Google sued for pay discrimination: A class action suit filed Thursday against Google Inc. claims the tech company systemically pays women less than men in similar jobs and also enables unequal promotions and opportunities for male and female workers. The sex discrimination case filed in San Francisco Superior Court, Ellis v. Google, accuses the company of paying women at all levels less than men in comparable positions, assigning women lower-tier jobs with lower pay and compensation than men and promoting women less frequently. The lawsuit also claims Google failed to correct these issues even after being made aware of them. This lawsuit is filed under California law, which has a more expansive scope than federal law. Unsurprisingly, this lawsuit comes on the heels of Google’s win against the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) which made vague allegations of pay discrimination and was requiring voluminous data reporting. In that case, the ALJ ruled in favor of Google. To see a copy of the complaint click here. Source: The National Law Journal 9/14/17
Have you caught a lie on a resume? A recent survey from CareerBuilder shows that 3 in 4 HR managers (75%) report having caught a lie on a resume, and only 12% of HR managers are likely to consider calling a candidate that does something unusual or outrageous in for an interview. Among human resource managers, 39% said they spend less than a minute initially looking at a resume. Nearly 1 in 5 (19%) spend less than 30 seconds. Here are some of the lies found in resumes: an applicant claimed to have written computer code the hiring manager had actually written – both had the same previous job, but the applicant did not know that fact, an applicant said he worked for Microsoft but had no idea who Bill Gates was, an applicant's resume was lifted from the Internet and did not match the cover letter, and another applicant said he studied under Nietzsche. Source: CareerBuilder 9/14/17
Peter Dobb appointed next NLRB general counsel: President Donald Trump has tapped Peter B. Robb, a longtime labor and employment attorney at Downs Rachlin Martin PLLC, to become the National Labor Relations Board’s next general counsel. After earning his law degree from the University of Maryland School of Law in 1976, Robb worked as a field attorney in the NLRB’s Baltimore office for three years. He then spent several years as a supervisory attorney with the Federal Labor Relations Authority. Source: Law360 9/15/17
Does salary history justify paying women less? The U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals will take a second look at a decision that said employers can pay women less than men for the same job. A three-judge panel of the appeals court said in April that women can be paid less based on salary histories. An en banc court will revisit that decision, which said pay disparities between men and women are lawful if the difference is not based on gender. The unanimous panel said the Equal Pay Act permits pay differences based on "a factor other than sex," which includes past salaries. "If prior salary alone is responsible for the disparity, requiring an employer to consider factors in addition to prior salary cannot resolve the problem that the EEOC and the plaintiff have identified," Judge Lynn S. Adelman wrote in Rizo v. Yovino, No. 16-15372 (9th Circuit Court of Appeals, 4/27/17). Source: Findlaw 9/7/17
Federal contractor minimum wage increases to $10.35 per hour: The Labor Department’s Wage and Hour Division issued a notice announcing that the applicable minimum wage rate to be paid to workers performing work on or in connection with federal contracts covered by Executive Order 13658 is $10.35 per hour beginning January 1, 2018. On that same date, the required minimum cash wage that generally must be paid to tipped employees performing work on or in connection with covered contracts will increase to $7.25 per hour. The notice was published in the Federal Register September 15, 2017. Source: CCH 9/18/17
Pay raise of $666 was not sign of the devil: The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit ruled last week that Cleveland-Marshall College of Law and former dean Craig Boise did not violate the First Amendment rights of the school’s longtime professor Sheldon Gelman, who spearheaded a successful drive to unionize the faculty. Gelman helped organize a 2012 drive to unionize the law school faculty, according to court documents. Boise and university leaders did not formally oppose unionization, although the law school dean made it clear that the effort was “causing friction” within the school, according to the opinion. The following spring, Gelman was allocated a $666 raise by Boise – a relatively low amount that he claimed was retaliation and a Satanic reference. Boise countered that faculty members were put into four groups based on their scholarship, teaching, and service, and accordingly received raises of $5,000, $3,000, $666 and $0. The $666 figure was the result of dividing available funds between the number of eligible faculty, Boise claimed. The appellate court noted that several faculty members who were active in the union organizing effort received the larger raises, while some who were not involved also got the $666 pay increases. The 6th Circuit upheld that the law school’s raises did not equate to a violation of Gelman’s first amendment rights. Source: 9/13/17