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Hari C

Mike Cagney Resigns as CEO After Sexual Harassment Allegations

The CEO of SoFi, a $4 billion startup company that provides student loans, personal loans and mortgage refinancing, is resigning immediately following sexual harassment allegations against the company.

According to CNN, the executive shuffle marks an abrupt shift from just four days ago when SoFi said Cagney would step down by the end of the year.

Cagney’s departure follows a lawsuit from a former employee who claimed he was fired from the financial startup after reporting incidents of women being harassed by their managers.

“Recently … the focus has shifted more toward litigation and me personally,” Cagney wrote in a note to employees on Monday announcing his stepping down. “The combination of HR-related litigation and negative press have become a distraction from the company’s core mission.”

Huntington Ingalls Refused to Hire Hearing-Impaired Man

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has filed a lawsuit against shipbuilder Huntington Ingalls Incorporated for refusing to hire a pipefitter after discovering his hearing impairment. The company is also accused of not providing the man with a reasonable accommodation during the hiring process.

As mentioned in Press News, Stanley Dowdle, an experienced pipefitter, failed the hearing portion of the test, and was denied a job at Newport News Shipbuilding. EEOC says failing to hire the man is a violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

EEOC officials said they filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Newport News this month after not being able to reach an agreement with the shipyard.

“Employers must remember their obligation to provide a reasonable accommodation to individuals with disabilities — even at the hiring phase — unless doing so would cause an undue hardship,” EEOC Charlotte District Office attorney Lynette Barnes said in a news release. “Allowing him to use his hearing aids for the purpose they were intended for wouldn’t be an unusual or burdensome request.”

 

Jessica Biel’s Restaurant Sued for Withholding $400K from Restaurant Employees

Lawsuit Accuses Google of Discriminating Against Women in Pay and Promotions

Google, which is already under federal investigation over alleged gender discrimination, has just been hit with another lawsuit claiming it systematically pays women less than men.

The legal action by three female employees seeks class-action status to cover all women employed by the Mountain View search giant in the past four years, as mentioned in The Mercury News.

“Google has discriminated and continues to discriminate against its female employees by systematically paying them lower compensation than Google pays to male employees performing substantially similar work under similar working conditions,” said the lawsuit, filed Thursday in California Superior Court in San Francisco.

“Google has channeled and segregated, and continues to channel and segregate, women on the basis of their sex into lower compensation levels and into less-compensated and less-favorable job ladders and levels than men with equal or lesser qualifications and/or men performing substantially similar work,” the lawsuit said.

 

The Federal Court Rules in Favor of Alabama Breastfeeding Cop

An Alabama police officer won her discrimination case against the state police department after she was demoted and denied accommodations that allowed her to breast-feed when she returned from maternity leave.

According to People, Stephanie Hicks was an investigator in the narcotics division before transferring to the less-hazardous pharmaceutical unit for the duration of her pregnancy. When she returned from maternity leave, Hicks received multiple write-ups for minor infractions, and was demoted from an investigator to the patrol unit, which left her with a lower salary, no car and a requirement to work on nights and weekends.

In addition, Hicks was obligated to wear a bulletproof vest that hurt her milk production and made it tough to pump. Her department said her only options were to go without a bulletproof vest or wear a specially fitted one that had gaping holes and would inadequately protect her. Hicks quit and first filed the lawsuit in 2013.

Judge Calls for $212K in Pay Back Wages to Immigrant Workers

Two restaurants and an employment agency have been charged with mistreating and underpaying immigrant workers who are in the country without authorization.

The decree issued by Judge John Zee calls for a total $212,500 in back wages and penalties to be paid out to several employees of Hibachi Sushi Buffet in Cicero, Hibachi Grill Buffet in Elk Grove Village and Jiao’s Employment Agency in Chinatown.

As stated in the Chicago Tribune, the consent decree — in which the judge oversees and monitors the execution of the settlement — requires the businesses to change their employment practices. The decree calls for the employers to keep records of employees’ hours and wages, provide training on employment discrimination laws, develop and implement an anti-discrimination policy, and provide training. In addition, if the employers provide lodging, they are to ensure it is free of cockroaches and other vermin, includes utilities, such as heat and running water, and contains a working bathroom, among other conditions.

