Must An Employer Accommodate An Employee’s Refusal To Use A Co-Worker’s Preferred Pronouns?
By Amy Epstein Gluck |
What is an employer to do when faced with conflicting legal obligations to different employees? One employee has the right to have their preferred pronouns utilized in the workplace and another is entitled to a accommodation based on her religious beliefs. That’s the dilemma confronted by the employer in Michigan, Bio Blood Components. The employer…
Read More Employers Shouldn’t Monkey Around When It Comes To MonkeyPox
By Amy Epstein Gluck |
What do employers need to think about when it comes to monkeypox? Declared as a public health emergency earlier this month, I can see the collective thought bubble in the minds of employers when they contact employment counsel to discuss a plan of action when it comes to monkeypox: “here we go again.” In the…
Read More The OFCCP Reminds Federal Contractors and Subs Of LGBTQI+ Obligations
By Amy Epstein Gluck |
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) reminds federal contractors and subcontractors that it strives to ensure that LGBTQI+ workers are not the subject of discrimination and that federal contractors advance equal employment opportunity. The OFCCP is the agency that “protects the rights of employees and job applicants of companies…
Read More Administrators, Not Ministers—Bostock Bars Discriminatory Termination of Drama Teacher at Catholic High School
By Amy Epstein Gluck |
Last week, a federal judge ruled in favor of a gay former drama teacher who lost his job at Charlotte Catholic High School after he announced on social that he and his male partner were getting married. A federal court in North Carolina deemed the organization’s actions discriminatory on the basis of sex. Even though…
Read More Employers May Not Want To Judge A Book By Their Cover
By Amy Epstein Gluck |
Growing up, my mom always taught my brother and me: never judge a book by its cover. Looks may be deceiving. Give people a chance. It’s sage advice. Employers who fail to heed this common-sense advice may risk a federal discrimination lawsuit, as the City of Boise, Idaho is discovering. After a favorable determination—finding probable…
Read More Advancing Equity and Inclusivity At Work Requires Eradicating Inequity and Harassment
By Amy Epstein Gluck |
The federal government, the nation’s largest employer, continues to take steps to shape its organizational culture in a way that promotes equity, diversity, and inclusivity while preventing unlawful harassment. On June 25, 2021, the White House released an executive order, which includes a strategic plan to address employment discrimination and workplace harassment, including sexual harassment,…
Read More NASDAQ Requests Diversity In The Boardroom—Because Leadership Matters
By Amy Epstein Gluck |
Peanut butter and jelly. Spaghetti and meatballs. Sonny and Cher. Diversity and inclusion. Each goes together, and tends to improve the whole. NASDAQ seems to agree. Today, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will consider NASDAQ’s request to require all of its listed companies to have at least one woman and one “diverse” director, i.e.,…
Read More Supervisor: “Being Gay Is A Mental Disorder.” Such Comments Do Not Bode Well For An Employer’s Motion for Summary Judgment
By Amy Epstein Gluck |
Since June, federal law protects employees from discrimination and harassment based on sexual orientation and gender identity. This means that an employer, supervisor, or co-worker may not discriminate or harass an employee because he is gay or is gender non-conforming. If an employee appears to be man, but does not identify as one, that’s his…
Read More Ministerial Exemption Does Not Bar Hostile Work Environment Claim For Gay Church Employee
By Amy Epstein Gluck |
Can an employee sue his church employer after his supervisor, a priest, created a hostile work environment claim because of the employee’s sexual orientation once the priest learned of the employee’s plans to marry his long-term partner? Yes, yes it can, according to the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit in Demkovich…
Read More SCOTUS: Discrimination Based on Sexual Orientation or Transgender Status is Sex Discrimination And Violates Federal Law
By Amy Epstein Gluck |
By: Amy Epstein Gluck An employer who fires or takes an adverse action against an individual merely for being gay or transgender violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (“Title VII”). So said the Supreme Court of the United States (“SCOTUS”) on June 15, 2020, a little more than eight months after…
Read More 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.
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.
