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Recently, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ruled that sexual orientation discrimination is already illegal according to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. This groundbreaking decision by the EEOC declares that employment discrimination against gay, lesbian, and bisexual workers is unlawful in all 50 states. The commission already found that Title VII bars discrimination on the basis of gender identity, protecting trans employees. According to the act, Title VII prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex, including, the Supreme Court has ruled, irrational sex stereotyping.

The EEOC states that if an employer discriminates against a gay employee for being too “feminine” or a lesbian employee for being too “butch”, this is illegal sex stereotyping. Now the commission states that, if an employer does not approve of a lesbian employee’s sexual orientation, they are objecting to the fact that a woman is romantically attracted to another woman. This objection is based on irrational, stereotyped views of femininity and womanhood. If an employer discriminates against his lesbian employee, that discrimination is based in large part on her sex, and on his anger that she does not fit into her gender role.

The EEOC also stated that, sexual orientation discrimination is “associational discrimination on the basis of sex.” When a homophobic employer mistreats a gay male employee, he does so because he dislikes the fact that his employee dates other men. This means that the employer took that employee’s sex into account while making the decision to treat him unequally. Such discrimination is obviously sex-based and illegal under Title VII.

According to this case, Doris Racher and her two sisters installed cameras into their mother, Eryetha Mayberry’s room at the Quail Creek Nursing Home and Rehabilitation Center after they suspected someone at the nursing home of stealing from her. The video revealed that nursing home employees Lucy Waithira Gakunga and Caroline Kaseke forced Mayberry to lie down by pushing on her head and preventing her breathing. Gakunga was also shown shoving latex gloves into Mayberry’s mouth while Kaseke watched.

A lawsuit was filed against Quail Creek Nursing Home and Rehabilitation Center for the abuse and the case went to federal court and the judge announced the verdict on February 13. Mayberry passed away in July 2012, a few months after the video was released. Gakunga and Kaseke were fired and now face criminal charges. The jury found the nursing home guilty of negligence and abuse.

The family stated that, “All in the memory of our mother. All of us fought hard and are just happy that now we can relax a little bit, and mother’s probably smiling. I’m so grateful for the outcome, because we told the truth and the truth always prevails.” Cases just like this one occur all too often in nursing homes all across the United States and even right here in Tennessee. It is crucial that if you have a loved one or someone you care about in a nursing home that you visit them as often as possible. If you notice that your loved one has bruises, cuts, marks, or any other injuries you should notify the nursing home staff right away. It is also recommended that you talk with the staff or the director of the nursing home about their training procedures and what they do to prevent injuries or neglect. These are simple things you can do to help prevent abuse or neglect.

Car accidents can happen to anyone at any time. They often cause serious and even life-altering personal injuries or even the loss of someone’s life. When the accident involves someone who was on the job, this can complicate things even more. If you or someone you know has been injured in a car accident, it is important that you speak to a personal injury attorney at the Higgins Firm about your case as soon as possible.

According to this lawsuit, a Wal-mart truck driver slammed into the back of a limo that was transporting Actor Tracy Morgan and his friends back from a show in June of last year. Tracy Morgan’s friend, “Jimmy Mack” McNair was killed and Morgan suffered head trauma, a broken leg and broken ribs. He is still recovering.

The truck driver, Kevin Roper, of Jonesboro, Georgia, faces several criminal charges, including death by auto, in state court. He has pleaded not guilty. He wasn’t a defendant in Morgan’s federal lawsuit. A criminal complaint stated that Roper was operating the truck without having slept for more than 24 hours. An investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board estimated that Roper was driving at sixty-five miles per hour when he Morgan’s limo. The speed limit on that part of the highway is normally fifty-five miles per hour but had been lowered to forty- five miles per hour on that night due to construction. Authorities stated that Roper failed to slow down for the traffic ahead and had then swerved to avoid a crash but instead his truck smashed into the back of Morgan’s limo.

Are you an employee that has been misclassified as being exempt from overtime pay? If so, you may be in luck. The Department of Labor is planning to pay closer attention to working conditions and improper pay practices this year, including those non-exempt employees that are being denied overtime pay due to a misclassification. If you feel that you have been wrongly denied your overtime pay, then you need to speak to an overtime pay and employment lawyer with the Higgins Firm. We know that employees work hard for their money and we will help you to get the compensation you deserve.

According to the Mainstreet news source, the Department of Labor’s increase in attention to employers and their pay practices is due to a rise in requested funding and having more staff of their own. The 2015 budget for the Department of Labor includes $11.8 billion in discretionary funding, which includes an increase of more than $41 million for the Wage and Hour Division and some $14 million to help with the misclassification of employees as independent contractors. The U.S. Secretary of Labor, Thomas Perez, stated that, “This budget request works to ensure that Americans have the skills they need for the in-demand jobs of today and tomorrow and also protects the health, safety and retirement savings of workers.”

The Fair Labor Standards Act states that a non-exempt employee is one who is eligible for overtime pay after working forty hours per week. The Department of Labor will audit and investigate companies that have received complaints from their employees or those seeking employment. These investigations can include private interviews by the investigator of company employees.

Making the decision to file for divorce is hard. However, if you feel your marriage is beyond repair, our team of attorneys are here to assist you in the divorce process. If divorce is the right choice for you, below is an overview of how to get a divorce in Tennessee.

LEGAL REQUIREMENTS

In order for a couple to obtain a divorce in Tennessee, you must meet certain requirements. Tennessee law requires one of the parties to be a resident of the state for at least six months.

According to a Final rule recently adopted by the Department of Labor, same-sex couples that are legally married will now be included in the definition of spouse under the Family Medical Leave Act. This means they will be eligible to use FMLA in order to care for their spouse or a family member even if their marriage is not recognized in the state in which they live. The rule became effective on March 27, 2015, but one state’s Attorney General has filed an action seeking to enjoin implementation of the Rule.

Under the Family Medical Leave Act’s “state of residence” rule which had previously been in place since the 1990s, employees were not eligible for protections under FMLA if they were in a legal same-sex marriage in one state but moved to or resided in a state that did not legally recognize the marriage. The new rule known as “place of celebration”, determines eligibility by looking to whether the marriage was valid in the state where the couple was married, regardless of where the couple resides. According to the Department of Labor, the Final Rule’s definition of “spouse” “expressly includes individuals in lawfully recognized same-sex and common law marriages and marriages that were validly entered into outside of the United States if they could have been entered into in at least one state.”

On March 18, 2015, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton commenced a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Labor, seeking a temporary and permanent injunction to block the Final Rule. In its complaint, Texas argues that United States v. Windsor allows states to decide whether to recognize out-of-state same-sex marriages, and that the Final Rule invalidly attempts to abrogate the States’ sovereign immunity and thus “flies in the face” of the Supreme Court’s decision.