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Recent Blog Posts
Pursuing a discrimination claim as a federal employee
As a federal employee, you have a number of workplace protections. Among them are the standard protections from employment discrimination on the basis of gender, race, color, religion, and national origin that those who work in the private sector enjoy. These protections extend to every aspect of employment, too, from hiring and promotion to discipline and termination. You're also protected from retaliation when you report wrongdoing in the workplace, and you're shielded from sexual harassment, age discrimination, and pregnancy discrimination.
But federal employees are wronged by their employer all the time. When this occurs, these workers can suffer an extensive amount of harm. This is unfair, which is why if you feel like you've been treated unfairly by your employer, you might want to consider taking legal action to protect your interests. But pursuing a discrimination claim against a federal employer looks different from similar claims levied against private employers.
Lower performance reviews: a subtler form of workplace discrimination
A company that refuses to hire qualified job applicants because of their race, gender, age or religious beliefs is violating federal and Maryland employment laws. But there are subtler ways that employers can discriminate illegally.
One such tactic is to systematically give lower performance review scores to members of a protected class - not because their work is of lesser quality, but because the employer wants to pay the protected class employees less.
Lower performance scores for minority Times employees
That is what the NewsGuild union is accusing The New York Times is doing to its employees of color. The union released data that alleges that Hispanic employees are 60 percent less likely to receive a high score on their performance review than their white peers. Black employees only received high scores half as often as white co-workers. The Times uses these scores to determine how large of an annual bonus each worker gets.
Client Prevails Before National Labor Relations Board
Freedman Law, LLC is pleased to announce that our client recently prevailed, winning a full recovery, after a two-day trial in Baltimore, Maryland. Following a full trial on the merits before the National Labor Relations Board, the Honorable Arthur J. Amchan held that our client had been illegally suspended and discharged after he engaged in protected concerted activity, i.e. whistleblower activity protected by the National Labor Relations Act. As a result of the favorable outcome, our client was awarded full backpay damages, possible reinstatement, and interim employment expenses, among other relief.
Prior to his sudden suspension/termination, our client worked as a firearms instructor at a private gun range in Maryland. The gun range had consistent issues with ricocheted bullets coming back towards instructors and students. Our client made multiple safety complaints to upper management leading to his wrongful suspension and termination.
In an attempt to avoid liability, the former employer alleged that this individual was a supervisory employee not covered under the National Labor Relations Act. Moreover, his former employer argued that the company was insulated from liability because of the employee's purported "poor conduct" when raising his legitimate safety complaints. This was not the case.
Nonbinary Pronoun Usage in the Workplace: Promoting Inclusivity
Nonbinary Pronoun Usage in the Workplace: Promoting Inclusivity
According to a recent study, an estimated 11 percent of individuals who identify as LGBTQ in the United States (i.e., approximately 1.2 million people) also identify as non-binary. It is increasingly common for these individuals to go by gender-neutral, nonbinary pronouns, including they/them/theirs, along with others. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) issued new guidance on June 15, 2021, taking the position that "intentionally and repeatedly using the wrong name and pronouns to refer to a transgender employee could contribute to an unlawful hostile work environment" in violation of Title VII. The EEOC further took the position:
Could use of pronouns or names that are inconsistent with an individual's gender identity be considered harassment?
Maryland Becomes the Latest State to Establish Paid Family and Medical Leave for Employees
Maryland Enacts New State Paid Family and Medical Leave Entitlement
Maryland recently joined nine other states (and the District of Columbia) in providing employees in the state with a right to paid family and medical leave. Although employer contributions to the paid family and medical leave program will not begin until 2023 and employees may not apply for benefits until 2025, when the law goes into effect, it will dramatically expand the leave rights available to Maryland employees because the law applies to employees and employers who are not covered by the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA).
Starting on October 1, 2023, all employees working in Maryland, self-employed individuals, and employers with 15 more employees participating in the Program must begin contributing to a new paid sick-leave fund. Based on the new law, an eligible employee will receive a weekly maximum payment of $1,000.00 for up to 12 weeks. An eligible employee is one who has worked at least 680 hours over a 12-month period immediately preceding the date on which leave is to begin.
