Supreme Court Will Re-Hear Texas Affirmative Action Case

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court says it will dive back into the fight over the use of race in admissions at the University of Texas, a decision that presages tighter limits on affirmative action in higher education.

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McCaskill Tells Campus Police to Investigate Assaults More Quickly

Speaking at the Campus Safety Nation Forum on Thursday, Senator Claire McCaskill, a Missouri Democrat, urged college law enforcement officers to more speedily and thoroughly collect evidence and interview witnesses when investigating claims of campus sexual assault. "That is where the truth reveals itself," McCaskill, a former sex crimes prosecutor, said. "Witnesses corroborate or they show lies. Evidence corroborates or it shows lies. And this can't be done weeks later or even months or years later."

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Federal enforcement effort finds more than 3,000 Gulf Coast workers owed nearly $3.5 million in back wages by staffing agencies

WHD News Release: [06/22/2015]
Contact Name: Diana Petterson or Juan Rodriguez
Phone Number: (972) 850-4710 or x4703Email: Petterson.Diana@dol.gov or Rodriguez.Juan@dol.gov
Release Number: 15-0872-DAL

US Labor Department determines agencies illegally paid wages as per diem reimbursement

NEW ORLEANS — Six Gulf Coast staffing agencies have agreed to pay thousands of workers nearly $3.5 million in back wages afterU.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division investigators found part of their wages were mislabeled as "per diem" payments as reimbursement for expenses they never incurred.

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EEOC Sues Plasma Biological Services for Disability Discrimination

EEOC New Release
June 22, 2015

Plasma Center Fired Employee Believed To Be HIV-Positive, Federal Agency Charges

MEMPHIS, Tenn. - Plasma Biological Services, LLC and Interstate Blood Bank, Inc. d/b/a Plasma Biological Services, which own and operate plasma collection centers throughout the southern United States, violated federal law by discriminating against an employee believed to be HIV-positive, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit filed today.  

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KONE Inc. to Pay $85,500 to Settle EEOC Retaliation and Breach of Mediation Agreement Lawsuit

EEOC News Release
June 18, 2015

Elevator Manufacturer Refused to Hire Applicant in Retaliation for a Previous Discrimination Complaint, Federal Agency Charged

MEMPHIS, Tenn. - KONE Inc., a manufacturer and servicer of elevators and escalators, has agreed to pay $85,500 to settle a lawsuit for retaliation and breach of mediation agreement brought by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the agency announced today.

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Pioneer Hotel to Pay $150,000 to Settle EEOC National Origin / Color Harassment & Discrimination Suit

EEOC News Release
June 17, 2015

Hotel Failed to Halt a Barrage of Racial Slurs Endured by a Class of Latino / Brown-Skinned Workers, Federal Agency Charged 

LAS VEGAS - Pioneer Hotel, Inc. in Laughlin, Nev., will pay $150,000 and furnish other relief to settle a national origin and color discrimination lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the federal agency announced today.  

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EEOC Sues Green Manor Rest Home to Enforce Conciliation Agreement

EEOC News Release
June 15, 2015

Nursing Home Failed to Comply With Agreement Settling Disability Bias Charge, Federal Agency Says

WILMINGTON, N.C. - A Parkton, N.C., nursing home violated a settlement agreement stemming from a disability discrimination charge when it failed to complete the payments that were a condition of the agreement, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit it filed today.  

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Wal-Mart Stores East to Pay $75,000 to Settle EEOC National Origin / Religious Harassment and Retaliation Lawsuit

EEOC News Release
June 12, 2015

Retailing Giant Intimidated  and Humiliated Employee Who Complained About Harassment, Federal Agency Said

BALTIMORE - The eastern division of the nation's largest retailer, Wal-Mart Stores East, LP,  will pay $75,000 and furnish significant equitable relief to resolve a national origin and religious harassment and retaliation lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the federal agency announced today.

