In 2014, a Missouri trucking company unlawfully damaged a former employee’s reputation after he got medical attention for an injury sustained on the job. In 2008, the driver informed his employer that he had sustained a back injury. It was serious enough that he had to be prescribed pain medication that would prevent him from… Read More
Posts Categorized In: Kansas City
Misclassification Identified as Serious Threat to American Workers
One major area of concern for modern workers is how the so-called “gig economy” impacts their classification as an employee. With more freelancers and contractors entering the marketplace, employees still have several benefits to which freelancers are not entitled. These include the right to file discrimination and wrongful termination lawsuits against their employers. Employees are… Read More
Kansas City Firefighter Denied Promotion on Grounds of Race Wins Lawsuit
Tarshish Jones, a veteran Kansas City firefighter, won a $356,000 workplace discrimination settlement against the KC fire department in October of last year. The settlement came after Missouri legislators changed the law raising the standard of proof in discrimination cases. Beforehand, employees claiming workplace discrimination need only prove that discrimination played into an overall decision-making… Read More
Missouri Legislature Seeks to Put Further Restrictions on Employee Lawsuits
Missouri workers’ right to sue their companies for workplace discrimination has been the subject of widespread tort reform over the past couple of years. The controversial SB 43 included measures that: Shield perpetrators of sexual misconduct from being directly sued by their victims. Make it easier for employers to discriminate against their employees. Limits punitive… Read More
Bill to Force Arbitration in Workplace Discrimination Lawsuits Dies
A bill that would have forced Missouri’s workers to settle workplace discrimination lawsuits through private arbitration as opposed to the courts has died in committee. The bill would have strengthened the enforceability of employee contracts that require employees to settle workplace discrimination lawsuits via private arbitration as opposed to the court. The bill would have… Read More
More Sexual Misconduct Complaints Against Missouri Legislature
Since strengthening its policies against sexual harassment complaints in 2015, the Missouri legislature has faced twice as many allegations of sexual misconduct as it did in the two years prior. Whether this is a result of more misconduct being committed by legislators or it is the impact of having created an environment in which victims… Read More
Federal Government Suspends St. Louis Housing Program
One of the unintended consequences of Senate Bill 43, that saw workplace protections rolled back and made workplace discrimination lawsuits more difficult to win, was St. Louis’s suspension from FHAP (Fair Housing Assistance Program). Last year, the US Department of Housing and Urban Development contacted Gov. Eric Greitens, who signed the bill into law, with… Read More
US Court Rules Discriminating Against Employees for Wearing Dreadlocks is Legal
The 11th US Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against the EEOC, which filed a lawsuit on behalf of Chastity Jones. Jones filed a discrimination lawsuit after having an offer of employment rescinded by Catastrophe Management Services located in Mobile, Alabama. They said her dreadlocks violated company policy on personal grooming. While it is true that… Read More
Is Sexual Favoritism a Form of Gender Discrimination?
Sexual discrimination in the workplace usually conjures images of sexual harassment or gender exclusion for promotions or executive positions. In one interesting case from California in 2005, female employees sued the Department of Corrections because they were passed up for promotions given to employees who were involved in consensual sexual relationships with the Deputy Warden…. Read More
Former Hospital Employee Alleges Hostile Workplace in Discrimination Lawsuit
Kevin Anderson, a former employee of Mercy Villa and Mercy Hospital, has filed a lawsuit against the hospital alleging that he was fired for reporting instances of workplace harassment. The lawsuit alleges that Anderson endured a hostile work environment in which other employees called him racial slurs. Anderson claims that staff referred to him as… Read More