Blogs

In 2008 Samantha Elauf applied for a job at her local Abercrombie & Fitch clothing store in Tulsa, Oklahoma. During her interview Elauf, who is a practicing Muslim, wore a hijab or headscarf. Though her headscarf was clearly visible to the hiring manager who interviewed her, Elauf was never asked if she needed a religious accommodation as provided for by law. This is despite the fact that there is a company policy prohibiting the wearing of headwear by “models”—the in-house name for what are essentially sales associates, the position to which Elauf applied. Though she initially received a high score from her interviewer, Elauf was denied the job after ...

On December 10, 2014, NELA joined the General Conference of the Seventh-day Adventists and other religious and civil rights organizations to file an amicus brief supporting Petitioner EEOC in the case of EEOC v. Abercrombie & Fitch Stores, Inc., Case No. 14-86, pending in the U.S. Supreme Court. The question presented is whether an employer can be liable under the religious accommodation provision of Title VII for refusing to hire an applicant or discharging an employee based on a “religious observance and practice” only if the employer has actual knowledge that a religious accommodation was required and the employer’s actual knowledge resulted from direct, ...

On June 5, 2012, the White House Office of the Press Secretary released President Obama's statement on the failure of the Paycheck Fairness Act (PFA) to earn the requisite 60 votes to proceed to final consideration in the Senate: "This afternoon, Senate Republicans refused to allow an up-or-down vote on the Paycheck Fairness Act, a commonsense piece of legislation that would strengthen the Equal Pay Act and give women more tools to fight pay discrimination..." The PFA would have barred companies from retaliating against workers who inquire about pay disparities and permit employees to sue for punitive damages if they find evidence of broad differences in compensation ...

On Tuesday, June 5, 2012 , from 3:00pm-4:00pm ET the National LGBT Bar Association, in co-sponsorship with the National Employment Lawyers Association and Seyfarth Shaw LLP, is hosting a national call-in to discuss the recent decision from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) in the case Macy v. Holder . The EEOC ruled that transgender individuals are included under Title VII, which protects employees and applicants from being discriminated against based on sex. The landmark ruling has ensured that under federal law, transgender individuals now have a legal recourse to file formal complaints against employers on the basis of sex discrimination. ...