It’s been three decades since the last time the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission adjusted its rules protecting women in the workplace who are pregnant, might get pregnant in the future or have ever been pregnant in the past. This week the EEOC released updated rules against pregnancy discrimination, saying it’s against the law. [More]
discrimination
Ex-Taco John’s Employee Claims Insulting Nametag Was Forced On Him
By 6.26.14
A 16-year-old took a job at a South Dakota Taco John’s, but didn’t sign on for verbal abuse from his manager. Finally, he says, the worst insult came earlier this week when his manager handed him a nametag with “♡GAYTARD♡” printed on it and forced him to wear it for his whole shift, including in front of customers. [More]
Law Barring People In Los Angeles From Living In Their Cars Struck Down, Deemed Discriminatory
By 6.20.14
People who call their vehicles home in Los Angeles no longer have to worry about being cited or arrested, now that a federal appeals court stuck down a 31-year-old law. [More]
Car Dealers Charge White Customers Less Than Everyone Else, Study Finds
By 1.23.14
Things that are okay for a car dealer to do: charge a buyer seeking financing a different rate based on his or her credit history. Things that are completely not okay for a car dealer to do: charge a buyer seeking financing a different rate based on his or her race. And yet they just keep doing it anyway. [More]
Costco Settles Gender-Discrimination Lawsuit for $8 Million
By 12.20.13
Giant wholesale retailer Costco has tentatively settled a gender-discrimination class-action lawsuit for $8 million, the Seattle Times reports. The settlement will become finalized if the court approves it at a hearing in February. [More]
Judge Tells Baker: You Can’t Sell Wedding Cakes Only To Straight Couples
By 12.9.13
In a case similar to another wedding cake situation in Oregon, a baker in Colorado who turned a same-sex couple away has been ordered by a judge to serve all couples, straight or gay, or face fines. The judge said that by refusing to accept gay customers, the owner of the bakery was discriminating against them. [More]
Restaurant Has No Choice: It’ll Allow Customer Who Didn’t Agree With Waitress’ Lifestyle Back
By 11.21.13
While it might seem unlikely that the customer who stiffed a waitress and wrote on the receipt that he or she didn’t agree with the lesbian waitress’ lifestyle would think, “Hmm, now’s a good time to go back there to eat,” if the patron decides to do so, it’s not like the restaurant could, or would, stop them from doing so. [More]
New York A.G. Investigating Macy’s & Barneys Over Claims Of Shopper Discrimination
By 10.30.13
After four shoppers came forward in recent weeks claiming that retailers Macy’s and Barneys New York New York discriminated against them because they’re African-American, New York’s attorney general is launching an investigation into security practices at those two department stores. [More]
What Kind Of Jerk Refuses To Tip A Waiter Because He’s Gay?
By 10.25.13
While endless debates about the practice of tipping food-service employees rage all over the Internet, most people agree on one thing: if you’re happy with the service you received, you should leave some kind of tip. Some diners at a Kansas Carrabba’s restaurant allegedly made their own exception to that: “unless you disapprove of the server’s personal life.” [More]
Hobby Lobby Totally Wants To Spin The Dreidel With You Now
By 10.7.13 — Updated: 2.11.14
In a statement released late on Friday afternoon, Hobby Lobby put out what it probably hopes is the last update in the controversy over the Oklahoma-based chain’s lack of Jewish holiday items on its shelves. What started as one customer’s simple search for a bar mitzvah card has become a pre-holiday public relations nightmare for the craft retailer. [More]
Is Hobby Lobby Deliberately Excluding Jewish Merchandise?
By 10.3.13
Hobby Lobby doesn’t really try to hide that their owners are very devout Christians. If the instrumental hymns on the store’s sound system didn’t clue you in, maybe the evangelical Easter newspaper ads, the company’s legal fight over health insurance reform, or stores being closed on Sunday would be a hint. But does that translate to deliberately excluding merchandise and holiday decorations for other religions? [More]
Judge: Abercrombie & Fitch Violated Civil Rights Of Former Worker By Banning Head Coverings
By 9.10.13
It isn’t just disabled customers or extra-large shoppers Abercrombie & Fitch has been accused of discriminating against — a judge says the clothing retailer’s Hollister brand was also in the wrong when a store fired a worker after she refused to remove her head covering, a hijab she wears for religious reasons. [More]
Lawsuit Claims Starbucks Employees Discriminated Against Deaf Customers In NYC
By 7.16.13
Starbucks is facing a lawsuit brought by 12 customers in Federal court claiming that employees at the chain discriminated against deaf people in New York City. The plaintiffs say they were refused service, ejected from the store and made fun of for how they speak. [More]
Study: Same-Sex Couples Face Bias When Seeking Info On Housing Rentals
By 6.19.13
A brand new study, the first of its kind, from the Department of Housing and Urban development found that same-sex couples aren’t getting quite a fair shake compared to heterosexual couples looking for info about rental housing advertised on the Internet. Which means that gay and lesbian couples aren’t hearing back as often to e-mail inquiries about renting an apartment. What’s more, gay couples face slightly more discrimination than lesbian couples. [More]
Customers Revolt, Make U.K. Pharmacy Chain Stop Sorting Toys By Gender
By 5.2.13
Early on, kids don’t care very much about what they’re supposed to enjoy playing with. Sometimes boys play with trucks, and girls play with sparkly magic wands. It bothers some people when toys are sorted into “Boys” and “Girls” sections, even if they aren’t explicitly labeled as such. But customers of UK pharmacy chain Boots got very upset when they noticed that toy sections had clear pink and blue labels, and a line of scientific exploration toys were only in the “boys” section. The message, detractors said: science isn’t for girls. Perhaps that caring for babies ins’t for boys, either. [More]
Is The USPS More Likely To Lose Boxes Emblazoned With The Word ‘Atheist’?
By 3.27.13
Here’s something odd. Would you think that packages would get lost more or less often according to the brand on the box or the words on their packaging? That shouldn’t be the case. A German company that sells handmade, minimalist shoes, did a cool branding thing and uses tape with the company’s name printed on it to seal their shipping boxes. That company’s name? “Atheist.” They noticed that a lot of packages sent to the United States were significantly delayed, and wondered why that was. So they conducted an experiment. That experiment proved that if you want a package to get lost, brand it with the word “ATHEIST.” [More]
Gay Couple Asked To Leave Family Entertainment Center Because They’re “Not Family”
By 1.9.13 — Updated: 1.11.13
UPDATE: The owners of this alley claim that the allegations made by the couple are “blatantly false.” More details, and the couple’s response, here. [More]
Automatically Adding Gratuity Only To The Bills Of Foreigners Is Pretty Much Discrimination
By 8.23.12
If you’ve ever traveled abroad, surely you’ve been told things like, “You don’t have to tip at restaurants in Europe” or other local customs you can expect to encounter. But servers at restaurants in Burlington, Vt. aren’t so sure an influx of travelers from Quebec are clued in to how tipping works, so some are just adding gratuity automatically to those bills. Awkward. [More]
