The Employee Polygraph Protection Act (EPPA) of 1988 applies to most private employers, prohibiting most private employers from using lie detector tests, either for pre-employment screening or during the course of employment, and providing civil money penalties for violations as well as the ability to bring a lawsuit, so employees who believe their employer is making unfair demands for a polygraph or lie detector test may consult the U.S. Department of Labor at 1-866-4-USA-DOL or an attorney.  For more information see, http://www.dol.gov/compliance/guide/eppa.htm .  Since the Wage and Hour Division of the Employment Standards Administration administers and enforces the EPPA, employees may also call there at 1-866-4USWAGE.  Id.  According to the U.S. Department of Labor, the Wage and Hour Division accepts lie detector violation complaints made by employees.  Id.

The EPPA does not cover federal, state and local governments and there are exceptions to the prohibition on private employers using lie detector or polygraph tests, meaning there are circumstances under which a private employer can request a lie detector test.  Id.  Where polygraphs are allowed, they are subject to strict standards for the conduct of the test, including the pretest, testing and post-testing phases.  Id.  There are, this regard, limitations and additional rules the employer must follow where the test is authorized by the Act.  Id.  An examiner must be licensed and bonded or have professional liability coverage.  Id.  Further, the Act strictly limits the disclosure of information obtained during a polygraph test, according to the U. S. Department of Labor.  Id.  The EPPA provides employees the right to file a lawsuit for violations of the Act.  Id.

Whether violation of rules restricting lie detector use by employers occurs in Dallas, Houston, San Antonio or elsewhere, polygraph protection act complainants can contact the Department of Labor or consult an attorney to determine whether a formal complaint or lawsuit is appropriate under the facts and circumstances of the potential case.

According to the Atlanta Business Chronicle, Cincinatti based Kroger Co. recently announced that the company settled a federal race discrimination lawsuit involving black employees in six states, including Georgia, for $16 million.  See, “Kroger Settles Discrimination Suit for $16M,” Atlanta Business Chronicle, http://www.bizjournals.com , 6/19/08.  Kroger is the No. 1 grocer in metro Atlanta.  Id.  The Atlanta publication reported that the lawsuit was originally filed in U.S. District Court in Louisville in 2001 on behalf of 12 black employees, who claimed they were passed over for promotions and paid less than white workers.  Id. 

Whether employment related race discrimination in promotions or pay occurs in Dallas, Houston or elsewhere, victims of racial discrimination at grocery store businesses may contact the Equal Opportunity Employment Commission (EEOC) or an attorney to determine whether a formal complaint or charge of racial discrimination is appropriate under the facts and circumstances of the particular potential case.

American women working overseas in Iraq for contractors have reported sexual assaults by co-workers but are finding themselves in legal limbo, unable to seek justice or even a significant amount of compensation, as result of employer required arbitration clauses that force claims of sexual assault and harassment, as well as rape, to be pursued outside the jury system, according to an article posted by CommonDreams.org.  Risen, James, “Limbo For US Women Reporting Iraq Assaults,” http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/02/13/7042/ , 9/2/08.  A Houston resident, who worked for KBR in Iraq from 2004 until early 2007, said that she often saw evidence of sexual harassment or discrimination, and that male supervisors often tried to force female employees to grant sexual favors in exchange for promotions or other benefits.  Id.  As reported in the posting, lawyers for women who have reported that they were raped or assaulted while working in Iraq say that one of the biggest obstacles they face is the arbitration requirement.  Id.  “That means that women who say they were victimized had had great difficulty taking KBR to court for failing to better protect its female employees in Iraq.”  Id.  The issue gained national attention, according to the posting, when a 23-year-old former KBR employee testified at a Congressional hearing in December that she had been gang-raped by co-workers in Iraq in 2005 and urged lawmakers to make it easier for crime victims to sue employers, saying recently that “Victims of crime perpetrated by employees of taxpayer-funded government contracts in Iraq deserve the same standard of treatment and protection governed by the same laws whether they are working in the U.S. or abroad.”  Id.

Sexual harassment can happen at any business regardless of size and is not reserved for high profile scandals, and, in 2007, the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) received 12,510 charges of sexual harassment, according to a Laredo newspaper, The Laredo Morning Times.  See, Richards, Ashley, and Christina Rosales, “Sexual Harassment Can Happen At Any Business,” The Laredo Morning Times, http://www.lmtonline.com , 9/1/08.  Interestingly, about 16% of the 12,510 charges received by the EEOC were filed by men.  Id.  According to the president of the Laredo Association of Human Resource Managers, the keyword in harassment is “unwelcome” and any verbal remark or physical action of a sexual nature is not considered harassment until it is unwelcome by the victim.  Id.  In this regard, the inappropriate behavior becomes harassment when the work environment becomes hostile or uncomfortable for the victim or even other employees affected by the harasser’s conduct.  Id.

