employee” opened fire at his workplace and murdered twelve colleagues. I don’t know why the gunman was disgruntled. I know nothing about his workplace. Actually, I learned today that the…

Two years ago I wrote that sexual harassers need not be co-employees or managers of a harassed employee. They can be outside vendors, clients, customers etc.  The point is not who is doing the harassing, but if a hostile work environment has been created which the employer must remedy. At that time a news item from Seattle caught my eye: it was another  illustration of this point – and included a possible way to accommodate…

That’s right – you’re over the hill!! Seems that, according to a new study, “the frequency of promotions in tech declines rapidly after age 36.” It’s downhill after that. “The report also shows that the average age for tech workers is 38, compared to 43 for non-tech workers. And 42 is the average age of tech-industry managers, compared to 47 for non-tech managers.” Have a great Memorial Day weekend and remember to sign up with…

The EEOC just sued a large health organization for alleged racial harassment and retaliation against African American employees in its California facility, contending that “such harassment was perpetrated by co-workers, supervisors, and managers, and included daily use of racial epithets, degrading racial comments and racially derogatory graffiti.” The EEOC, uncharacteristically, did not say what the racial epithets were.  Or the racially derogatory graffiti.  But if you have read this blog and I gave you three guesses…. …

An International Bar Association survey of 135 countries has found that one in three female attorneys has been sexually harassed at work, and half have been bullied. Shocked? Shouldn’t be. It’s the power differential inherent in BigLaw that we have described before. The prevailing compensation structure and traditional BigLaw firm culture is toxic.  And, indeed, this new report noted that “The fact that many law firms are male-dominated with a hierarchical power structure may be…

Ok, this is a little different than the usual. Only a little. This particular health care provider which the EEOC nailed for $950,000 provides such care nationwide for jails and corrections facilities, not the public. But the takeaways are the same. I hope readers can by now in my refrain: “the EEOC likes to target health care providers for alleged violations of the Americans With Disabilities Act (“ADA”) and the Pregnancy Discrimination Act (“PDA”).  It’s like…

By: Amy Epstein Gluck Earlier, I came across this story (hello, insomnia) about one company (not our client!) who did not take the steps we have recommended in our blog to prevent harassment and retaliation, and is now being excoriated for it in the press. This Buzzfeed article on the problems one tech start-up presents a textbook example of what can happen when a company “off roads,” i.e., veers away from the EEOC’s “roadmap” for…