Glendale Legal Blog

In California, an anti-discrimination law already on the books protects people from harassment based on their race. However, if SB188 passes, the law could be updated to include hairstyles or other traits associated with a race. The bill is known as the Create a Respectful and Open Workplace for Natural Hair Act. It is meant to create an inclusive and diverse environment in schools and businesses. Rules against braids, locks and twists have typically been a greater burden for black students and employees.

These rules have the potential to discourage African-Americans from applying for jobs or subject them to punishment from their current employers. In some cases, workers have been denied advancement opportunities or event terminated from their jobs. Children have been sent home from school because their hair was deemed inappropriate. According to the lawmaker who created the bill, there are already state and federal protections for those who wear their hair a certain way for religious reasons.

Human resource departments throughout the country, including in California, are keeping tabs on a recent case in Illinois. In the lawsuit, a large clothing retailer is being sued by employees in Illinois for tracking them by improper means as well as improper collection of personal data. The case is currently waiting to see if it will be certified as a class action.

An Illinois statute is at the heart of the claim. The law prohibits the collection of biometric data from employees unless they consent, and the proper means to store the information is used. In this case, the suit alleges the company utilized a fingerprint time clock to which an employee must present a fingerprint ID to log in and out of work rather than utilizing a time card or picture ID. The company claims the employees did, in fact, consent to the use of the biometric time clock. It further claims that it does not retain the data collected, obviating the need to store it.

When allegations of sexual harassment were leveled against a California federal appeals judge by 15 women in December 2017, the Administrative Office of the United States Courts responded by appointing a working group to investigate abusive, unwelcome or offensive sexual conduct in the federal court system. That group submitted its report in June 2018, and its recommendations have since been endorsed by Chief Justice of the United States John Roberts. The group concluded that sexual harassment was widespread in district and circuit courts and often went unreported due to fears of retaliation.

The working group's report prompted calls for change, and the Judicial Conference of the United States responded to these calls on March 12 by announcing revised rules designed to protect workers against sexual harassment and encourage federal court system employees to step forward when they witness behavior that could create a hostile work environment. The rules were announced by Merrick Garland, who is the most senior judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia and a former Supreme Court nominee. Chief Justice John Roberts has backed the new rules.

Despite the rise of the #MeToo movement and an increased media focus on sexual harassment on the job, many California workers continue to suffer from inappropriate advances and other misconduct in the workplace. One campaign is focusing specifically on harassment incidents in the health care industry, following similar efforts in entertainment, tech and other major sectors. Time's Up Healthcare aims not only to fight sexual harassment but also to increase gender diversity and equality in the industry.

The health care campaign is a spinoff of the anti-harassment campaign launched in entertainment. Time's Up said that it received the second-largest number of requests from health care workers, following only entertainment, the campaign's generating industry. According to advocates, while women make up 80 percent of the workforce in healthcare, they only make up 10 percent of its chief executives. In addition, workers at all level of health care reported serious problems with harassment and discrimination. One study noted that 58 percent of female surgeons had experienced sexual harassment in the past year, as had 25 percent of male surgeons.