In June, Michigan passed anti-discrimination legislation that makes hair discrimination illegal.
This new law, officially known as the “CROWN Act” (Create a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair), amends the Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act (ELCRA) to expand the definition of race to ban hair discrimination. It prohibits discrimination based on hair texture or type.
The Michigan Supreme Court ruled yesterday in a 5-2 decision that Michigan’s main civil rights statute, the Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act, prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation. This means ELCRA’s anti-discrimination protections extend to LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) Michiganders.
The Michigan Supreme Court decision stems from a lawsuit, Rouch World LLC
Last week Amazon was sued over alleged employment law violations. The lawsuit asserts the plaintiff was unlawfully terminated after reporting a co-worker for using mushrooms that naturally contained an active but illegal psychoactive chemical called psilocybin.
Psilocybin and similar psychedelic compounds are considered Schedule I substances. This means they are illegal under
The Michigan Dept. of Labor and Economic Opportunity (LEO) established a dedicated workgroup to focus on mental health, trauma, and resiliency in the workplace. The workgroup recently released its findings. The report also offers strategies for employers to help build supportive workplaces by integrating employee mental health strategies that establish healthier workplaces, enhance employee wellbeing
On May 17, 2022, the Mayo Clinic was sued by a former employee who believes her religious freedoms were violated by the Clinic’s workplace vaccine policies. Notably, Mayo Clinic accepted the plaintiff’s request for a religious exemption from its vaccine requirement. But the employee, Sherry Ihde, claims Mayo Clinic’s requirement that employees exempt from the
A Michigan bill to amend Michigan’s principal anti-discrimination statute to explicitly ban race-based hair discrimination, e.g., prohibiting discrimination based on hair texture and style, has stalled in the state legislature.
Specifically, Michigan House Bill 4275, also called the CROWN Act (an acronym standing for Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair), was introduced
A recent Michigan Court of Appeals decision shows the value in smartly drafting your employment applications and related hiring documents so they double to protect the business from employment discrimination claims.
Specifically, a case captioned McMillon v. City of Kalamazoo, (MI Court of App. Jan. 21, 2021) involved a plaintiff who applied
The results of a sexual harassment internal investigation by the Michigan Senate’s human resource office concluded that Michigan State Senator Pete Lucido likely engaged in “inappropriate workplace behavior.” That is troubling. But, equally troubling is the response from the top Senate Leader.
The sexual harassment investigation was launched after
The U.S. Supreme Court is scheduled to hear a trio of cases involving the protection of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) employees from discrimination in the workplace. The Court’s decision will likely eliminate or clarify what protections LGBT employees have under Title VII.
In 2016, we covered one of
Many businesses owners (wrongly) assume they can limit their company’s liability for employment discrimination claims by entering into an independent contractor agreement. But that is not always true as shown by a recent Michigan Court of Appeals decision. Specifically, this decision provides a reminder that companies must focus on compliance with employment laws for its