Associational Discrimination The New Risk in Employment Litigation
Track: Employment Law & Legislation
Recent cases have extended the scope of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act to cover so-called associational discrimination interpreting federal law to prevent discrimination and retaliation based, not only on an employees own protected characteristics or activity, but on the employees’ association with another individual who comes within a protected classification or who has engaged in protected activity. In addition, the U.S. Supreme Court soon will be issuing its ruling on whether the same protection extends to an employee whose fianc or friend has complained of discrimination. This presentation will examine this trend in federal discrimination law by analyzing recent cases that established the associational discrimination doctrine and the pending case at the U.S. Supreme Court.
Joseph L. Beachboard
Joseph L. Beachboard is a nationally recognized expert on employment law issues. He serves as managing director of Ogletree Deakins, an employment law specialty firm with more than 850 attorneys in 52 offices. In addition to representing management in a wide variety of employment and labor matters, Mr. Beachboard speaks regularly before HR and employer groups on cutting edge employment law topics. He is a member of SHRM and for the past two decades has been a presenter at this program and the SHRM Annual Conference & Exposition. Mr. Beachboard also has developed an expertise in providing informative and engaging training programs—and has worked with dozens of companies around the country, including the cast and crew of dozens of NBC television shows (such as The Office and The Tonight Show) and the contestants, judges, and crew of several competition shows (such as So You Think You Can Dance and Master Chef).