The Federal Government’s Evolving Stance on Transgender Discrimination

/

Announcing you will be transitioning at work can be nerve-wracking. You never know how your coworkers, or your employer will respond to your desire to live openly according to your gender identity. That’s why it is good to know that, for now at least, LGBT workers can turn to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to defend their rights and their transgender discrimination cases.

In this blog post, I will discuss the EEOC’s lawsuit against Ellucian, an educational services company, for transgender discrimination against one of its employees, which settled in 2016. I will discuss whether gender identity is still protected under Title VII and the pending U.S. Supreme Court case that could affect future gender identity discrimination claims. I will also explain how state laws can sometimes fill a gap left by federal anti-discrimination laws.

Ellucian Kicks Transgender Worker Off College Campus

Ellucian is a development and information technology company that provides technology support to college campuses across the country. But when one of those colleges got word that an Ellucian employee was planning to publicly transition from male to female in 2016, the college spoke up. And that created a transgender discrimination issue.

According to a press release by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) in 2016, Ellucian cut off its employee’s access to her workplace on an unnamed college campus the day after she informed her coworkers that she planned to come out as transgender at work. When the college complained, the IT company, which performed contract work for the college, removed the employee from campus at their request.

Transgender Discrimination is Sex-Stereotyping Discrimination, for Now

When transgender discrimination happens, LGBT workers have the right to be protected by state and federal anti-discrimination laws. At the federal level, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act protects against discrimination based on a person’s sex or gender (among other traits). Several courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court, have ruled that this includes transgender discrimination. They say that employers cannot make adverse employment decisions against employees (including removing them from particular jobs) based on sexual stereotypes or assumptions, such as how a person should speak or dress.

In 2018, in EEOC v R.G. & G.R. Harris Funeral Homes, Inc., the Sixth Circuit Court said that announcing you intend to transition is enough to trigger transgender discrimination protections:

“Discrimination on the basis of transgender and transitioning status is necessarily discrimination on the basis of sex.”

The 2016 settlement announcement in the Ellucian case contained strong language about the EEOC’s position regarding transgender discrimination:

“EEOC’s recent work on sex discrimination on the basis of transgender status and sex stereotyping goes back four years, when the Commission issued an opinion in Macy v. Dep’t of Justice, EEOC Appeal No. 0120120821, 2012 WL 1435995 (April 20, 2012), in which EEOC ruled that employment discrimination against employees because they are transgender is sex discrimination which violates Title VII. Since that time, EEOC has focused on protecting transgender individuals as a strategic enforcement priority and has resolved several potential charges and lawsuits.”

But in more recent years, the EEOC has turned its focus elsewhere. There have been no more recent settlements or lawsuits filed on the basis of transgender discrimination. While the EEOC still says businesses are banned from discriminating against LGBT workers based on sex biases, other parts of the Trump Administration have sought to legitimize transgender discrimination at the federal level.

U.S. Supreme Court to Decide the Future of Transgender Workers’ Rights

The internal dispute about transgender discrimination within the Trump Administration is getting some very public attention. That’s because the U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear another EEOC case filed on behalf of a transgender worker, Aimee Stephens. That case (the same one quoted above), could shape the future of transgender workers’ rights and expand or limit their access to federal anti-discrimination laws.

While the EEOC originally filed the case, once the Trump Administration took over, Aimee Stevens and non-profit groups including the American Civil Liberties Union stepped in to protect her rights. That was especially important since it was the Justice Department, not the EEOC that would have been arguing the case at the U.S. Supreme Court level. And Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ position doesn’t match the one the EEOC quoted in 2016.

State Laws Remain Steady for LGBT Workers Facing Uncertain Futures

The good news is that even if the U.S. Supreme Court rules that Title VII of the federal Civil Rights Act doesn’t apply to transgender discrimination or announcements of the intent to transition, their state laws might. New York and several other states have passed more inclusive state-level anti-discrimination laws that protect LGBT workers against discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity. Even if the Supreme Court takes the Trump Administration’s perspective on Title VII, these laws will remain on the books and provide protection to workers within these states who face the fear of being fired for coming out or publicly transitioning to their appropriate gender identity.

At Eisenberg & Baum, LLP, our gender discrimination attorneys  make it a point to stay up-to-date on all the latest changes and trends in transgender discrimination law. We know how to use both state and federal laws to protect LGBT workers from discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity. If you are gay or transgender and looking for help ending discrimination at work, contact us today to schedule a free consultation.

