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1 day ago | 
mondaq.com | Jonathan Segal |Christopher Durham |Anshul Agrawal
Ultimately, the district court interpreted Bostocknarrowly, stating: "Bostock decided only whetherfiring an employee for being transgender constituted TitleVII 'sex'discrimination under its but-for causationtest."On May 15, 2025, in Texas v. EEOC, 2:24-cv-00173-Z(N.D. Tex.), a federal district court vacated certain portions ofthe Enforcement Guidance on Harassment in theWorkplace issued in 2024 by the Equal Employment OpportunityCommission (EEOC) relating to sexual orientation and genderidentity.
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2 days ago | 
mondaq.com | Jonathan Segal
The stakes of illegal discrimination in the context of"DEI" have just gotten even higher.
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2 weeks ago | 
shrm.org | Jonathan Segal
Responding in the Moment How should people managers respond in the moment to an employee claim of sex discrimination? Consider the following possibilities. Suppose an employee tells a manager that Mark made a sexist comment. The manager responds, “That does not sound like Mark.” It may not sound like the Mark the manager knows, but the response is dismissive of the employee’s concern.
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2 weeks ago | 
shrm.org | Jonathan Segal
Supervisors may not share with you all the misconceptions they hold when they sit through anti-harassment training, but that doesn’t mean that erroneous beliefs aren’t lurking. When educating your workforce on unwelcome conduct based on race, color, sex and other protected factors, there are 13 “nondefenses” you should cover. Each is a common, but unacceptable, justification for harassing conduct, even if the behavior isn’t necessarily unlawful. Which brings me to No. 1 …1.
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2 weeks ago | 
shrm.org | Jonathan Segal
What you don’t know about implicit bias can hurt you—and your company. This form of prejudice, which is also known as unconscious bias, occurs when individuals make judgments at least partially influenced by gender, race or other prohibited factors without realizing they have done so, usually based on societal stereotypes or their own personal experiences.
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2 weeks ago | 
shrm.org | Jonathan Segal
Like every other field, HR features elements of conventional wisdom, which are often right. But it’s wise to leave room for creative thinking, especially if it can help reduce legal exposure or other risks. For example:Casting a wider net in recruiting may not always be the way to go if there’s a strong internal candidate. An external posting can create unnecessary legal risk.
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2 weeks ago | 
shrm.org | Jonathan Segal
If you’re in an HR leadership position, you are not required to be neutral when it comes to union activity. To the contrary, your employer generally has the right to require that you engage in lawful efforts to help the employer resist unionization. This reality is not always understood by HR professionals. Creating a rapid response team to address union activity can go a long way toward encouraging employees to consider all the facts before deciding whether to sign a union card.
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2 weeks ago | 
shrm.org | Jonathan Segal
Employers sometimes cannot afford to cut any more jobs but still need to cut more costs—and fast. Looking for savings, they consider not just freezing salaries but slashing them. This strategy isn’t for the faint of heart. Without considering the legal minefields, cutting salaries may increase legal costs and jeopardize more jobs.
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2 weeks ago | 
shrm.org | Jonathan Segal
Sally worked for your company for two years. She quit three months ago without giving any indication she’d had any workplace problems whatsoever. That is, until today... when you were notified that she had filed a constructive discharge sexual harassment claim with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). In short, Sally alleges that your workplace was such an intolerable place that she had no choice but to quit. And she wants you to pay for essentially forcing her to resign.
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2 weeks ago | 
shrm.org | Jonathan Segal
You are a beleaguered HR professional charged with making the holidays lively without inviting lawsuits. On the day of your company’s holiday party, you walk into the lobby of your building and see the elegant Christmas pine that you helped decorate. As you behold it in its twinkling glory, a co-worker says, “That tree is inappropriate in the workplace.”Wrong. It is beautiful; Christmas can and should be acknowledged—so says the Jewish guy who wears a chai pendant given to him by his grandmother.