3 key things to understand about workplace sexual harassment
The #metoo movement has had a powerful impact on the employment landscape. Thousands of courageous sexual harassment victims around the country have come forward and spoken out against this pervasive problem. More than ever, society is sending a strong message that sexual harassment will have consequences.
If you're contending with uninvited sexual behavior in the workplace, here are a few things you should know:
Anyone can be a perpetrator.
Workplace sexual harassment doesn't have to refer to a manager taking advantage of their position of power to make unwanted sexual advances towards a lower-ranking employee. Anyone in a workplace can be guilty of degrading behavior towards a coworker – regardless of rank. In addition, if the employer is aware of such inappropriate behavior by anyone in the company – even a non-employee, such as a supplier – and tolerates this behavior, the employer can be held responsible for failing to create a safe workplace.
Fast-food workers face persistent sexual harassment
Hollywood, tech, and media aren't the only industries in the spotlight for rampant sexual harassment. Countless hourly fast-food workers continue to come forward after facing sexual misconduct from managers, coworkers and customers.
Women are most often the victims
A recent report shows that 2 in 5 women working in fast-food experience some form of workplace sexual harassment. It can come in the form of inappropriate jokes, unwanted touching, kissing or offensive comments about their sexual orientation.
Unlike women working in higher-paying industries, those in fast-food don't often feel like they can voice their concerns. Nearly 42% of women in the report said they felt they had to accept the harassment or they would lose their job. Those who tried to report the harassment to their employer said they endured retaliation such as:
Some forms of workplace retaliation are more hidden than others
Many employees who feel mistreated fear speaking up against these actions due to the possibility of workplace retaliation. While a demotion or termination might be the most dramatic workplace retaliation, there are numerous examples that are more insidious or hidden from plain view.
Fortunately, there are several legal protections in place to guard an employee from retaliation in the workplace. Workers have the right to speak out about sexual harassment, discrimination or other forms of mistreatment. Unfortunately, it is often a challenge to link the alleged retaliation to the inciting event. There are several examples of retaliation that are less obvious than others, including:
- Being intentionally overlooked: Whether it is being excluded from a meeting or left off the invitation for a work activity, an employee who is intentionally left out of work functions could be experiencing a form of retaliation.
Should I quit before they fire me?
No one wants to experience getting fired, but it may be the better option between getting fired and quitting. Before you quit and expect to be able to file for unemployment, you should know how the end of your job can impact your chances of earning unemployment. While unemployment offers non-working people the income they need, not everyone can earn it. So you can make the right decision for yourself, here is what you need to know before you quit:
What is the difference when it comes to unemployment?
When filing for unemployment benefits, the Maryland Department Of Labor (MDOL) will look at your application's unique circumstances. This review will include looking into what exactly caused the end of your employment.
If you suspect you are about to soon be fired, you typically have two options to choose between: quit or let them fire you. Each option comes with its own implications. For example, quitting your job makes it appear as though you chose to leave the company and are capable of living without their income. MDOL often sees this situation as enough evidence to deny your application for unemployment.
Federal employees have a different process for reporting discrimination
No employee should have to suffer the effects of discrimination at work, or feel that their workplace is a hostile environment where they cannot fulfill their work duties in peace. Unfortunately, employees sometimes find themselves forced to report their employers to vindicate their rights. However, if you are an employee of the federal government, protecting yourself from workplace discrimination looks a bit different than it does for private employees.
The EEOC
There are many pieces of federal legislation that protect employees of the federal government against harassment and discrimination. For example, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act prohibits employers from treating employees differently based on protected characteristics, such as race, sex or religion.
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is a federal agency to which employees can report instances of workplace discrimination or harassment that violate federal law. The process for reporting an instance of discrimination or harassment to the EEOC is different for federal employees than it is for private employees – including strict deadlines that the employee must observe.
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