Sexual Harassment: Do You Have a Right to Publicly Name Your Harasser?

/

For some survivors of sexual harassment and sexual abuse, going public with what happened to them is part of the healing process. But if your employer or the organization involved refuses to disclose the name of the person who abused you, do you have the right to publicly name your harasser yourself?

In this blog post, I will discuss a New York Times article about confidentiality in the context of the Catholic Church sexual abuse scandal. I will discuss whether you have a right to publicly name your harasser, and whether a reasonable employer response can include publicity about your situation. I will also discuss how non-disclosure agreements and settlement agreements can affect your right to go public about what happened to you.

Catholic Diocese Release Names of Abusive Priests, But Not All of Them

In the year since Pennsylvania released a grand jury report naming over 300 predator priests within the state’s Catholic Churches, the pressure has been on local diocese to come forward. Victims advocate groups including the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) have been pressuring local bishops to release the names of clergy credibly accused of sexual abuse and sexual harassment. They have had mixed success.

In January, 2019, Texas bishops named nearly 300 priests credibly accused of abuse. A month later, Catholic leaders in New Jersey released an additional 200 names. The archbishop of Hartford, Connecticut added another 48 names to the list around the same time. In April, in the midst of a New York State attorney general’s investigation, the Archdiocese of New York published a list of 120 accused clergy members.

But there have been other subdivisions within the Catholic Church that have refused. The Rockville Center diocese in Long Island, New York, is among them. One of the largest dioceses in the country with 1.5 million Catholics, the organization has refused to join the movement toward transparency in responding to the sex abuse and sexual harassment crisis within the church. It claims doing so would be “premature” while the investigation is ongoing, and that doing so could do additional harm to the victims of sexual harassment and abuse within the church.

As a Sexual Harassment Victim, Can You Publicly Name Your Harasser?

But in many cases, it is those victims themselves who are demanding that the church publicly name their harassers. The New York Times quotes Donald H. Nohs, a religious expert and a survivor of sexual assault by a priest at the age of 13, who says:

“You’ve got to recognize the root cause and weed it out. . . . You’re not going to stop it if there’s not full disclosure.”

With some parts of the religious organization trying to dodge the bullet, the question becomes whether sexual assault and sexual harassment survivors have the right to publicly name their harassers. Public disclosure of a sexual harasser in the workplace can be part of an employer’s reasonable response to claims of abuse. However, often companies and organizations resist victims’ request to release the names, worried about the effect that may have on their reputation and public image. Do victims need to wait for the employer to make a public response, or can they go to the press directly?

This conversation has come up before in the context of private, secular employers like The Weinstein Co., Fox News, and even then-presidential-candidate Donald Trump. Generally speaking, the victims of sexual harassment have a right to publicly speak about what happened to them, and to publicly name their harasser. They do not have to wait for the employing organization to step forward.

However, when they do so, survivors should be prepared to back up their claims. Ideally, public statements about a person’s sexual harassment or abuse should come along with or after the filing of a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission or in federal court. Otherwise, the person speaking out could end up facing a lawsuit of their own, claiming libel or slander and saying that she or he made everything up. By pairing the public statement with a formal complaint, sexual harassment survivors can be sure they have a process to prove what they are saying is true outside of the “court of public opinion.”

Don’t Accidentally Give Up Your Right to Go Public

But sometimes, contracts with private employers can accidentally give up an employee’s right to go public with harassment or abuse. Broadly worded non-disparagement agreements, mandatory arbitration agreements, confidential settlements of claims, and especially non-disclosure agreements can cut off a person’s right to speak freely about what happened to them, and who did it.

That’s why it is so important for the victims of sexual harassment and abuse to receive the help and advise of experienced employment discrimination attorneys before they go public. Public disclosure of sexual harassment and abuse can be key to raising awareness and finding others who share your story. But if you aren’t careful, you could accidentally violate a contract you may not even realize you signed. Before you publicly name your harasser, be sure to have a sexual harassment attorney review all your paperwork, to make sure there’s nothing stopping you from speaking out and telling your story.

At Eisenberg & Baum, LLP, our sexual harassment attorneys know when and how to help you publicly name your harasser after an incident of sexual harassment or assault. We know what to look for and can help you develop a plan to go public while protecting your right to compensation for the harm done to you. We will meet with you to review your situation and your options, so you can complete the healing process. Contact us today to schedule a free consultation.