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EEOC to Discuss Workplace Retaliation At June 17 Meeting

EEOC News Release
June 10, 2015

WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) will hold a meeting on Wed., June 17, at 9:30 a.m. (Eastern Time), at agency headquarters, 131 M Street, N.E., Washington D.C. The meeting, entitled "Retaliation in the Workplace: Causes, Remedies, and Strategies for Prevention" will be op

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WASHINGTON -- La Comisión Para la Igualdad de Oportunidades en el Empleo (EEOC) tendrá una reunión el miércoles 17 de junio, a las 9:30 am (hora del este), en la sede de la agencia, 131 M Street, NE, Washington, DC.  La reunión, titulada "Represalias en el Lugar de Trabajo: Causas, Remedios y Estrategias para Su Prevención" estará abierta para observación pública. El personal de la EEOC también estará mandado mensajes en Twitter en vivo sobre la reunión pública usando la página @EEOCNews y @EEOCespanol y el hashtag #EEOCmtg.

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United Airlines to Pay over $1 Million To Settle EEOC Disability Lawsuit

EEOC News Release
June 9, 2015

Supreme Court Lets Stand 7th Circuit Ruling That Reassignment Is Reasonable Accommodation

CHICAGO - In a case that garnered nationwide attention, air transportation giant United Airlines Inc. has agreed to pay more than $1 million and implement changes to settle a federal disability lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the agency announced today.

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EEOC Resolves Race Harassment Case for $180,000

EEOC News Release
June 9, 2015

NFI Logistics and Federal Agency Agree to Consent Decree

CHICAGO - The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) today resolved its race and national origin harassment suit against NFI Interactive Logistics LLC, a privately owned provider of transportation and distribution services, which is headquar­tered in New Jersey. The case, which arose out of conduct at the company's now-closed Bolingbrook facility, was pending in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois before The Honorable Magistrate Judge Michael Mason, No. 1:14-cv-07569.

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Dollar General Pays $32,500 to Settle EEOC Race Discrimination Suit

EEOC News Release
June 8, 2015

Employee Denied Promotion Because of Race, Federal Agency Charged

JACKSON, Miss. - Dollar General Corporation will pay $32,500 and furnish other relief to settle a race discrimination lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the agency announced today.  

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EEOC Task Force to Probe Workplace Harassment at Public Meeting on June 15

EEOC News Release
June 8, 2015

WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's (EEOC) Select Task Force on the Study of Harassment in the Workplace (STF) will hold a meeting on Monday, June 15, 2015, from 10:00 a.m. until 1:00 p.m. (Eastern Daylight Time), at agency headquarters, 131 M Street, N.E., Washington D.C.  The meeting, entitled "Workplace Harassment: Examining the Scope of the Problem and Potential Solutions," will be open to public observation.  EEOC staff will also live tweet from the public meeting using the hashtag #SolveHarassment.

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EEOC Sues Deluxe Financial for Sex Discrimination Against Transgender Employee

EEOC News Release
June 5, 2015

Lawsuit Challenges Discrimination Under 1964 Civil Rights Act

ST. PAUL, Minn. - Deluxe Financial Services Corp., a Shoreview, Minn.-based check-printing and financial services corporation, violated federal law by subjecting a transgender employee to sex discrimination, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit it filed today.

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Jury Finds Parker Drilling Liable in EEOC Disability Discrimination Suit (artículo en espaol también)

EE0C News Release

June 4, 2015

Federal Agency and Plaintiff's Counsel Score $245,619 Victory For Oil Rig Worker 

ANCHORAGE, Alaska - A federal judge ordered that $245,619be paid to an Alaskan oil rig worker today in a disability discrimination lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the federal agency announced today.

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Agencia Federal y Abogado del Demandante Obtienen Victoria de $245,619 Para Trabajador de Plataforma Petrolera

ANCHORAGE, Alaska - Un juez federal ordenó que $245,619 deberá ser pagado a un trabajador de plataformas petroleras de Alaska hoy en una demanda por discriminación por  discapacidad presentada por la Comisión Para la Igualdad de Oportunidades en el Empleo (EEOC), la agencia federal anunció hoy.