Sexual harassment is a form of sex discrimination that violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.  Id.  Victims can ask the harasser to stop and report the misconduct to management, as well as the EEOC.  Id.  The fact that an employee feels compelled to report the conduct can be a sign that an employer’s policies, if any, concerning sexual harassment in the workplace are unclear or do not exist.  Id.

Whether sexual harassment and employment sex discrimination occurs in Laredo or elsewhere, hostile work environment victims may consult the EEOC or an attorney to determine whether a formal sexual harassment complaint is appropriate under the facts and circumstances of the potential case.

On June 24, 2008, the Department of Justice issued a press release announcing that it had filed a federal court complaint against the City of Dallas, alleging that Dallas subjected an African American employee and former general laborer for the City to racial discrimination and retaliatory termination after the laborer reported to senior management the use of racial slurs by his immediate supervisor and - that same day - the City of Dallas fired him.  See, PRNewswire-USNewswire, “Justice Department Files Lawsuit Against City Of Dallas Alleging Race Discrimination and Retaliation,” U.S. Department of Justice, http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS216201+24-Jun-2008+PRN20080624 , 6/24/08.

“Title VII prohibits discrimination in employment and protects individuals from retaliation when they exercise their rights under the law,” said the Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division.  Id. ”The Department is committed to enforcing all federal civil rights laws, including Title VII, under its jurisdiction.”  Id.  

Additional information about the Civil Rights Division is available on its website at www.usdoj.gov/crt/ .

Further, victims of employment related racial discrimination in Dallas or elsewhere may contact the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) or an attorney to determine whether a formal charge of race discrimination in, for example, Dallas is appropriate under the facts and circumstances of the potential case. 

Whether race discrimination, including racially degrading comments, epithets or abusive language, occurs at workplaces in Baytown, Beaumont, Dallas, Houston or elsewhere, employment related racial discrimination is prohibited by law and victims of race discrimination may contact the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) or an attorney to determine whether a formal charge of discrimination and a race discrimination lawsuit may be appropriate under the facts and circumstances of the potential employment discrimination case. 

In this regard, the United States Attorney’s Office and the U.S. Department of Justice have filed a federal lawsuit against the City of Fort Pierce alleging retaliation against a black code enforcement officer who complained that her superiors racially discriminated against her and three other black code enforcement officers.  See, Gardner, Keona, “Federal Lawsuit Alleges Racial Discrimination In Fort Pierce Filing,”  http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2008/aug/26/no-headline—26fsuit/ , 8/26/08.  The employee, who has been with the city for about 25 years, allegedly complained that the former director of building and code enforcement suggested that she “came from a monkey.”  Id.  A Justice Department news release alleges that the city ordered the plaintiff to work inside a “specially constructed, isolated cubicle” that was unlike any of her co-workers, and white co-workers openly joked about her “banishment to a cell.”  Id.  The federal lawsuit alleges that the city transferred her from “outside duty” of inspecting structures to “inside duty” such as handling data entry for other officers and that the new data entry position normally pays a lower salary than a code enforcement officer.  Id.

In May 2007, the city’s EEOC reportedly asked the city to participate in settlement discussions after finding there was “reasonable cause to believe” a violation of civil rights occurred as to the plaintiff and three other black workers.  Id.  The three other black workers have filed a separate, private lawsuit against the city.  Id.

In Houston and nationwide, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is receiving increasing quantities of inquiries about workplace law, employment related discrimination, as well as harassment complaints, and the number of discrimination-based workplace lawsuits has risen in Houston federal courts during the past few months compared with the same period last year, according to the Houston Chronicle.  Flood, Mary, “Job Bias Lawsuits On The Increase,” Houston Chronicle, 8/24/08, p. B1.  One Houston attorney cited in the article who defends businesses against discrimination complaints said he has seen an uptick in the number of discrimination cases and another Houston employment discrimination attorney said he has seen more age discrimination and medical leave complaints.  Id.

As reported by the Houston Chronicle, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission reviews discrimination complaints and files some lawsuits itself while other discrimination cases may be filed by attorneys on behalf of victims and, in some cases, the victim represents themselves in their own case.  Id.

Discrimination charges are at their highest level in five years, according to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), and, in this regard, the EEOC reportedly received 82,000 private sector discrimination charges last year, noting that this is the highest volume of incoming charges since 2002 and the largest annual increase (9%) since the early 1990s.  See, Rosenberg, Richard, “Bias Charges Up Sharply As Settlements On The Rise,” San Fernando Valley Business Journal, http://www.entrepreneur.com , 7/21/08. Workplace retaliation claims were the second highest category behind race discrimination while pregnancy discrimination charges and sexual harassment, including sexual harassment charges by men, surged to record high levels.  Id.  According to the EEOC, it resolved a record number of charges through its internal mediation process, with more than 96% of the EEOC mediation participants, including employers, saying they were satisfied with that process.  Id.

One reason for the increase in complaints with the EEOC may be attributable, in part, to the EEOC’s online access, citizen meetings and other educational programs in which citizens are made aware of their rights and what steps they can take to protect their rights.  See, Flood, Mary, “Job Bias Lawsuits On The Rise,” Houston Chronicle, 8/24/08, p. B7.

