Richmond Times Dispatch

On April 10, 2023, President Joe Biden signed legislation that terminates the national emergency concerning COVID-19 declared by then-President Donald Trump on March 13, 2020. This was done earlier than planned.

I’ve traveled the country this year training managers and employees on workplace civility. The complaint I hear over and over is that people are too sensitive and offended by everything.

In February, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan refused to dismiss a federal lawsuit brought against an employer who allegedly declined to accommodate an employee who wouldn’t use a co-worker’s chosen pronouns due to a declared religious conflict.

Earlier this month Congress passed the “Speak Out Act” designed to address the ongoing issues of sexual assault and sexual harassment in the workplace.

United Airlines agreed to pay a Buddhist pilot $305,000 to settle a religious discrimination case filed on his behalf by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

Kroger agreed to pay $180,000 to settle a case brought by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) alleging discrimination and retaliation against two former employees who refused to wear a heart symbol they believed demonstrated support for the LGBTQ community.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has updated its “Know Your Rights — Workplace Discrimination is Illegal” poster.

Ian has reminded us again that disasters happen. Employers need to be ready. So do employees and households.

Two federal agencies — the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention — have indicated that it’s time to minimize the disruption of COVID-19 in our lives, and that includes the workplace.

Earlier this month a Dallas jury awarded a former Southwest Airlines flight attendant over $5 million in her lawsuit against the airline and her union after she was terminated for, she claimed, her religious convictions against abortion.

A female Texas firefighter, who claimed that her male colleagues viewed a nude video of her that was stolen from her personal computer, can proceed with her claim of sexual harassment against her former employer, according to a recent opinion by the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals.

Former U.S. Postal employee Gerald Groff sued his employer, claiming it failed to provide him a reasonable accommodation for his religious beliefs.

The use of artificial intelligence in the workplace has been at the center of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s recent guidance on “The Americans with Disabilities Act and the Use of Software, Algorithms, and Artificial Intelligence to Assess Job Applicants and Employees.”

When you’re getting ready for a job interview, you’re probably thinking about all the questions your interviewer will ask you.

Physician Harriet Foster (left) administers a COVID-19 vaccine to Khady Gueye at a church in Richmond.