Tag Archives: employment

KENTUCKY: Frankfort Passes Sweeping LGBT Anti-Discrimination Ordinance

The good news just keeps coming today. In the capital of Kentucky: The Frankfort City Commission Thursday morning finally passed an ordinance banning discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity in the areas of housing, employment and public accommodations. At a specially called meeting, Mayor Bill May and commissioners Katie Hedden and Tommy Haynes voted in favor. …

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Fast Food Workers Strike Over Wages

Some fast food workers across the nation are striking today in demand of a living wage. It’s unknown how many workers will participate. Employees of McDonald’s Corp, Wendy’s Restaurants LLC, Burger King Worldwide Inc and others have pledged to walk off their jobs in 50 cities from Boston, Mass, to Alameda, Calif., organizers say. They are expected to be joined …

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Walmart Adds Insurance Benefits For Spouses & Partners Of LGBT Employees

From a memo sent yesterday to Walmart management, forwarded to me by a reader: This week our associates will receive a pre-enrollment postcard at their homes announcing the dates for annual enrollment and providing highlights of the 2014 benefit offerings. Among the information highlighted on the postcard: We will cover domestic partners in the medical, dental, vision, life, critical illness …

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COLORADO: Judge Orders State To Pay $768K To Gay Former Trooper

The Colorado State Patrol has been ordered to pay $768,268 to a former trooper who was refused reinstatement after they learned he is gay. State Senior Administrative Law Judge Mary McClatchey said in a 25-page opinion that former State Patrol Capt. Brett Williams — who she said was highly dedicated to the patrol, where he enjoyed a “stellar career” — …

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Editorial Of The Day

From the Washington Post editorial board: In the politically charged election year of 1996 — the same year the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) passed both houses of Congress with veto-proof margins — the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) reached the Senate floor and was defeated by a single vote. Reading the tea leaves then, it might have seemed that employment …

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CALIFORNIA: Catholic School Fires Gay Man After His Wedding Makes News

A Catholic high school in San Bernadino has fired a teacher after his same-sex wedding was covered by the local news. School administrators declined to discuss the firing on camera. But they did issue a statement that read, in part, “We respect and protect privacy interests and, to be respectful of those involved, the school does not comment on confidential …

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LGBT Groups Launch $2M ENDA Push

A coalition of the LGBT rights groups today announced a $2M campaign to support the passage of ENDA.  Via press release: Today the bipartisan campaign Americans for Workplace Opportunity announced it had formed in order to take advantage of a historic opportunity to pass the Employment Non-Discrimination Act 19 years after its first introduction — a bill to ban workplace …

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ENDA Passes Senate Committee

Andrew Cray has details at Think Progress: This morning, the Senate Health, Education, Labor & Pensions Committee voted 15-7 to advance the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) with support from Republican Sens. Mark Kirk (IL), Orrin Hatch (UT), and Lisa Murkowski (AK). The bill, now headed for the Senate floor, is considered instrumental in preventing workplace discrimination on the basis of …

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Employers Ponder DOMA Ruling

The Washington Post reports: “What’s the federal government going to do when you have a valid marriage in New York and the couple moves to Texas? We don’t know the answer to that,” said Scott Macey, president of the ERISA Industry Committee that represents large employers. The confusion is creating uncertainty for many companies that operate nationwide and want to …

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HomoQuotable – Michelangelo Signorile

“The marriage equality movement has been a success for a lot of reasons. One of them, no doubt, is branding and framing. And it’s time to learn from that and apply it to other battles, like the battle against employment discrimination, which has been a dismal failure. For almost two decades we’ve tried but failed to get federal workplace protections. …

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ENDA Set For Senate Committee Vote

Chris Johnson reports at the Washington Blade: The Senate Health, Education, Labor & Pensions Committee has scheduled the markup for the LGBT job anti-bias legislation two weeks to the day that the Supreme Court ruled against the Defense of Marriage Act and California’s Proposition 8. Scheduling the vote is first step for Senate HELP Committee Chair Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) in …

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FLORIDA: Gov. Rick Scott Signs Bill That Outlaws Paid Sick Leave Votes

GOP Florida Gov. Rick Scott has signed a bill that forbids local governments from enacting mandatory paid sick leave measures for businesses. Scott rejected calls by progressives and South Florida leaders for him to veto it. With other parts of the country, such as New York City, San Francisco and Seattle, passing similar sick-time measures, it’s an issue that now …

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Freedom To Work Slams Marco Rubio

Miami Herald journalist Steve Rothaus has their full statement: “Freedom to Work condemns Senator Rubio’s retrograde stance against basic workplace protections for gay and transgender Americans,” said Tico Almeida, a first-generation Cuban-American who is President of the LGBT organization Freedom to Work. “Like Rubio’s family, my parents also abandoned Communist Cuba because America is a place where every individual should …

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President Obama Calls For ENDA Passage At White House LGBT Pride Event

Chris Johnson reports at Washington Blade: President Obama energized attendees at the annual Pride reception held at the White House on Thursday by saying “we need to get” the Employment Non-Discrimination Act passed. Citing a letter he said he received from a PFLAG mom from Ohio named “Susan” expressing concern that LGBT people aren’t protected from harassment in the workplace, …

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Born In A Trunk In Pocatello

The town of Pocatello, Idaho has approved a bill that protects LGBT residents from discrimination in housing, employment, and public accommodations. A similar bill had deadlocked the city council 3-3 in April. Voting for the ordinance that contains only three modifications compared to one that failed in April were Roger Bray, Gary Moore, Steve Brown and Eva Nye. Those opposed …

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From Freedom To Work

Source.

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Broken Bargain For LGBT Workers

A new report from the Movement Advancement Project: A landmark new report released today examines how lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) workers might have the same job as a coworker, yet be legally fired, denied equal benefits and be required to pay thousands of dollars more in taxes simply because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. A Broken …

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FRC Applauds ExxonMobil

“While other businesses drift away from their principles or capitulate under pressure, Exxon is putting its stock in something other than political correctness.  For the 14th straight year, shareholders voted to maintain their reputation as a company that upholds the commonsense principle that managers should be able to determine what conduct contributes to and what conduct detracts from the effective …

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TEXAS: ExxonMobil Shareholders Reject Protections For LGBT Employees

The Dallas Voice has the unsurprising news: Shareholders voted to reject a resolution, 81 percent to 19 percent, from the New York state comptroller calling for the company’s Board of Directors to add sexual orientation and gender identity/expression to the oil giant’s EEO policy. The 19 percent support for the resolution reportedly was the lowest ever. George Wong addressed the …

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European Court Rules Against Refusing Service To Gays On Religious Grounds

The European Court of Human Rights has ruled that it is legal to discipline employees for refusing to provide services to same-sex couples on the basis of religious objections. The ruling came in the cases of three British Christians who had refused to perform relationship counseling or conduct civil partnership ceremonies. Tuesday’s decision was welcomed by the National Secular Society. …

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