In December 2023, the California Civil Rights Department (“CRD”) filed the first-of-its-kind lawsuit under the California Fair Chance Act (“Act”) against Ralphs Grocery Store (“Ralphs”) in the Los Angeles County Superior Court.Continue Reading First Lawsuit Under CA’s Fair Chance Act Filed Against Ralph’s Grocery Store: A Message for CA Employers to Comply
The use of AI in the workplace can help streamline many tasks, but it can also come with potential discrimination concerns for employers. Meagan Bainbridge and Lukas Clary review some of these concerns and share best practices for employers in this episode of California Employment News.Continue Reading California Employment News: The Use of A.I. in the Workplace – Discrimination Concerns (Part 2)
If you’ve been reading or watching the news in recent months, you have surely seen a large amount of press on various states and municipalities introducing laws to restrict certain rights of those in the LGTBQ+ community. According to a CCN article a few weeks ago, American Civil Liberties Union data reveals that state legislatures across the country have introduced a combined 417 anti-LGBTQ bills in roughly the first quarter of 2023 – a new record and twice the number of such bills introduced in all of last year. (https://www.cnn.com/2023/06/06/us/hrc-lgbtq-emergency-declared/index.html)Continue Reading HAPPY PRIDE MONTH! Now More Than Ever Is A Good Time To Remind Folks That LGTBQ+ Employees Have Rights Under CA Employment Law
On March 14, 2022, the EEOC released a new technical assistance guidance document entitled “The COVID-19 Pandemic and Caregiver Discrimination Under Federal Employment Discrimination Law.”
Essentially, the guidance reiterates that an employer may not discriminate against an applicant or employee under federal law on the basis of protected classes such sex (including pregnancy, sexual orientation, or gender identity), race, color, religion, national origin, age (40 or older), disability or genetic information. However, the purpose of the guidance is to illustrate how discrimination on the basis of a protected class can occur, possibly even inadvertently, if employers make assumptions and decisions based on an applicant’s or employee’s caregiving obligations due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Continue Reading The EEOC’s New Guidance Says Discrimination Against “Caregivers” May Violate Federal Law
While it has always been good practice for employers of all sizes to train both their supervisory employees and non-supervisory employees on the prevention of harassment, California law now mandates such training by 1/1/20 (and every 2 years thereafter) for any employer with 5 or more employees. The attorneys in Weintraub Tobin’s Labor & Employment Department have years of experience conducting energetic, compliant, and effective harassment prevention training for employers of all sizes and in all industries. The Training Division of the Labor & Employment Department is headed up by Shareholder Beth West. Feel free to reach out to her or Department assistant Ramona Carrillo if you are interested in scheduling training – we are available to discuss a training program that meets the specific needs of your workplace.
Continue Reading Neutral Services 2019: A New Year that Brings New Training Obligations
