Employers May Not Be Entitled to Full Disclosure of Potential EEOC Class Action Before Suit Is Filed
Employers often expect that, before the EEOC can expand a single-employee EEOC charge into a class action lawsuit, the EEOC must explain the scope of any potential class action and offer an employer the opportunity to resolve it. That expectation is open to question, however, after the Northern District of Illinois’s recent decision in EEOC v. Union Road Towing, Inc. In that case, the Court rejected an employer’s attempt to eliminate an EEOC class action based upon the limited nature of the EEOC’s pre-suit disclosures. Because the Seventh Circuit has not yet resolved this specific issue, the district court’s ruling increases the risk to Illinois employers that the EEOC can turn adverse findings in single-employee charges of discrimination into claims on behalf of an entire class of employees, without first affording the employer an informed opportunity to attempt to resolve such class-wide claims. As explained below, to retain the possibility of pre-lawsuit resolution of such claims and avoid expansive discovery, employers should repeatedly seek clarification of the scope of any potential class action referenced in EEOC reasonable cause determinations or conciliation discussions.
“I’m Too Sexy For My Job” . . . Part Three
Is it unlawful to fire an employee for being too sexy? Well, it depends.
Expect Delays in Receipting of I-129 Petitions
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) today announced that, due to the high number of I-129 petitions recently filed with USCIS (presumably as a result of the large volume of FY 2013 H-1B cap filings), customers will experience a longer than usual period of time to receive their receipt notices - possibly an additional 2 to 4 weeks.
New York State Education Department Releases Guidance to Help Schools Comply with the Dignity Act
In November 2010, we alerted you to the passage of the Dignity for All Students Act (the "Dignity Act"), an act amending the New York State Education Law to provide that no student shall be subjected to "harassment" by employees or students on school property or at a school function. The Dignity Act, which takes effect on July 1, 2012, requires school districts to, in part, revise their codes of conduct and adopt policies intended to create a school environment free from harassment and discrimination. This article discusses the requirements for school policies and codes of conduct under the Act.
Illinois Passes Password-Privacy Law
The Illinois Senate approved a bill banning employers from requesting the Facebook passwords of employees and applicants on Tuesday, reports the Chicago Tribune. If Illinois' Governor signs the legislation, it will become the second state in the country to pass such a law. Maryland was the first--its law takes effect October 1.
Florida Judges May Not Connect With Lawyers Online
As I wrote a few years ago, judges in Florida may not be Facebook friends with any lawyer who may appear before the judge. (Opinion 2009-20, Nov. 17, 2009). Last month, the Florida Judicial Ethics Advisory Committee made clear that this prohibition extends beyond Facebook. In Opinion Number 2012-12, issued on May 9, 2012, the Committee opined that a judge may not be “connected” to lawyers who may appear before him on any social-networking site—including LinkedIn. The inquiring judge had posited that Facebook and LinkedIn have distinctly different purposes—one for personal use and one for professional use. Therefore, the inquiring judge asked, shouldn’t there be different standards for judges’ use of the two sites?
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