For years, employers have held programs meant to reduce bias, hostility, and liability, but now, according to recent U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) technical assistance, those programs could be the basis of a hostile work environment claim.
Employers can still have inclusion and diversity training but need to ensure it promotes the mission of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 — namely, equality for all, said Devon Mills, an attorney with Michelman & Robinson in Los Angeles.
When designing training, “well-intended content designed to promote inclusivity and educate on historical injustice can become a legal liability if it’s perceived as stereotyping, shaming, or alienating employees based on race, sex, or other protected characteristics,” he said.
While some believe the EEOC’s position has the potential to open the door to a new category of “reverse discrimination” Title VII claims from employees who feel compelled to attend sessions and later allege that the training created a hostile or intimidating workplace environment, the EEOC has taken the position that “there is no such thing as ‘reverse’ discrimination; there is only discrimination.”
Mills said, however, that “this new EEOC guidance could open the floodgates.”
He added, though, that the statute of limitations to file a charge with the EEOC is 180 days — or 300 days in “deferral states” with fair employment practice agencies — which he said should limit exposure for older...
Sahara Ray has now denied false claims she made against her fiancé during what she described as an 'episode' that has seen her enter hospital. The Australian model, whose father is surfing legend T...