“These employment agencies and restaurants exploited workers through inhumane working conditions and discrimination, violating both the state’s wage laws and their civil rights,” Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan, who filed the original lawsuit, said in an e-mailed statement. “These court-enforceable settlements will ensure that the restaurants and employment agencies comply with the law by changing their practices, treating all employees equally, and paying them what they have earned.”

Blood Bank of Hawaii Fires Woman Who Was Battling Cancer

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is suing the Blood Bank of Hawaii, alleging it terminated an employee who was fighting cancer because she ran out of sick leave.

BBH President and CEO Kim-Anh Nguyen said in a statement: “Blood Bank of Hawaii is aware that a lawsuit has been filed by Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. We uphold all Equal Employment Opportunity principles and it is our policy to comply with federal and state laws. We are committed to resolving the lawsuit and ensuring all BBH employees are duly protected under the applicable laws.”

As mentioned in Hawaii News Now, Jane Magaoay began working at the Blood Bank of Hawaii as a laboratory assistant in 2012. She was diagnosed with breast cancer two years later.

The lawsuit claims Magaoay took additional time off to undergo chemotherapy treatment and the Blood Bank terminated her for exceeding the 12-week maximum leave policy.

“They failed to provide her with additional leave as a reasonable accommodation for her medical condition. And during the investigation we found that other employees are also terminated under the same type of situation,” said EEOC Honolulu Director Glory Gervacio Saure.

Broadcaster Suing ESPN for Racial Misunderstanding Speaks Out

Former tennis professional and ESPN broadcaster Doug Adler has filed a lawsuit against ESPN because he was fired due to a misunderstanding with his use of the word “guerrilla” while describing aggressive play by African-American tennis champion Venus Williams.

Many listeners heard the word “guerrilla” as “gorilla” and a slight at Williams’ race.

As mentioned in the New York Post, Adler apologized for the comment, while continuing to insist he was innocent, but ESPN let him go anyway and Adler responded by filing a lawsuit against the network in February for wrongful termination.

“They didn’t have good cause and I didn’t do anything wrong,” Adler said during the sit-down interview. “They killed me, they made me unemployable. They ended my career, they killed my reputation, my good name. What else was I supposed to do?”

Justice Department Argues Rights Law Does Not Protect Gays

The Department of Justice filed court papers arguing that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 does not protect discrimination against gay and bisexual employees, taking a stand against a decision reached under President Barack Obama.

As mentioned in the New York Times, the department filed it the same day President Trump announced on Twitter that transgender people would be banned from serving in the military, raising concerns among civil rights activists that the Trump administration was trying to undermine lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights won under previous administrations.

The filing came in a discrimination case before the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit involving Donald Zarda, a skydiving instructor. In 2010, Zarda was fired by his employer Altitude Express. Before taking a female client on a tandem dive, Zarda told the woman he was gay to assuage any awkwardness that might arise from his being tightly strapped to her during the jump. The woman’s husband complained to the company, which subsequently fired Zarda. Zarda then sued Altitude Express, claiming it had violated Title VII.

 

Esurance Supervisor Calls Employee ‘Whiny Jew’ for Reporting an Injury

Brandon Marshall, a former Esurance call center employee is suing the company for alleged anti-Semitic harassment and discrimination. Marshall claims he was called a “whiny Jew” by his supervisor for reporting an injury, and that he endured epithets from a human resource manager after winning company tickets to a baseball game.

As mentioned in USA Today, Marshall had to hire a lawyer to secure time off for Jewish Sabbath, and he was targeted for a performance audit and wrongfully terminated after reporting the issues to upper management.

San Francisco-based Esurance, which is a subsidiary of Allstate, said it could not comment on the lawsuit directly, but said it has several programs in place to address claims of discrimination based on disability or ethnicity.

Marshall’s complaint accuses Esurance of nine separate violations of the Civil Rights and Americans with Disabilities acts, including wrongful termination, retaliation, creating a hostile work environment and failure to accommodate religious practices.