What to Do When Sexual Harassment Targets Teenage Workers

/

Whether as summer jobs or shifts after school, teenagers are increasingly part of the workforce. In fast food restaurants, grocery stores, and offices across the country, teens interact with older supervisors and managers that teach them what it means to be an employee. But when the lessons turn sour, young employees can learn the wrong message. They may never hear what to do when sexual harassment targets teenage workers.

In this blog post, I will review a lawsuit by the Time’s Up Legal Defense Fund against McDonald’s for sexual harassment targeting teenage workers. I will discuss how minors can pursue Title VII civil rights claims, and what their parents need to know to protect their rights.

Young Employees Work in Industries with High Sexual Harassment

Teenagers’ early working environments are more than just jobs, they are classrooms. They teach teens how to be employees and what is expected of them at work. So when sexual harassment targets teenage workers the lesson comes out all wrong, teaching young employees that sexual harassment and violence is normal, when really it is illegal.

Teenage employees often find their first jobs in hospitality or retail. Unfortunately, these industries have the highest number of sexual harassment complaints of any public sector. Between 2005 and 2015, 14.23% of all sexual harassment charges filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) can from the hospitality and food services industry. 13.44% were from retail trade companies. One study of adolescent employees showed that 63% of girls and 37% of boys who work part-time have experienced sexual harassment by supervisors, coworkers, and others at work.

Teenage Workers Have Protection Under Title VII

When sexual harassment targets teenage workers, it triggers all the same protections as if the victim had been an adult. Teens (and their parents) expect their employers to take it seriously when they report sexual harassment by superiors or coworkers. If they don’t, underage employees can file complaints with the EEOC or in federal court through their parents for sexual harassment, gender discrimination, and any retaliation that happened after they reported the conduct to their employers.

That’s exactly what the Time’s Up Legal Defense Fund (housed at the National Women’s Law Center), the labor group Fight for $15, and the American Civil Liberties Union have done. Earlier this year, the organizations filed 23 new complaints against McDonald’s on behalf of employees facing sexual harassment: 20 with the EEOC and 3 federal lawsuits. The legal action included four teenage workers, including Brittany Hoyos.

Parents May Not Hear About Sexual Harassment Until It Is Too Late

Brittany didn’t tell her parents about what was happening at work at first. When she started working at McDonald’s at age 16 in 2016, she said her manager began harassing her almost right away. He touched her hair, brushed up against her, texted her about her appearance, and even tried to kiss her after offering her a ride home. But she hid the behavior. Her complaint says:

“I was embarrassed. . . . I felt like I was at fault or that I had done something wrong.”

It was her first job. She told the New York Times interviewer:

“I just thought that was something you would have to put up with.”

But when she came home from work crying, her parents learned that she had been suffering months of verbal harassment. They contacted the franchise, demanding that the manager be held accountable. Instead, Brittany became the subject of retaliation, according to the complaint. She was eventually fired. Her mother, who also worked at the restaurant, also came under fire for standing up for her daughter’s rights. She lost her management training as was demoted to a minimum-wage crew member with fewer hours. Eventually, she quit too.

It is not uncommon for teenage workers to stay quiet when they become the targets of sexual harassment. As Dr. Heather Hlavka, a professor of criminology and sociology at Marquette University, explained to Slate:

“But among teenagers, reporting is very, very low. Because developmentally, you start to be aware of all these cultural things and barriers that stand in your way. But you know, no matter what your age, you always want to be included. You don’t want to feel isolated or like you don’t belong, whether it’s high school parties, fraternity parties, college campuses, or your workplace. And if you report people who are close to you, you could lose all of that, not to mention get someone close to you in trouble.”

What to Do When Sexual Harassment Targets Teenage Workers

That is why it is so important for parents to act when they do learn of sexual harassment targeting teenage workers. Support your daughter or son, making sure they know this kind of behavior is not okay. Encourage them to object to the behavior at work and to talk to their supervisor. You should also help them by sending a written complaint to the manager or owner of the business, requesting action against the offending employee. If and when your teen starts to experience retaliation, you need to be there for them through that too. Make sure they know you don’t think it is their fault.

You should also talk to an experienced employment discrimination attorney as soon as you believe the employer isn’t going to respond to your complaints. At Eisenberg & Baum, LLP, our sexual harassment attorneys can help you and your teenager review what happened, and understand your legal options. We will help you file a complaint with the EEOC or federal court against the corporation or franchise owner, and we will be there to help you get the relief you deserve. If you or your child are facing sexual harassment at work, contact us today to schedule a free consultation.