In Houston,  inquiries about employment discrimination made to the EEOC between April 1, 2007 and August 17, 2007 totaled 2,338 and that number for the same period this year rose to 3,241.  Id.  However, the number of actual formal complaints filed in Houston has remained fairly static, according to the article in the Houston Chronicle.  Id.

Historically, race has been the charge most frequently filed since the EEOC became operational in 1965.  See, Rosenberg, Richard, “Bias Charges Up Sharply As Settlements On The Rise,” San Fernando Valley Business Journal, http://www.entrepreneur.com , 7/21/08. 

Whether workplace discrimination or retaliation occurs in Beaumont, Dallas, Houston or elsewhere, victims of bias may contact the EEOC or an attorney to discuss their rights.

An Orange, Texas newspaper has reported that a beauty supply chain based in Denton, Texas agreed recently to settle a race discrimination lawsuit filed in Beaumont by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) against the business, Sally Beauty Supply, after an African American job seeker was allegedly denied a sales clerk position at the company’s location in West Orange.  See, “Sally Beauty To Pay Local Woman $30k For Discrimination,” http://www.orangeleader.com/homepage/local_story_176192538.html , 6/24/08.  As reported by the newspaper, the federal race discrimination lawsuit filed in Beaumont claimed that Sally Beauty Supply offered the plaintiff a job as a sales clerk with the company and even gave her a start date but rescinded the offer two days later.  Id.  In sworn testimony, a store manager said she was told by the district manager that “she did not want another black person working in the store,” according to the news article.  Id.  In addition, the plaintiff was reportedly “told on the day she arrived for work she could not be hired due to her race because too many African Americans were employed at the store.”  Id.  Sally Beauty Supply is to pay the plaintiff $30,000.00 to settle the race discrimination lawsuit.  Id.  As reported by The Orange Leader, the company’s website says “Sally Beauty is the world’s largest retailer of professional beauty supplies.”  Id.

Whether race discrimination in the workplace occurs in Beaumont, Houston, Orange or elsewhere, victims of employment discrimination may contact the EEOC to make a charge of racial discrimination and consult an attorney to determine whether a racial discrimination lawsuit may be appropriate in Beaumont, Houston, Orange or elsewhere under the facts and circumstances of the potential case.

Federal law prohibits age discrimination in the workplace, including restaurants, and victims of restaurant age discrimination may consult the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the AARP at http://www.aarp.org , as well as attorneys in order to learn more about their rights.  Recently, six waitresses filed a federal age discrimination lawsuit against, their employer, a Wisconsin restaurant, claiming they lost their jobs because of their age and weight.  See, http://www.wisn.com/news/17065233/detail.html , “Waitresses File Federal Complaints Against Former Employer,” 8/1/08. 

Whether restaurant age bias or discrimination occurs in Houston or elsewhere, victims of employment related age discrimination or retaliation have civil rights and may contact an attorney should they wish to determine if a restaurant age discrimination lawsuit may ultimately be appropriate in Houston or elswhere under the facts and circumstances of their potential case.

To research opinions about what what one can do with respect to avoiding age discrimination or overcoming age discrimination in the workplace one may want to visit the AARP website as a potential resource.

http://www.aarp.org/money/work/articles/what_you_can_do_about_age_bias.html?CMP=

An article by Bob Skladany posted at http://www.aarp.org entitled “Work @ 50+: What You Can Do About Age Bias” states that even though the ADEA makes age-based discrimination in hiring, pay, benefits, training, advancement and termination illegal, many people over the age of 50, and increasingly older than 40, believe that age bias still exists and affects them.  According to the article, research conducted by RetirementJobs.com and AARP confirms that between 80 and 95 percent of people over the age 50 believe that age bias is a fact of life.

In this regard, The Eagle-Tribune reported recently that a 58-year-old female bartender for a restaurant filed a federal lawsuit after she was fired alleging age discrimination by the restaurant because she contends that her bar manager said the restaurant “should hire sexier and younger bartenders and waitstaff.”  See, Kimble, James, “Bartender Alleges Age Discrimination Against Kingston Restaurant,” The Eagle-Tribune, http://www.eagletribune.com/punewsnh/local_story_135034516.html , 5/14/08.  The plaintiff in that restaurant age discrimination lawsuit claims two younger women are now working her shifts, and, according to her attorney, both of the employees “are attractive, young females” who are 30 years younger than the plaintiff.  Id.

Victims of restaurant age discrimination and age bias can research their rights with the AARP at http://www.aarp.org , contact the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and consult an attorney.  Whether restaurant age discrimination occurs in Beaumont, Dallas, Houston or elsewhere, victims have civil rights designed to protect them against age based employment discrimination and may ultimately contact an attorney to see whether a restaurant age discrimination lawsuit may be appropriate in Beaumont, Dallas, Houston or elsewhere under the facts and circumstances of their potential case.