New York Employment Lawyer Blog

The New York City Fire Department is being threatened with the imposition of hiring quotas as a remedy for the intentional race and national origin discrimination in their hiring. A Federal Judge in Brooklyn found that two written exams were not job related which had an adverse impact against numerous African-American and Hispanic candidates.

Among the remedial measures to be put in place are immediate emergency hiring of qualified minority candidates and revisions of the exams.

A major supermarket chain in the New York area is being charged with discrimination against its female employees. In the case, which is now pending in Federal Court, claims that women were placed in lower-growth positions, such as cashiers, whereas men were given roles such as stock, which had a much better possibility of further advancement with the company.

Gender discrimination manifests itself in many different ways. For instance, this case is an example of a "glass ceiling" which is a point that women cannot advance beyond in the workplace. Additionally, sexual harassment and pregnancy discrimination are types of gender discrimination, as well.

The early part of 2010 has brought some major movement in the fight against discrimination in the workplace. Recently, The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") announced a significant, $19 Million dollar settlement against a national restaurant chain in its claims of gender discrimination. The settlement is for $19 million dollars and the restaurant must comply with several mandates of equal opportunity set forth by the EEOC.

The basis of the claim was that women were denied equal opportunities to advance, were impeded by a "glass celiling," were barred from promotion to managerial positions, and were prevented from receiving favorable job assignments.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has released its 2009 report of discrimination and retaliation claims filed in 2009. Overall it appears the total number of charges filed dropped slightly, but there was an increase in retaliation claims filed. Race and gender discrimination both still remain the protected category most commonly named in the charges filed. Disability claims also increased as well this year.

The statistics are available at:

http://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc/statistics/enforcement/index.cfm

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("E.E.O.C.") has recently announced its settlement of a failure to hire race discrimination claim with one of the nation's largest financial firms.

The E.E.O.C. complaint stated that Barbara Alexander, who is African-American, was amply qualified for the position of financial planning manager, but was not hired, despite performing capably during thirteen in-person interviews. The position ultimately went to a white male. It is significant to note that discrimination may exist in all aspects of the employment relationship, from hiring to promotion to termination.