04-10-2025

Reddit is used by many employees to anonymously share job struggles, office experiences, and workplace issues. One recent thread involved a user who expressed frustration after her boss pushed back on the amount of leave she took. The user, SML, said she took 11 days of annual leave by March 2025, which was not unusual. The company provides 31 days for everyone, and SML had three extra days under contract and four days carried over from the prior year. She laid out her plan for the 27 days she had left for 2025 to her boss. The Boss challenged the number as “excessive” and referred the matter to HR.

04-09-2025

Angel Tudor worked as a Whitehall Central School District (WCSD) teacher. She had developed PTSD from severe workplace harassment at a prior job. She asked WCSD to allow her to take two 15-minute breaks during the day in addition to lunch as an accommodation of her PTSD. The district allowed her to take one break in the morning, but Tudor alleged she did not have permission to do so in the afternoon. The Second Circuit Court of Appeals evaluated whether WCSD was required to accommodate Tudor.

04-08-2025

Medical conditions such as autism spectrum disorder (ASD), attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), dyslexia, sensory processing disorder, and Tourette’s Syndrome are commonly considered types of neurodivergence. The ADA protects employees from discrimination based on physical and mental conditions that substantially impair a major life activity, including some types of neurodivergence. Data released by the EEOC earlier this year shows a rise in claims alleging discrimination based on neurodivergence.

04-03-2025

Equal Pay Day in 2025 was March 25. This date represents the additional days female workers must work to earn the same amount their male counterparts earned in the 2024 calendar year. While women continue to complete increasing levels of education and earn senior leadership positions at work, the pay and promotion gaps have not narrowed.

04-02-2025

Two major law firms filed lawsuits to block executive orders directed at them. WilmerHale and Jenner & Block want to block the orders that strip them of their security clearances, bar their attorneys from entering federal buildings, and discourage federal officials from interacting with them. Jenner & Block created a website, “Jenner Stands Firm,” to publicize its filing, share newspaper editorials critical of the executive orders, and post law school professors’ comments questioning the order’s legality. The firms have asked for temporary restraining orders to stop the government from implementing the executive orders. The firms represent some of the country’s largest companies and work on regulatory issues before government agencies. Perkins Coie filed a similar lawsuit earlier.

04-01-2025

The Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA) precludes employers from discriminating and retaliating against veterans and service members based on their military status or service. It also gives service members reemployment rights and other rights/benefits when military obligations impact their civilian jobs. It was enacted in 1994. The Dole Act is bipartisan legislation that expands USERRA’s protections. Let's review some of the changes.

03-27-2025

The 10-campus University of California system will no longer use diversity statements in hiring. These statements asked job applicants to share how they would contribute to campus diversity. For a decade, the UC system led the way for other university campuses by using the statements to increase student and faculty diversity. The UC Board of Regents chair said the system will “continue to embrace and celebrate Californians from a variety of life experiences, backgrounds and points of view.” However, the Regents suggest that diversity statements may cause applicants to focus on things “outside their expertise or prior experience.”

03-26-2025

Following the executive orders regarding diversity, equity, and inclusion programs, the EEOC released a technical assistance document called “What You Should Know About DEI-Related Discrimination at Work.” An employer’s D.E.I. policy, program, or practice may be unlawful if it includes “taking an employment action motivated—in whole or in part—by race, sex, or another protected characteristic.” “DEI-related disparate treatment” may include disparate treatment in hiring, firing, promotion, demotion, compensation, and fringe benefits.

03-25-2025

The EEOC’s acting chair sent letters to 20 of the country’s largest law firms, questioning them about their diversity programs and practices. In the letter, the agency indicated its concern that the firms discriminated against white candidates. Former EEOC officials wrote to the acting chair to express their “grave concerns” about the letters served on the law firms. They stated that the letters requested “extensive information and imply a duty to respond without any basis in the laws that the EEOC enforces.”