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EEOC Sues Gonnella Baking Company For Race Harassment

EEOC News Release
June 3, 2015

Agency Says Bread Manufacturer Failed to Stop Persistent, Disparaging Racial Comments

CHICAGO - Gonnella Baking Co. violated federal civil rights laws by failing to stop a pattern of disparaging comments about black employees at the company's Aurora, Ill., baking facility, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission charged in a lawsuit it filed today. The defendant, a wholesale manufacturer of bread products, has three facilities in the Chicago area and one in Pennsylvania, according to its website.

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Agencies Release Guide on LGBT Discrimination Protections for Federal Workers (artículo en español también)

EEOC News Release
June 3, 2015

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, four Federal Government agencies with roles in ensuring fairness in the federal workplace released a guide on the rights and processes available to applicants and employees who allege sexual orientation or gender identity discrimination. The guide is being reissued after more than a decade and has been substantially revised to reflect major developments in the law.

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WASHINGTON, D.C. - Hoy, cuatro agencias del gobierno federal con roles de asegurar la justicia en el lugar de trabajo federal revelaron una guía sobre los derechos y procesos disponibles para los solicitantes y empleados que alegan discriminación a base de su orientación sexual o identidad de género. La guía está siendo relanzada después de más de una década y ha sido cambiada sustancialmente para reflejar los desarrollos principales en la ley.

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Registration Opens for EXCEL Training for Public and Private Sectors, Aug. 10-13 in Washington (artículo en español también)

EEOC News Release
June 2, 2015

EEOC's 18th Annual Conference to Celebrate 50th Anniversary of Commission

WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) today announced that registration recently opened for its 18th annual EXCEL training conference on preventing employment discrimination in both the public and private sectors.  The event takes place Aug. 10-13 at the Washington Hilton in the nation's capital.

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18a Conferencia Anual de la EEOC Celebrará el 50 Aniversario de la Comisión

WASHINGTON - La Comisión Para la Igualdad de Oportunidades en el Empleo (EEOC) anunció hoy la recién apertura de la registración para su 18ª conferencia anual de capacitación EXCEL para la prevención de discriminación en el empleo en los sectores públicos y privados. El evento se llevará a cabo del 10 al 13 de agosto en el Washington Hilton en la capital de la nación.

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Beverly L. Barnes Named Director of EEOC's Office of Communications and Legislative Affairs (artículo en español también)

EEOC News Release
June 2, 2015

WASHINGTON-Beverly L. Barnes, a seasoned communications professional, was named director of the Office of Communications and Legislative Affairs of the U.S. Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), Chair Jenny R. Yang announced today.

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WASHINGTON- Beverly Barnes, una profesional experimentada en comunicaciones, fue nombrada directora de la Oficina de Comunicaciones y Asuntos Legislativos de la Comisión Para la Igualdad de Oportunidades en el Empleo (EEOC), la Presidenta Jenny Yang anunció hoy.

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Supreme Court Rules in Favor of EEOC in Abercrombie Religious Discrimination Case (artículo en español también)

EEOC
Press Release
June 1, 2015

Employers Cannot Refuse to Hire Applicants Based on Religious Belief or Practice, Even If Not Specifically Asked for an Accommodation

WASHINGTON-The U.S. Supreme Court held today in an 8-1 decision written by Justice Antonin Scalia that an employer may not refuse to hire an applicant if the employer was motivated by avoiding the need to accommodate a religious practice. Such behavior violates the prohibition on religious discrimination contained in Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

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Los Empleadores no Pueden Negarse  a Contratar a Solicitantes Basado  en sus Creencia o Prácticas  Religiosas, Aunque no Pidan Específicamente un Ajuste a las Políticas de la Compañía

WASHINGTON- La Corte Suprema de los Estados Unidos ha llegado a una decisión de 8-1 escrita por el juez Antonin Scalia de que un  empleador no puede negarse a contratar a una solicitante si el empleador fue motivado a evitar la  necesidad de dar cabida a una práctica  religiosa. Tal comportamiento viola  la prohibición de la  discriminación religiosa contenida en el Título VII del Acta de Derechos Civiles de 1964.

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Nine Killed in Shooting at Black Church in Charleston

New York Times
June 17, 2014
Jason Horowitz
Nick Corasaniti
Ashley Southall

CHARLESTON, S.C. — A white gunman opened fire Wednesday night at a historic black church in downtown Charleston, S.C., killing nine people before fleeing and setting off an overnight manhunt, the police said.