Common Examples of Workplace Harassment

/

You may have the feeling you’re being harassed at work, but you’re not sure whether you have an actual legal claim. There can be a difference between what one individual employee feels is harassment and what constitutes illegal harassment under federal, state and local laws. Merely being bothered by a supervisor or co-worker, while unfortunate for an employee, does not necessarily mean you have a legal claim for harassment. Workplace harassment has a very specific definition under the law. We’ll discuss that definition and give some common examples of harassment in the workplace.

If you have experienced what you believe to be harassment at your job, these examples can help you understand some of the types of harassment that lead to a legal claim. If you’d like more guidance on your rights, contact Eisenberg & Baum. We have an experienced group of employment discrimination attorneys who are ready to help and advocate on your behalf.

What Is Workplace Harassment Under the Law?

Harassment can be a form of employment discrimination under various federal, state and local laws. In order to be considered discrimination, the harassment must be based on some protected trait — some aspect of who the employee is, rather than his or her behavior or performance on the job. Under federal law, those traits include:

  • Race or Color,
  • National origin,
  • Sex or Gender,
  • Pregnancy,
  • Age,
  • Religion,
  • Disability, and
  • Genetic information.

Many state and local governments have enacted similar anti-discrimination laws which overlap with the federal protections. New York State’s Human Rights Law adds protections for discrimination or harassment based on a person’s:

  • Sexual orientation,
  • Gender identity
  • Marital status,
  • Arrest and conviction record,
  • Military status or service,
  • Religious observance of Sabbath,
  • Political activities,
  • Unemployment status, and
  • Status as a victim of domestic violence.

Illegal workplace harassment under the state or federal law happens when an employee suffers unwanted conduct based on a protected trait and either:

  • The employee had to endure the conduct in order to keep their job or
  • The conduct was so severe or happened so often that it created a hostile work environment.

Typically, isolated incidents of unwanted conduct or petty slights won’t be enough to file a claim under anti-discrimination laws, though that’s not a hard and fast rule. Some conduct can be so severe that even one incident can create a legal claim of workplace harassment. The examples we provide below tend to focus on the more common situation where an employee is subjected to continued unwelcome conduct over an extended period of time.

Examples of Workplace Harassment

Harassment can come in many forms and from many sources. The harassing conduct can be verbal or physical and the harasser can be a co-worker, supervisor or even an non-employee like a customer or contractor. Under New York State’s Human Rights Act, non-employees are also protected if they are doing business at the company’s location (including contract workers or vendors). Here are some common forms of workplace harassment.

Verbal Harassment

Possibly the most common behavior that comes to mind when you think of workplace harassment is verbal harassment. Verbal harassment can include jokes, innuendos, slurs, name-calling and insults, among other things, as long as the behavior is based on a protected trait.

Verbal Harassment

One discrimination case settled between the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and an Arizona-based aviation services company provides a good example of the type of verbal conduct that can create a workplace harassment claim. In that case, an employee of the company claimed he was harassed based on his national origin (Turkey/Palestine) and religion (Islam). The employee said that his supervisor made insulting remarks to him, including that he “dressed like [he was] gonna blow up the World Trade Center,” and made derogatory jokes about Arabs. Despite the fact that the employee reported this conduct to his employer, the employer did nothing to stop it and the employee eventually resigned. The company eventually settled the case for $50,000.

In another EEOC case against the restaurant chain Golden Corral, the verbal harassment focused on the employee’s mental disability, and then turned to sexual harassment. The company’s dishwasher had a form of high-functioning autism. His assistant manager called him a “retard” and “stupid”, swore at him, and threatened to sexually assault him, demanding oral sex. Eventually, the employee was forced to leave because of the hostile work environment after he was again assigned to report to the same abusive manager. He filed a complaint with the EEOC, which sued Golden Corral’s parent company, Jax, LLC. The case eventually settled for $85,000.

Physical Harassment

Though physical harassment is less common than verbal harassment, it can often be more severe. Physical conduct, like hitting, pushing, groping and other touching, can be present in any number of harassment claims, but is often associated with sexual harassment.

Physical Harassment

For example, in a sexual harassment case filed by the EEOC against Red Lobster, several female employees alleged their manager created a hostile work environment by, among other conduct, physically harassing them. The conduct included the manager pressing himself against the employees as well as grabbing and groping them. Again, the employees complained to their employer, but no action was taken. After the EEOC filed suit on the employees’ behalf, Red Lobster agreed to pay $160,000 in damages and make other changes at its restaurant to avoid similar incidents in the future.

