Workplace Harassment & Prevention

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**UPDATE: Both the New York state and city training requirements have been signed into law. The state requirements go into effect on October 9, 2018, and the city requirements go into effect on April 1, 2019. **

In the last two weeks, New York state and city legislatures each passed groundbreaking legislation that would require most private employers to provide sexual harassment training to their workforces every year. No other US jurisdiction requires annual harassment training for all employees, making this legislation – if signed into law – the most expansive in the country. (California requires training for supervisors and managers only, see more HERE.)Continue Reading Mandatory Sexual Harassment Training Comes To New York

In the wake of the #metoo movement, several lawmakers proposed legislation to ban confidentiality provisions in workplace sexual harassment settlements.

Critics of confidentiality agreements say that they enable serial abusers and silence victims. But, some advocates question whether a ban could actually harm individuals. For instance, some victims may actually prefer confidentiality and the prospect of publicity may discourage them from coming forward. Further, the promise of confidentiality may lead to larger (and earlier) monetary settlements for victims.Continue Reading #MeToo Breaks Silence, Legislators Follow: Confidentiality Provisions

The use of mandatory employment arbitration agreements has long been the subject of debate, but the controversy has intensified since the inception of the #MeToo movement. Some legislators believe that mandatory arbitration of sexual harassment claims silences harassment victims and perpetuates harassment.
Continue Reading #MeToo Breaks Silence, Legislators Follow: Arbitration Agreements

Last week the EEOC released its charge statistics from fiscal year 2017, which ran from Oct 1, 2016 through Sept 30, 2017.

  • Retaliation was the most common claim in FY 2017, followed by race discrimination, disability discrimination, sex discrimination (all types, including sexual harassment), age discrimination, national origin discrimination, and religious discrimination.
  • Charges were down a bit in all categories, but monetary relief was up in LGBT cases and, in sexual harassment cases, was at the highest level since 2010. BUT — note that the EEOC’s fiscal year ended before the #MeToo movement began so we predict the 2018 statistics will paint a very different picture.
  • Further, note that the EEOC’s new online portal, launched in November 2017, which makes it incredibly easy for individuals to sign in and file charges.

Continue Reading EEOC FY 2017 Statistics Recap: Retaliation Claims Charge Ahead

In mid-December, we hosted our Annual California Update in Millbrae, CA. We were so pleased to see many of you in attendance.

Our End-of-Year Newsletter will hit inboxes shortly, but until then – here’s our top 10 New Year’s resolutions for multinationals in 2018:

Continue Reading Top 10 New Year’s Resolutions For California-Based Multinational Employers