Tag: Employment Law

EMPLOYMENT LAW: The Effect of Arizona Law on Discrimination Issues

May 31

The US Supreme Court has recently voted 5-3 (Chamber of Commerce v. Whiting) which upheld an Arizona law that penalizes employers who “unknowingly” hires unauthorized foreign workers.

According to the High Court, the federal immigration law “does not pre-empt the Arizona statute”, specifically the Legal Arizona Workers Act which says that “the state can revoke the licenses of businesses that intentionally hire illegal aliens”. In addition to this, the Court also upheld the provision requiring companies to use the federal E-Verify system to check the immigration status of job applicants.

How will this affect workers and employees?

According to workers’ rights groups, the Arizona law encourages ethnic stereotyping and discrimination in the workplace, which will result in rejection for a job applicant so that an employer can avoid state sanctions or out of fear that he may be hiring an illegal worker. Or will this result into further stereotyping of workers who are suspected to be working illegally?

The Worst Discrimination Suit Ever….

May 01

According to this article in the New York Times, an attorney in New York filed a discrimination claim against Columbia University accusing the University of discriminating against males. The suit alleges that by offering women’s studies programs without a corresponding “men’s studies” program, the University is violating the Equal Protection provisions of the U.S. Constitution. The U.S. District Court in New York dismissed the suit on April 23, 2007, noting that the suit was baseless and frivolous.

As ridiculous as this claim is, it underlines one of the considerations that a potential litigant should consider before filing a discrimination or harassment lawsuit. continue reading…