Starting in 2019, New York State law now requires all employers to train new hires and existing employees about how to prevent and respond to physical sexual harassment. This training must include examples of workplace harassment and explain an employee’s rights and remedies if they find themselves the target of illegal and unwanted behavior.

Supervisor Harassment

Harassment can be most intimidating when it comes from a boss, manager, or supervisor. Supervisors can use their position of authority to subject employees to discriminatory conduct, leaving the employee feeling trapped and vulnerable. Federal courts have found that when it is the employee’s supervisor doing the unwanted conduct, it creates a claim for workplace harassment that much sooner.

Supervisor Harassment

In another sexual harassment case, brought by a female employee of UBS Financial Services, a manager and UBS Vice President allegedly harassed the employee over a period of several years with repeated inappropriate sexual comments, remarks about her body, explicit emails and phone calls to the employee’s home. The employee complained to her employer, but instead of getting relief from the harassment, she was ultimately fired. The employee filed a lawsuit against UBS and received an award of $8.4 million.

Supervisor harassment can even come from the owner of the company itself. When you work for a small business, sometimes it can be hard to get relief under Title VII or other federal anti-discrimination laws. However, the New York State Human Rights Act applies no matter how small the company is. When a popular New York restaurant owner created a “culture of fear” among his employees, they went to the press to make their stories heard. The New York Human Rights Division reviews these kinds of cases. If no resolution can be reached, state residents can sue their bosses in state court.

Co-Worker Harassment

While coworkers may not have the same level of authority over an employee, they can also create an intimidating work environment for employees that is just as unlawful as harassing conduct of a supervisor.

Coworker Harassment

A case brought by the EEOC against a North Carolina trucking company in 2011 exemplified the type of hostile work environment case that can be created by the discriminatory actions of coworkers. The EEOC brought the case on behalf of two African-American employees, alleging their employer had allowed a racially hostile work environment to exist. According to the EEOC, that environment was created, in large part, by coworkers who made derogatory and threatening comments to the employees, used racial slurs and even displayed a noose in the workplace. The jury in that case agreed that the employees had been harassed based on their race and awarded them a total of $200,000 in damages.

In another EEOC complaint, several partners of a top law firm sued the firm for coworker harassment and gender discrimination they said created a “fraternity culture” at work. Among their claims, the female lawyers said that male partners would demand that they sing and dance, force the women to climb over them or push them into pools at company parties, and make sexualized comments about the female employees’ clothes, high heels, or smiles. When these male partners would make inappropriate jokes they would often say “add it to the file” acknowledging that their conduct was illegal. The case requested over $2 million in damages.

Are You Being Harassed at Work?

The examples of unlawful workplace harassment don’t end with what we’ve listed above. In some cases, there is a mixture of unwelcome conduct (both verbal and physical) and harassers (supervisors, coworkers and others) that ultimately creates a discriminatory environment for an employee. In other cases, the initial workplace harassment is made worse by retaliation when employees speak out. Each case of workplace harassment is unique. Whether it rises to a level of illegal discrimination depends on the specific facts of the case.

At Eisenberg & Baum, LLP, our employment discrimination lawyers have seen countless examples of workplace harassment. We know what it takes to make, and win, a case for sexual harassment and gender discrimination in state or federal court. If you’d like to discuss the facts of your own employment harassment claim with an experienced attorney, please contact us. We offer free initial consultations for sexual harassment claims and bill on a contingent fee basis, so you won’t have to pay us unless we win your case.

Are Female Government Contractors Protected from Gender Discrimination?

/

Should female government contractors be entitled to fair pay for the work they do? An Obama-era 2014 executive order called Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces sought to hold contractors accountable for pay violations, sexual harassment, and other forms of gender discrimination. But those protections have been rolled back under the Trump Administration, leaving employees wondering if they are still protected at all.

In this blog post, I will discuss the federal laws and executive orders protecting female government contractors from sexual harassment, abuse, and gender discrimination. I will explain how an Obama-era executive order extended additional protections, and how a 2017 executive order repealing those protections could change the way women are treated, and paid, in government contract jobs.