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Senate Defeats Justice Amendment for Women in the Military

NWLC
June 16, 2015
News Release

(Washington, DC) The Senate today defeated the Military Justice Improvement Act (MJIA), an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act for FY 2014, which would reform the military justice system by assigning the authority to prosecute serious crimes—including sexual assault—to experienced military prosecutors. This legislation is sponsored by Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) and a bipartisan coalition.

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NWLC Supports Re-Introduction of Pregnant Workers Fairness Act

NWLC
June 4, 2015
News Release

(Washington, D.C.) Today, Senators Robert Casey (D-PA), Kelly Ayotte (R-NH), Dean Heller (R-NV) and Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) and Congressman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) will re-introduce the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA). This marks the first time that the PWFA will have bipartisan co-sponsorship. This legislation would require employers to make reasonable accommodations for those pregnant employees who need them — just like the law already clearly requires for employees with disabilities.  

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The Wage Gap for Mothers, State by State

NWLC
June 3, 2015
News Releases

Women in the U.S. who work full time, year round are typically paid only 78 cents for every dollar paid to their male counterparts, but the wage gap between mothers and fathers is even larger — mothers who work outside the home full time, year round typically make only 70 cents for every dollar paid to fathers.

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The Hobby Lobby "Minefield": The Harm, Misuse, and Expansion of the Supreme Court Decision

NWLC
June 12, 2015
News Release

The Supreme Court’s decision in Hobby Lobby and Conestoga Wood Specialties v. Burwell has been misused and expanded in ways that sanction discrimination in areas beyond birth control coverage.

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Baltimore staffing agency allegedly harassed, discriminated against and allowed assault and abuse of Hispanic employees

OFCCP News Release: [06/17/2015]
Contact Name: Leni Fortson
Phone Number: (215) 861-5102
Email: uddyback-fortson.lenore@dol.gov
Release Number: 15-1176-PHI

Suit also alleges discrimination against non-Hispanics, intentional underpayment of women

BALTIMORE — A Baltimore staffing agency for federal contractors allegedly hired Hispanic construction laborers, and then harassed and discriminated against them. It also allowed supervisors of other federal contractors to assault them physically, make racial slurs, and threaten them with deportation. The allegations were made in a lawsuit filed by the U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs.

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$10 million announced to fight forced labor of adults and children globally

ILAB News Release: [06/11/2015]
Contact Name: Egan Reich
Phone Number: (202) 693-4960 
Email: Reich.Egan@dol.gov
Release Number: 15-1170-NAT

WASHINGTON — For children facing work-filled days — lifting heavy rocks, cutting sugar cane, or weaving carpets — the promise of even a basic education may seem remote. Add the threat of retaliation or violence, under the watchful eye of an employer, and the glimmer of that promise fades even further.

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$34M available to enhance, expand innovation and accountability in workforce development programs

ETA News Release: [06/10/2015]
Contact Name: Jason Kuruvilla or David Roberts
Phone Number: (202) 693-6587 or x5945
Email: Kuruvilla.Jason@dol.gov or Roberts.David@dol.gov
Release Number: 15-1149-NAT

WASHINGTON — Successful workforce development programs depend on continuous improvement and innovation. To ensure these programs are efficient and effective, the U.S. Department of Labor created the Workforce Innovation Fund. The fund provides the support needed to enhance federally funded employment and training programs and study these programs to identify and share best practices in workforce development.

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Staples to pay fired employee $275K in wages, benefits and damages after failing to inform him of job protections to care for ill family member

WHD News Release: [06/04/2015]
Contact Name: Michael D’Aquino or Jason Surbey
Phone Number: (678) 237-0630 or (202) 693-4668Email: D'Aquino.Michael@dol.gov or Surbey.Jason@dol.gov
Release Number: 15-0540-ATL

US Labor Dept. alleged that Staples failed to comply with Family and Medical Leave Act

COLUMBIA, S.C. — Jeffrey Angstadt didn't want days off to relax. In September 2010 and over the months that followed, the furniture sales executive told his employer, Staples Contract and Commercial, Inc., a subsidiary of Staples, Inc., that he needed to take leave to care for his critically ill wife. While Angstadt was eligible for federal workplace protections for those coping with the illness of a family member, no one at Staples notified him as the law requires.

