Pennsylvania Education Law Lawyer & Attorney : Fox Rothschild Law Firm : Education Statutory and Regulatory Changes

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) last year issued an enforcement guidance regarding discriminatory conduct toward employees with caregiving responsibilities. The guidance, which is used by EEOC investigators, provides data regarding workplace demographic changes and scenario examples of conduct that might be discriminatory.

Although the status of being a caregiver (whether to a child, adult, or a disabled relation) alone is not a protected classification, discriminatory conduct toward a caregiver can violate anti-discrimination laws when the conduct is related to the caregiver’s otherwise protected status. For example, refusing to grant tenure to a female professor who tool a leave of absence to care for a child. Like this example, a number of the scenarios and underlying case-law citation involve educational institutions. 

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The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, sitting en banc, in Bates v. United Parcel Service, Inc., re-visited the issue of the business necessity defense and an employer’s safety-based qualification requirements. The court ruled that a government safety rule that does not apply directly to the job at issue but is nonetheless related to the job’s requirements can be considered when determining whether the employer’s safety requirement is proper or discriminatory. 

In this case, UPS had a rule that required all package car drivers to meet a U.S. Department of Transportation (“DOT”) hearing standard. The DOT standard, however, applied only to drivers of trucks over 10,000 pounds gross vehicle weight. UPS applied the rule to all drivers, a rule that was discriminatory on its face.

A class of hearing impaired potential drivers challenged the rule. The trial court found for the plaintiffs, but the Court of Appeals, en banc, reversed and remanded for further proceedings in light of its “clarification” of the law.

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A recent case  from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit gives a good lesson on how to document sexual harassment investigations. The lesson is also instructive on how a report can be used as evidence in all sorts of investigations in an education setting.

The case facts are not remarkable (the boorish behavior is seen repeatedly in sexual harassment cases). One employee uttered a number of improper comments, sometimes emphasized by physical gestures. Such actions ultimately lead to his termination. But before then, the employer investigated and interviewed a number of employees, all of whom confirmed the conduct in question, which lead employer to decide to fire employee. An appeal followed, a second investigation ensued and confirmed the first investigation and termination decision. Employee appealed to court.

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Employee claims employer’s practices and or supervisors are discriminating. Employer investigates the claims and finds, not discrimination, but other facts showing conduct justifying termination. Did the employer retaliate? 

At least in the case below, the U.S. Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals said no. Given that employer investigations are a necessary part of good employment practices, the ruling makes sense. But employers might consider making sure that policies and practices are clear regarding how the employer may use information uncovered in an investigation.

The employees, university police officers, in Nichols v. Southern Illinois University, --- F.3d ---, 2007 WL 4553649 (7th Cir.), claimed retaliation arising from the University’s investigation into their complaints of discrimination.

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As 2007 came to an end, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court also put an end to the "core function" exception to labor arbitration decisions under the state’s Public Employee Relations Act. Westmoreland Inter. Unit No. 7 v. Westmoreland Inter. Unit No. 7 Classroom Ass’t Educ. Sup. Pers. Assoc. (majority opinion). The court did, however, find that a limited public policy exception can apply. But such public policy, said the court, “must be well-defined, dominant, and ascertained by reference to the laws and legal precedents and not from general considerations of supposed public interests.” 

The case involves finer legal points about how and to what degree courts are supposed to review labor arbitration decisions. But the facts are interesting, so we can start there.

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Guest blogger, Mark Fitzgerald, writes about the tension between employment disability discrimination claims under the Americans With Disabilities Act (“ADA”) and claims for disability benefits. The legal concept of “estoppel” in such circumstances generally holds that an employee cannot certify to being disabled in order to obtain disability benefits, while claiming in court that she is not disabled and qualified to work. Mark is a member of the Education Law Group with a practice emphasis in Labor and Employment. Click here to find out more about Mark’s background and contact information.

 In a case that underscores the federal courts’ heightened scrutiny of employment disability discrimination claims following a plaintiff’s successful application for Social Security Disability, the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania granted summary judgment for the employer because plaintiff-employee was estopped from raising claims under the ADA  after successfully applying for Social Security Disability benefits.

In an ADA employment discrimination case, a plaintiff must initially be able to show

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