Anti-Discrimination Laws Protect Female Government Contractors from Gender Discrimination and Unfair Pay

If you work for the federal government or one of its many contractors, you would assume that federal laws against unfair compensation, harassment, and discrimination would apply to you as much as to any employee of a private company. And you would be right. Federal contractors, departments, and agencies can all be sued for violating anti-discrimination laws including Title VII of the federal Civil Rights Act and the Equal Pay Act. Employees of these contractors have just as much right to file complaints with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and in federal court as their privately employed counterparts.

But in 2010, the United States Government Accountability Office (GAO) found that female government contractors were being targetted for sexual harassment, unequal pay, and gender discrimination violations. Companies that received millions in federal contract dollars were among the worst offenders when it came to violations of 14 labor and civil rights laws. Of the 50 worst employers examined by the GAO, 60% had been given federal contract money after receiving penalties by the Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division. They scored similarly poorly at the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).

Mandatory Arbitration Clauses Hide Sexual Harassment Against Female Government Contractors

But those same numbers weren’t showing up in the courts. The research did not reveal very many allegations of sexual harassment or sexual assault against the government contractor employers. At the time, this was attributed to the mandatory arbitration clauses in the contractors’ employment agreements. These agreements pushed sexual harassment and abuse claims out of the public eye, forcing them to be resolved behind closed doors by privately paid arbitrators, rather than federal judges.

Obama-Era Executive Order Put Government Money Behind Fair Pay

On July 31, 2014, in response to the 2010 GAO study, then-President Barack Obama signed the Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces Executive Order. This order said that government contractors receiving more than $500,000 in federal funds had to live up to the expectations of civil rights and labor laws to get their money. It required applicants for federal funds to disclose 3 years of public and private awards or decisions (including arbitration decisions) against the company for violations of:

  •  “(A) the Fair Labor Standards Act;
  •  (B) the Occupational Safety and Health Act of1970;
  •  (C) the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act;
  •  (D) the National Labor Relations Act;
  •  (E) 40 U.S.C. chapter 31, subchapter IV, also known as the Davis-Bacon Act;
  •  (F) 41 U.S.C. chapter 67, also known as the Service Contract Act;
  •  (G) Executive Order 11246 of September 24, 1965 (Equal Employment Opportunity);
  •  (H) section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973;
  •  (I) 38 U.S.C. 3696, 3698, 3699, 4214, 4301-4306, also known as the Vietnam Era Veterans’ Readjustment Assistance Act of 1974;
  • (J) the Family and Medical Leave Act;
  • (K) title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964;
  • (L) the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990;
  • (M) the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967;
  • (N) Executive Order 13658 of February 12, 2014 (Establishing a Minimum Wage for Contractors); or
  • (O) equivalent State laws, as defined in guidance issued by the Department of Labor.”

The order also required federal government contractors to provide transparency in their pay determination and to remove mandatory arbitration in cases of sexual harassment, sexual assault, or discrimination. The Executive Order also contained a detailed explanation as to why these protections were necessary:

“This order seeks to increase efficiency and cost savings in the work performed by parties who contract with the Federal Government by ensuring that they understand and comply with labor laws. … ”

President Trump Undoes Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces Executive Order

The Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces Executive Order continued as the law of the land for the rest of President Obama’s term in office. But just over two months into Donald Trump’s presidency, he signed an executive order of his own. The new order didn’t include any sweeping policy statements or provide any explanation. It simply said,

“Executive Order 13673 of July 31, 2014, section 3 of Executive Order 13683 of December 11, 2014, and Executive Order 13738 of August 23, 2016, are revoked.”

It then instructed all executive agencies and departments to rescind orders, rules, regulations, and policies based on the now-revoked orders. Without further instruction, the order left it unclear what those agencies were supposed to put in their place to protect female government contractors.

Fighting Back Against Unfair Pay and Gender Discrimination

Two years later, female government contractors still face gender discrimination on the job and in their paychecks. For some, the Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces Executive Order has created lasting changes to their employment contracts. They have better access to federal and state anti-discrimination laws, and a clearer understanding of their companies’ pay structures.

But for others, when Trump rescinded the executive order, it signaled a return to the old habits and cavalier violations of federal labor and civil rights laws that prompted the GAO study in the first place. For those female government contractors, a successful defense against sexual harassment and gender discrimination at work will depend on zealous representation in front of arbitrators and investigators alike, and a creative approach to getting them the relief they need.

The employment attorneys at Eisenberg & Baum, LLP, can help. Our experienced gender discrimination and sexual harassment attorneys know how to fight back against government contractor employers trying to hide behind arbitration clauses and pay secrecy. Contact us to schedule a consultation at our office in New York City, or over the phone.