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$10M in grants awarded for jail-based employment centers to ready inmates for job market before release, reduce recidivism

ETA News Release: [06/04/2015]
Contact Name: Jason Kuruvilla or David Roberts
Phone Number: (202) 693-6587 or x5945
Email: Kuruvilla.Jason@dol.gov or Roberts.David@dol.gov
Release Number: 15-1117-NAT

Projects in 14 states seek to strengthen communities and improve public safety

WASHINGTON — More than 9 million people are released from the nation's more than 3,000 county and local jails every year, the U.S. Department of Justice reports. Many of these individuals have few job skills and face difficult barriers to stable employment. Without a strong support system or a steady job, many once incarcerated people are likely to commit new crimes and return to jail: a cycle of recidivism that recurs across the country.

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Norfolk Policeman Accused of Fatally Shooting David Latham Released on Bond

The ROOT
June 16, 2015
Nigel Roberts

Officer Michael Carlton Edington Jr., accused of voluntary manslaughter in the shooting death of a mentally ill man, was released on a personal recognizance bond, the Virginian-Pilot reports.  

On June 6, 2014, David Latham’s family called 911 to get emergency psychiatric treatment for him. Latham, 35, was mentally ill and had previous interactions with the police in similar situations. The responding officers usually knew how to manage Latham, his mother, Audrey Latham, said, according to the Virginian-Pilot.

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Dominican Republic Threatens to Deport Haitian Families

The ROOT
June 16, 2015
Nsenga K. Burton, Ph. D.

An unfunny thing happened while the media was obsessing over now-former Spokane, Wash., NAACP President Rachel Dolezal: The government of the Dominican Republic moved forward with yet another major human rights violation against Dominicans born to Haitian parents.

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Prisons that withhold menstrual pads humiliate women and violate basic rights

The Guardian
June 12, 2015
Chandra Bozelko

Everyone laughed when Piper Chapman emerged from the shower during the first season of Orange Is the New Black with bootleg shoes made of maxi pads – and inmates do sometimes waste precious resources like sanitary products with off-label uses. At York Correctional Institution in Niantic, Connecticut, where I spent more than six years, I used the tampons as scouring pads – certainly not as sponges, because prison tampons are essentially waterproof– when I needed to clean a stubborn mess in my cell.

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Hillary Clinton rally lacks racial diversity, but not enthusiasm

MSNBC
June 13, 2015
Joy-Ann Reid

Four Freedoms Park in New York’s Roosevelt Island was awash in sunlight Saturday, as a merciful breeze kicked in, looming grey clouds faded away and the sound system set up at the park’s southernmost tip blared repeated rounds of Pharrell, Katy Perry and Taylor Swift. Hillary Clinton’s first big rally of her 2016 campaign had drawn a large crowd, estimated at 5,500, who were packed into a consolidated area where the bandstand obscured the park’s main feature: a white stone monument to Franklin Delano Roosevelt, with his “four freedoms” emblazoned on a bronze plaque. (The island’s other dominant feature, the decrepit and eerie onetime smallpox and typhoid hospital known to islanders as “the ruins”, was well out of camera view.)

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Her Longer Road Home: Disparities in Mortgage Lending to Women in the Chicago Region

This study examines women’s access to mortgages in the Chicago six county region to determine whether female mortgage applicants may be disadvantaged in securing financing to either purchase a home or refinance one already owned. This research examines additional factors, beyond the race or ethnicity of the applicant, which may be contributing to the disparities in origination rates. Using HMDA data for the period 2011 to 2013, the research explores three factors that may be correlated with disparities in origination rates for female applicants: 1) the income level of the borrower; 2) the type of loan applied for; and 3) the geographic location of the property within the Chicago region. In addition, we analyzed data from all lenders that reported receiving at least one percent of all applications for the study period to see if there were differences in origination rates among the institutions.

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