Recently in Employment Discrimination Category

Employers oftentimes receive complaints of harassment and discrimination by their employees. However, many employers do not know how to properly investigate these claims leading to potential liability for the employer itself.

Discrimination and harassment complaints are a huge headache for employers. Nobody likes an employment lawsuit, and nobody likes dealing with allegations of discrimination. However, failure to look into the matter more has notoriously led to multi-million dollar liability for many companies.

So when an employee complains about discrimination, you'd better take that complaint seriously. In addition, you will need to know how to conduct an employee investigation and how to take action to stop the alleged discriminatory activity.

If you are wondering whether you face illegal discrimination at work, you must first become familiar with the different categories of employment discrimination.

The categories of protected characteristics are important because if you are discriminated against for any other reason, you may not be able to bring a valid claim under the law.

For example, your employer can give a raise to someone else based purely on jealousy, personality, or just because the employer does not like you. Only when the employer bases employment decisions on protected characteristics or activities does the employer venture into illegal discrimination.

So which characteristics and activities are considered "protected"?

If you believe you are discriminated at work or are subject to illegal harassment, you will want to know how to file an employment discrimination charge.

The federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) handles discrimination charges and you will first have to file your complaint with them before bringing a private action.

Here's how to file a charge with the EEOC:

It's the new year and hopefully a fresh start for many employees. The job market seems to be picking up and people have a renewed fresh outlook once again, as the year starts.

We've covered many lawsuits in the employment arena over the last 12 months. Some of these were local and others were national. But here's our roundup of the Top 5 most crazy and/or most interesting employment lawsuits:

1. Former Partner Sues Greenberg Traurig Over Gender Discrimination

The prize for the most large-scale and ambitious lawsuit goes to the Greenberg Traurig lawsuit. Only this time, instead of defending a lawsuit, the mega law firm is finding itself defending against a lawsuit, as it has been named as the defendant. The lawsuit was brought by a former partner who claims that women were treated differently than men on the job.

Is it legal for employers to conduct credit checks as part of pre-employment screening? It's a practice that's done in many cases, but if not done right, it can amount to discrimination.

And in many states, it's even a practice that's prohibited or limited by law.

It may not seem like outright discrimination to ask for your credit history. Some might even feel that it's a fair question. After all, what does credit history have to do with race?

A former U-Haul employee has brought a lawsuit against the trucking company alleging racial discrimination, reports The Pennsylvania Record.

Anthony Briggs claims that U-Haul discriminated against him because he is African American. He filed his case in federal court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

Briggs claims that he was demoted and transferred to a different location as an assistant manager, after he had been manager, the Record reports.

This week, there's been a lot of talk in the news about workplace bullying. This is in light of a recent study that revealed workplace bullying is a lot more common than one would imagine. The study points to the fact that those who face workplace bullying often end up on medication, reports ABC News.

Specifically, they end up taking anti-psychotic and anti-depression medication to ease the pain. It's no wonder. After all, work is a huge part of life and a stressful boss can really make your life a nightmare.

In some cases, dealing with a boss is so stressful that an employee looks for legal help, citing "hostile work environment." But what really is a hostile work environment, and when can you sue for it? Is being on medication sufficient to bring a claim for hostile work environment?

Not every employment discrimination lawsuit is viable. That's why you let the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission decide for you.

Often, what leads to a good employment discrimination case is good evidence. And there's no better evidence than a paper trail.

In a recent case, the EEOC has found that a woman in King of Prussia has a case against the retailer Wet Seal, reports The Philadelphia Inquirer.

More on the Greenberg Traurig lawsuit. This suit only becomes more interesting by the day. Now, The Phoenix Business Journal is saying that former partner Francine Friedman Griesing, was told that only "tall, male and Jewish" attorneys succeed at Greenberg.

Griesing is the only named plaintiff in the lawsuit, but the suit is seeking class certification. The lawsuit alleges that the law firm of Greenberg Traurig practices gender-based discrimination.

So does the lawsuit say what many female lawyers think? The complaint of women feeling disparity echoes loud and clear in high power industries such as law and finance, as we've seen recently with the case of Ellen Pao, who's suing the venture capital powerhouse Kleiner Perkins.

It’s not often you see a law firm on the other end of a discrimination lawsuit. And by “other end”, we mean not as defenders, but as the defendant.

A Philadelphia attorney is bringing a discrimination lawsuit against the Greenberg Traurig law firm, reports The Phoenix Business Journal.

Discrimination lawsuits against large law firms are definitely newsworthy. One big reason is for the fact that they’re pretty rare. Many agree there is an unwritten rule in the legal profession that says a lawyer will never work again if he or she sues the law firm.