Overlawyered » religious discrimination

Labor and employment roundup

Walter Olson — Fri, 04 May 2012 04:06:24 +0000

Failure to accommodate employee’s religious belief forbidding hair-cutting results in $27K payout by Taco Bell operator [EEOC, North Carolina]
There’s a reason they call it Government Motors: nonunion GM assembly workers get shaft [Fountain]
Mayor Bloomberg refreshingly sane on “living wage,” though not alas rent control [Heather Mac Donald, Secular Right]
“The cost of labor isn’t the main problem, it’s the rigidities,” says French CEO [Bloomberg]
Maryland governor signs bill softening “workplace fraud” law that bedevils firms that use independent contractors [H.B. 1364, earlier]
Watch out for ghastly, mislabeled “Paycheck Fairness Act,” they’re trying to bring it back [Diana Furchtgott-Roth, Examiner, earlier]
“The most infuriating part of this is that it takes five years of litigation to fire a badly behaved police officer” [Josh Barro, Masnick/TechDirt, on cop's harassment of skateboarder; Baltimore Sun (police union calls officer's firing "outrageous.")]

Tags: Baltimore, France, General Motors, labor unions, Maryland, Michael Bloomberg, police, religious discrimination

Labor and employment roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

“No Muslim student at Catholic University has registered a complaint…”

Walter Olson — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 12:14:19 +0000

While a publicity-seeking lawprof has been stirring the pot, it’s by no means clear that any actual Catholic U. students consider it intolerably irksome to pray in a room with a cross. [PJ Media "Tatler", earlier]

Tags: colleges and universities, religious discrimination, Washington D.C.

“No Muslim student at Catholic University has registered a complaint…” is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

“Nobody held a gun to their head and made them enroll at a school called CATHOLIC University”

Walter Olson — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 15:25:09 +0000

Welcome Prof. Bainbridge readers: The Washington, D.C. Office of Human Rights is investigating Catholic U. for, among other alleged offenses, “not providing [some Muslim students] rooms without Christian symbols for their daily prayers.” Like a legal complaint against the same institution for reinstating single-sex dormitories, this one has been advanced by inveterate publicity hound and George Washington U. lawprof John Banzhaf, whose antics we have discussed often in the past (though not much recently, since he actually seems to like the attention); a few highlights here, here, and here.

Tags: colleges and universities, law schools, religious discrimination

“Nobody held a gun to their head and made them enroll at a school called CATHOLIC University” is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

October 28 roundup

Walter Olson — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 05:32:57 +0000

Self-parody watch: Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Ct.) wants federal program to dispense free diapers [Fox News]
Trial-lawyer-friendly Florida Supreme Court could strike down state’s 2003 malpractice limits [Orlando Business Journal]
Don’t forget to thank Wal-Mart lobbyists for that debit fee charge [Mark Perry]
“Should insurers [be compelled by law to] pay for eating disorders?” [NYT "Room for Debate"]
Texas man drops suit against former fiancee [Above the Law]
“$75,000 Settlement for Muslim Teacher Denied 19 Days’ Unpaid Leave for Hajj (Pilgrimage to Mecca)” [Volokh]
Epidemiology for hire: “The Texas Sharpshooter Goes Free Range” [David Oliver]

Tags: expert witnesses, Florida, medical malpractice, nanny state, religious discrimination, Wal-Mart

October 28 roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Long hair as religious accommodation

Walter Olson — Fri, 05 Aug 2011 05:16:13 +0000

Taco Bell finds itself at odds with the EEOC. [Jon Hyman]

Tags: EEOC, religious discrimination, restaurants

Long hair as religious accommodation is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

“Bus driver who refused to take women to Planned Parenthood gets $21K in settlement”

Walter Olson — Mon, 02 May 2011 13:53:13 +0000

When an employee decides he doesn’t feel like fulfilling his job requirements, you might need to accommodate him, or be prepared to pay. [Steven Kreytak, Austin American-Statesman]

Tags: religious discrimination, transit, workplace

“Bus driver who refused to take women to Planned Parenthood gets $21K in settlement” is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Great moments in school-speech litigation

Walter Olson — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 12:24:11 +0000

Ohio: “A family with an extensive history of legal action against a number of school districts and municipalities has filed a $1 million civil lawsuit against Middletown City Schools. Orlando Bethel — who refers to himself as a fire and brimstone preacher in court documents, and his wife, Glynis — filed the action Friday in Cincinnati federal court after one of their three children, Zoe, wore a T-shirt at the high school proclaiming ‘god hates (expletive)’ and ‘repent or burn in hell.’” [Dayton Daily News]

Tags: First Amendment, religious discrimination, schools

Great moments in school-speech litigation is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

March 24 roundup

Walter Olson — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 13:53:43 +0000

“Woman suing Carnival: Ship sailed too fast, made me sick” [Gene Sloan, USA Today "Cruise Log"]
U.S. Department of Justice sues Illinois school district for denying Muslim teacher’s request for three-week Mecca-trip leave [WaPo]
“California Assembly Says Complying with Government Standards Not Enough to Avoid Punitive Damages” [Cal Civil Justice]
“Four Loko Suit Is an Example of Bogus Economic Loss Classes” [Russell Jackson]
New Benjamin Barton book on lawyer-judge bias reviewed by Larry Ribstein [TotM, earlier]
“Prolific Colorado Consumer Attorney Filed 2/3rds of State’s FDCPA Cases Since 2007″ [ABA Journal]
Different kind of false marking case? Judge says company knowingly claimed inapplicable patent [WSJ Law Blog]
“Extra-special education at public expense” [five years ago on Overlawyered]

Tags: California, class actions, Colorado, cruise ships, debtor-creditor law, patent marking, punitive damages, religious discrimination

March 24 roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Update: Teacher who allegedly branded cross onto student’s arm drops suit

Walter Olson — Thu, 11 Nov 2010 12:36:08 +0000

“An Ohio public school teacher accused of burning the mark of a cross on students’ arms said Friday he dropped a lawsuit over his firing because it would have interfered with a public airing of his complaint in a different venue.” [AP via Ed Brayton, earlier]

Tags: Ohio, religious discrimination, teacher tenure

Update: Teacher who allegedly branded cross onto student’s arm drops suit is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Trucker demands religious accommodation for refusal to haul alcohol, tobacco

Walter Olson — Wed, 27 Oct 2010 14:18:55 +0000

Age of accommodation, cont’d: “in Reedy v. Schneider National, Inc. (E.D. Pa. filed Oct. 15, 2010). Vasant Reddy says that he has ‘a sincerely held religious belief that he cannot consume, possess, or transport alcohol or tobacco,’ and that he informed Schneider National of this. …Nonetheless, he says, he was ordered to transport a load with alcohol, and was fired because he refused to transport it.” [Eugene Volokh] (cross-posted at Secular Right).

Tags: religious discrimination, workplace

Trucker demands religious accommodation for refusal to haul alcohol, tobacco is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system