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Independent Contractors, Uber, and Employees

On September 1, a federal judge certified a class action brought by three Uber drivers who asserted that they are employees and not, as the company had argued, independent contractors.   If the court’s decision it holds, it could be a big deal.  This employee vs. contractor determination may sound like arcane law speak, but […]

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Q&A with Serena Fong

This summer I was on a panel about gender pay equity at a conference held by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.  I talked about the range of ways that my clients have suffered discrimination in compensation, and Serena Fong, Vice President, Government Affairs for Catalyst, gave great insights on what companies can do to achieve […]

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Gossiping About Coworker Pay: Employee Rights At Stake

I have been psychologically conditioned by American culture to feel that open discussion about salaries is deeply uncomfortable, as if it involved baring your personal finances. I have earned money ever since I was 9 years old, working as a mommy’s helper for neighbors, to supplement my small weekly allowance. And I learned very early […]

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Cities fail to provide parental leave

Last Mother’s Day, John Oliver noted the inconsistency between companies that market to customers based on the holiday but fail to offer their employees paid maternity leave. While continued efforts are needed to require companies to offer paid maternity leave, more attention needs to be paid to the leave policies of American cities. Many city […]

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Q&A with Professor Schoenbaum

Regular readers of this blog are very familiar with Young v. UPS, a Supreme Court case about pregnancy discrimination.  Here at Shattering the Ceiling we are excited about the case – and about the outcome.  My colleagues have written here about why accommodating pregnant women is good for American families – and good for business and about why the […]

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Mad Men: A Very Unfeminist Ending

Spoiler alerts Fans seem to be all over the map on the Mad Men series finale. When I watched it, I was candidly a little disappointed. But reflecting on it, I think that some of that disappointment speaks to the real world. In other words, Matthew Weiner, the show’s creator, seems to have captured the […]

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Nice Nails, Awful Jobs

In New York City, nail salons are ubiquitous, and many women who live or work in the City routinely partake in the affordable luxury of cheap manicures.  But a shocking exposé by the New York Times (posted here and here) shows that cheap manicures come at a very high price for the women who toil […]

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The Fight For $15 and Fair Schedules

On April 15, thousands of workers and their allies rallied for better wages.  The Fight for $15 has expanded from a small group of fast food workers to thousands of retail employees, child care workers, home care providers, and adjunct professors. Indeed, news outlets are now reporting on how presidential campaigns will respond to the […]

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SEC Speaks Out About Retaliation Against Whistleblowers

We spend a lot of time on this blog talking about discrimination. Sometimes, we talk about specifically about retaliation for complaining about illegal discrimination, which is itself illegal. But I want to talk today about a subset of retaliation that we haven’t talked about much on this blog: Retaliation against whistleblowers.  Retaliation against whistleblowers is […]

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Proving Gender Discrimination: Young and Pao’s Courageous Stand

Last month was big for those interested in the fight for gender equity in the workplace, as two largely publicized cases reached important turning points. On Wednesday, March 25, 2015, the United States Supreme Court ruled in favor of Peggy Young in her pregnancy discrimination case against her employer, UPS.  On Friday, March 27, 2015, […]

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