A federal magistrate in the Western District of Louisiana has issued what appears to be the first ruling under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 that someone who is Jewish may be protected from race discrimination under the statute. In Bonadona v. Louisiana College, the Court ruled that an individual who was born to a Jewish mother but converted to Christianity could proceed with his Title VII claim on the basis that Jews are a protected “race” under Title VII.

The Fair Housing Center of Central Indiana and Carolyn McGuffin filed a lawsuit against Carolyn Smitley and the Smitley Family Trust in April 2016 alleging that the Defendants discriminated against Ms. McGuffin in violation of the federal Fair Housing Act. On July 3, 2018, Judge William T. Lawrence in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana entered judgment requiring the Defendants to pay $219,747.75 as a result of the discrimination.

With allegations against Indiana's Attorney General Curtis Hill making national news, Hill now faces calls to resign amid his adamant denials and claims of unfairness in the investigatory process. Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP (Taft) authored a memorandum outlining the alleged factual allegations and legal analysis for potential Title VII hostile work environment claims. The public likely has questions as to why this memorandum came to the conclusion that a claim of sexual harassment would not be successful against the General Assembly.

National Labor Relations Board Chairman John Ring confirmed that the NLRB intends to move forward with rulemaking on the joint employer standard and that a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking will be issued by the summer. Chairman Ring’s response comes only one month after the NLRB announced in May that it was merely considering rulemaking on the issue.

Steve Loewengart authored the article “The Rise of Love Contracts: Workplace Relationships in a Post #MeToo Era” featured in Ohio Matters Magazine. In a post #MeToo era it has become necessary for employers to establish and promote clear policies on office romances.

On Thursday April 12, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division issued three new opinion letters concerning travel time under the Fair Labor Standards Act, the compensability (under the FLSA) of brief work breaks taken as intermittent leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act, and the treatment of certain lump sum payments under Title III of the Consumer Credit Protection Act.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit recently joined the Seventh Circuit in holding that Title VII prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation, overruling prior precedent to the contrary.

Recently-passed changes to the federal tax code added a new section 162(q), the so-called Weinstein tax, which disallows deductions for settlement payments related to sexual harassment or abuse claims—and deductions of attorneys’ fees related to such a settlement—if the payment is subject to a nondisclosure agreement. Both Plaintiffs and Defendants are potentially affected by these changes applicable to any payments made on or after December 22, 2017.

After a tumultuous series of short funding extensions, federal labor and employment regulators have published their budget requests and justifications.

Tasked with enforcing the business community’s compliance with federal employment eligibility requirements, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) developed a comprehensive worksite enforcement strategy that targets employers who violate employment laws.