employer liability News

New York City Enacts Law Banning Discrimination Based on Weight, Height

New York City Mayor Eric Adams has signed into law a bill to prohibit discrimination on the basis of a person’s height or weight in employment, housing, and public accommodations, with some exceptions. The New York City Council passed the …

New York Dairy Farm Workers Gain $150K in Unpaid Wages

A settlement in New York in a wage theft case has resulted in two dairy farm workers receiving nearly $150,000 in back wages. The New York State Department of Labor (NYSDOL) said its investigators found that Lewis County dairy farm …

University Employees Say They Were Fired for Using ‘He/Him,’ ‘She/Her’ in Emails

Shua Wilmot and Raegan Zelaya, two former dorm directors at a small Christian university in western New York, acknowledge their names are unconventional, which explains why they attached gender identities to their work email signatures. Wilmot uses “he/him.” Zelaya goes …

Jury Awards $22M in Back Pay Verdict, Biggest Ever Win by Labor Department

A federal court jury has awarded back wages of more than $22 million to the U.S. Department of Labor for more than 7,500 employees working for East Penn Manufacturing Co. Inc. — one of the largest battery manufacturers — after …

Australia Contractor Downer Faces Class Action Lawsuit for Misreporting on Contract

Australian contractor Downer said on Monday it faces a shareholder class action for allegedly making some misrepresentations and withholding certain information about a maintenance contract in its domestic utilities business. Downer is currently under investigation by New South Wales’ Independent …

Swiss Re Faces $6.3M Claim Over Sex Discrimination, Unfair Dismissal

A former Swiss Re underwriter, who last year won a sex and maternity discrimination and unfair dismissal case, is seeking 5.1 million pounds ($6.3 million) in compensation and told a London court she wants to retrain as a Baptist pastor. …

Alleged Bias Against Women Costs Maryland Staffing Agency $2.6M in Default Judgment

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) reported it has obtained a default judgment in U.S. District Court in its sex discrimination lawsuit against Green JobWorks. The EEOC filed a lawsuit in 2021 against the staffing agency that is located in …

U.S. Employers Must Be Careful in Drafting Severance Agreements, Labor Board Warns

A recent U.S. labor board ruling limiting what employers can include in severance agreements is a reminder that companies must be careful not to ask workers to sign away their rights, the agency’s top prosecutor said on Wednesday. National Labor …

West Virginia House Backs Cap on Workers’ Damages in Deliberate Intent Cases

Republicans in the West Virginia House passed a bill last week that would cap some of the damages workers and their families can receive if their employer deliberately puts them in harm’s way on the job. The 52-45 vote was …

Former Pitching Coach Sues New York Mets for Age Discrimination

Phil Regan sued the New York Mets and former general manager Brodie Van Wagenen, alleging age discrimination and wrongful termination when he was moved out as pitching coach after the 2019 season. Regan, a former big league pitcher who turns …