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 A Harasser for All Seasons
By Richard Cohen |
Now here’s a manager who seemingly has no issue with harassing women, African Americans and foreign-born employees. And now the company, an Ithaca, N.Y. manufacturer, is settling the EEOC’s case which alleged sex, race and national origin discrimination, for $93,000. Nothing seemed beneath him: as the EEOC claimed, a noose for the only black employee (a…
Read More Waitresses: Vulnerable To Sexual Harassment
By Richard Cohen |
Those who harass vulnerable workers are on the EEOC’s radar. Not a surprise: this is one of the EEOC’s announced priorities. And who are “vulnerable workers?” The EEOC just announced (like yesterday) a $70,00 settlement with a Florida restaurant franchise. It was alleged that the owner and manager sexually harassed female employees through unwelcome touching, stalking, and sexual comments.…
Read More The Fox Should Not Run Your Chicken Coop
By Richard Cohen |
If there’s one thing that hopefully all employers know by now, it’s that a harassment-free workplace is a product of top-down respect and compliance. Perhaps nothing is more important than a workplace that knows that management “from the top down” will not tolerate harassment of any kind, and will insist on proper and non-discriminatory behavior. …
Read More “Chivalry” Is Not Dead – It Just May Be Considered Sexual Harassment Now
By Richard Cohen |
Last year I authored a post in Above The Law in which I mentioned an interview with Manolo Blahnik. Apparently, the modern workplace left him confused. “He shared an increasingly common workplace concern: can I still compliment women at work, or could that be considered sexual harassment?” Manolo bemoaned that “he struggles with knowing what he…
Read More Don’t Panic! We Have A Button For You!
By Richard Cohen |
Well, another panic button law was just passed – this time in New Jersey. The first state to pass such a law! Just a few weeks ago I posted about a union local in Seattle representing 5,000 hotel and hospitality workers, which reacted to guests sexually harassing room cleaning and room service staff and pushed for and got enacted…
Read More Color-Changing Wrist Bands and "Panic Buttons” – Can They Defend Against Sexual Harassment?
By Richard Cohen |
Two years ago I wrote that sexual harassers need not be co-employees or managers of a harassed employee. They can be outside vendors, clients, customers etc. The point is not who is doing the harassing, but if a hostile work environment has been created which the employer must remedy. At that time a news item…
Read More Female Lawyers: Still Harassed Worldwide
By Richard Cohen |
An International Bar Association survey of 135 countries has found that one in three female attorneys has been sexually harassed at work, and half have been bullied. Shocked? Shouldn’t be. It’s the power differential inherent in BigLaw that we have described before. The prevailing compensation structure and traditional BigLaw firm culture is toxic. And, indeed,…
Read More “Why does he sexually harass me at work?”
By Richard Cohen |
Good question. Seems that the more complaints of sexual harassment that are made, the more surface. Don’t get me wrong, anti-harassment training is, of course, a must – and is now required in some places such as NYS and NYC. But why does it happen in the first place? Here’s a couple of things that…
Read More It Should Now Be Clear: “Playful” Sexual Harassment And Abuse Is Actionable
By Richard Cohen |
In case you needed a reminder or a heads up: a $150,000 settlement is pretty good support for the proposition that “he was just being playful” is not an adequate response to a sexual harassment complaint. It was alleged by the EEOC that a supervisor at a Bronx location of a nationwide provider of housing…
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.
