New York Employment Lawyer Blog

A woman in England has been awarded compensation of £4,000 (approx. $8,200) for sexual discrimination in the workplace after she was sent sexually explicit text messages.

Lisa Jones, who worked for a mobile phone firm in Preston, told an employment tribunal that she had been sent explicit and sexual messages by her national sales manager.

Ms Jones eventually resigned from her post because of the text messages, which started out as suggestive and eventually became explicit, and accused the firm and her manager of sex discrimination.

The Birmingham Employment Tribunal ruled that Ms Jones had been a victim of sexual discrimination.

Now that text messaging has become commonplace, I predict that text messages will begin to play a large role in sexual harassment and sexual discrimination cases in the United States very shortly.

The U.S. House is expected to pass legislation this week that will reverse a Supreme Court decision in the Lilly Ledbetter case that related to when a lawsuit seeking back pay must be filed.

The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, which reverses a May 30 U.S. Supreme Court decision that ruled a former Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co. manager waited too long to sue for back pay, which she said was due to gender-based pay discrimination.

In its 5-4 ruling, the court's majority said that employees who claim unfair treatment in pay and bonuses based on gender or race must do so within 180 days of the original discriminatory action -- not within 180 days of their last paychecks.

The proposed law would reverse that, by allowing workers to file suit within 180 days of their last paychecks. It would also not require a worker who has already filed charges to keep filing new charges with each new paycheck.

The Supreme Court's decision in the Ledbetter case made it much easier for employers to defend against Title VII workplace-discrimination litigation -- specifically when the decisions about salary, raises and other pay-related issues were made a long time ago.

This could be a very important Bill for all prospective plaintiffs who feel that they have been receiving unequal pay as a result of their gender.

I often get calls from prospective clients not only in New York City but from all over the country, who are clearly victims of sexual harassment. These calls are most often from women who have been working at their job for many years and desperately need to keep their job for financial reasons. These women explain their situation to me, give egregious examples of the sexual harassment they face at work and then are reluctant to disclose their name or the name of their employer. Sometimes they say they will call back but often they do not call back. They are too scared to move forward with a lawsuit, for fear of damage to their reputation, the short term financial crisis that they might face, and out of fear that they will get fired. I only hope that these women are brave enough to come forward and that the stigma of filing a complaint for sexual harassment can be lifted sooner rather than later.

Lindy Vivas, the coach of a college volleyball team in Fresno California, sued Fresno State for sex discrimination and retaliation. She said she was fired because she demanded equal treatment for female athletes. The jury believed her and awarded 5.8 million.

She sued under Title IX which prohibits discrimination in education. Sex discrimination at university sports programs appears to be a serious problem. The percentage of woman's teams coached by woman is at an all time low. Also the salaries for female coaches are lower than those for men. Moreover, the men's teams get most of the support and the woman's teams are relegated to second tier status. Ms. Vivas was fired for challenging this situation and demanding change.

The discrimination at Fresno State was apparently rampant with male coaches openly mocking the female coaches and athletes with events like the "Ugly Woman Athletes Day." Ms. Vivas' case demonstrated that a battle of the sexes was raging at the University. Several other woman have similar suits pending against Fresno State. The school plans to appeal.

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has sued Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc. over alleged discrimination against a former employee because of his Iranian origin and Muslim faith, according to a court filing Tuesday.

Merrill Lynch discriminated against Majid Borumand by failing to promote him and then terminating his employment because of his national origin and faith, the commission alleged in its complaint, filed in U.S. federal court in Manhattan.

Mr. Borumand, who was a quantitative analyst at Merrill, was the object of a number of remarks that reflected animosity toward his origin and faith, the complaint alleged.

Continue reading "EEOC Sues Merrill Lynch for Discrimination" »

By a narrow 15-14 margin, a Senate Appropriations Committee voted June 28 to approve an amendment designed to prevent the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) from bringing new lawsuits against companies that require that their employees speak English.

The amendment was sponsored by Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., who argued that since the Senate has deemed English the official language, requiring it in the workplace isn’t discrimination and makes common sense.

“It’s ridiculous that employers from the shoe shop to Wal-Mart to 911 emergency callers need to be worried that they’ll be sued if they require their workers to communicate in our common language,” committee member Alexander said in a statement after the vote.

Continue reading "Amendment Aimed at Promoting English in the Workplace" »