Companies Confounded by RTO Conflicts
By Amy Epstein Gluck | | Covid-19, Disabilities and Accommodations (ADA), Discrimination in the Workplace, General Employer Guidance, Mental Health
RTO or “return to work” issues continue to plague employers. Executives tend to want workers to come into the workplace, and employees collectively respond “Meh. We’ll see.” Employers, I implore you to craft your RTO policies with enough flexibility to maintain that workplace culture you think you are cultivating by trying to mandate attendance in…
Read More A Chat With The EEOC, the NYS Division of Human Rights, and the NYC Commission on Human Rights
By Amy Epstein Gluck | | EEOC, General Employer Guidance
Last night I had the pleasure of listening to what representatives of three esteemed agencies had to say: an ADR coordinator at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission or “EEOC,” the federal agency that enforces the federal anti-discrimination laws; the assistant commissioner for the New York State Division of Human Rights; and the general counsel for…
Read More USDOL Reminds Employers To Give Nursing Mothers At Work A Break
By Amy Epstein Gluck | | General Employer Guidance, Parent, Retaliation
I nursed all three of my children when they were infants (they are horrified by this, naturally). When I returned to work, I pumped breastmilk at three – yes three – different law firms. Nothing comes as close to the terror of someone banging on your office door while you’re half-dressed and trying to pump…
Read More Bar None: Retaliation Violates Anti-Discrimination Laws
By Amy Epstein Gluck | | Retaliation, Sex Discrimination
“Was that on purpose?” a lawyer at the firm where I worked asked me more than twenty years ago when I disclosed that I was pregnant with my first child. Clearly, this resonated with me, and I tell the story often. One female employee now has a similar story. This week, one Oregon bartender filed…
Read More Time Off Really Pays
By Amy Epstein Gluck | | Employee Benefits, Mental Health
Vacation, all I ever wanted. Vacation, had to get away. So goes the song by 80’s pop band, The Go-Go’s. Growing up in South Florida, we did not really go on vacation. We had the beach just 15 minutes away. Plus, my mom always sent us outside with instructions not to return until dinner. Now,…
Read More Siding With Transgender Employee, Iowa Supreme Court Sidesteps Bostock
By Amy Epstein Gluck | | Discrimination in the Workplace, Sex Discrimination
Last week, the Iowa Supreme Court upheld a 2019 jury verdict that found the state discriminated against a transgender state prison employee by denying him the use of men’s restrooms and locker rooms at his workplace. The ruling means former Iowa state prison nurse Jesse Vroegh, a former Iowa Department of Corrections (DOC) nurse, won…
Read More Managing Mental Health At Work
By Amy Epstein Gluck | | Mental Health
Mental health is having a moment. Quite a few moments, in fact. While a colleague’s depression or a supervisor’s PTSD or the rainmaker’s substance abuse issue or the CEO’s anxiety that prevents her from sleeping may have been swept under the proverbial rug in the past, people are speaking up and out increasingly at work…
Read More One Employer Sends A Clear Message: We Do Not and Will Not Tolerate Sexual Harassment
By Amy Epstein Gluck | | Discrimination in the Workplace, Sexual Harassment, Workplace Safety
Anti-harassment, -discrimination, and -retaliation policies and procedures are not just for show. These policies and procedures must be clear, strong, and, most important, followed. And the tone is set at the top. Leaders that ignore their companies’ own anti-harassment procedures send the message that the company culture tolerates sexual harassment (and other forms). CEO Karen…
Read More Employer Fails To See ADA Implications Of Its Actions
By Amy Epstein Gluck | | Disabilities and Accommodations (ADA)
Most employers know that discriminating against an employee based on a disability is wrong. Time and again, however, employers fail to consider the “perceived as disabled” prong of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). One management services organization that supports eye care providers learned this costly lesson when it settled a lawsuit filed by the…
Read More Goal: U.S. Women’s Soccer Settles Equal Pay Lawsuit
By Amy Epstein Gluck | | Equal Pay, Sex Discrimination
This week, equal pay for women in the workplace spotlights U.S. Women’s Soccer. The U.S. Women’s National Soccer team has been advocating for equal pay for six, yes six, years. They have been relentless in their pursuit of equal pay, and the payoff has finally arrived. The U.S. Soccer Federation agreed to settle with the…
Read More RICHARD COHEN
Richard Cohen has litigated and arbitrated complex corporate, commercial and employment disputes for more than 35 years, and is a trusted advisor to business owners and in-house counsel both in the United States and internationally. His clients have included Fortune 100 companies, domestic and foreign commercial and investment banks, Pacific-rim corporations and real estate development companies, as well as start-up businesses throughout the United States.
AMY EPSTEIN GLUCK
Amy Epstein Gluck has represented individuals and corporate clients in Virginia, Washington, D.C., and various federal district courts for more than twenty years. Ms. Epstein Gluck’s current practice areas include employment law—advising on and drafting employment agreements; handling employment negotiations, severance agreements, noncompete and nondisclosure agreements, “wrongful terminations” and other EEO matters; representation at the EEOC level; advising employers about discrimination laws and how to remain in compliance, and employment negotiations.
