This Annual Report on EEOC Developments—Fiscal Year 2017, our seventh annual Report, is designed as a comprehensive guide to significant EEOC developments over the past fiscal year.
On February 26, 2018, a majority of the entire U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit held, in Zarda v. Altitude Express Inc., that Title VII prohibits workplace discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.
A recent settlement shows that the EEOC continues, from time to time, to take the position in litigation that an employee’s private release may not waive the employee’s right to receive future financial relief in an EEOC discrimination action.
In 2017, legislatures in more than 40 U.S. jurisdictions considered over 100 bills intended to narrow the lingering pay gap. While only a handful of those proposals ultimately became law, this wave shows no signs of subsiding.
The majority of state legislatures are back in session, wasting no time considering new labor and employment measures. More than 600 state and local bills governing workplace issues were introduced or actively evaluated in January.
While EEO compliance remains an important objective for the employer community, minimizing the risk of facing a harassment claim has become a top priority.
In the wake of #MeToo, federal and state lawmakers are searching for new ways to complement existing antidiscrimination laws and help eliminate harassment.
