Tag Archives: employment

Wichita City Council Approves LGBTQ Rights Ordinance

The Kansas City Star reports: After four months of delays, Wichita City Council passed a nondiscrimination ordinance Tuesday aimed at banning discrimination in housing, employment and public accommodations. The council voted 6-1 to approve the ordinance, with Jeff Blubaugh voting against. The council also rejected a carve out that would have allowed religious groups to fire or refuse to hire …

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Mississippi News Anchor Quits Over Vaccine Mandate

The Independent reports: A veteran Mississippi news anchor has quit her job after refusing to take the Covid-19 vaccine. Meggan Gray, host of WLOX News’ Good Morning Mississippi, said she had made “an informed and prayerful decision” and would rather lose her job than submit to the company requirement to take the vaccine. Ms Gray, 40, signed off last Thursday …

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Kaiser Permanente Suspends 2200 Unvaxxed Staffers

The Associated Press reports: Health care giant Kaiser Permanente has put more than 2,200 employees nationwide on unpaid leave who have chosen not to get vaccinated against the coronavirus — a little over 1% of its workforce. The employees have until Dec. 1 to get vaccinated to be able to return to work and those who choose not to will …

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Ex-Tesla Worker Awarded $137M In Racial Abuse Case

The Associated Press reports: Tesla Inc. must pay nearly $137 million to a Black former worker who said he suffered racial abuse at the electric carmaker’s San Francisco Bay Area factory. The jury in San Francisco agreed that Owen Diaz was subjected to racial harassment and a hostile work environment. Diaz alleged in a lawsuit that he was harassed and …

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Gay Ex-Cop Wins $2.2M In Workplace Bullying Case

The Sacramento Bee reports: Five years after a former California Highway Patrol officer sued the agency alleging he was driven out of his job because he was gay, the CHP has settled the lawsuit for $2.2 million. Jay Brome, who spent 20 years with the CHP until he took medical stress leave in January 2015, agreed to the settlement after …

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NC Hospital System Fires 175 Vaccine Refusers [VIDEO]

The Washington Post reports: A North Carolina-based hospital system announced Monday that roughly 175 unvaccinated employees were fired for failing to comply with the organization’s mandatory coronavirus vaccination policy, the latest in a series of health-care dismissals over coronavirus immunization. Novant Health said last week that 375 unvaccinated workers — across 15 hospitals and 800 clinics — had been suspended …

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Biden To Meet With Top Business Execs On Mandates

The Wall Street Journal reports: President Biden is expected to meet Wednesday with executives from companies including Walt Disney Co. , Microsoft Corp. and Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. to advance his Covid-19 vaccination requirements for the private sector. The White House meeting comes after a plan Mr. Biden announced last week designed to bring the pandemic under control, which includes …

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Amazon To Cover College Costs For Hourly Workers

CNBC reports: Amazon said Thursday it will offer to pay 100% of college tuition for its 750,000 U.S. hourly employees. The e-commerce giant is following the lead of other large U.S. companies that are dangling perks such as education benefits or more pay to woo workers in a tight job market. Starting in January, Amazon said, it will cover the …

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Labor Dept: Economy Added 235,000 Jobs In August

The Washington Post reports: The U.S. economy added just 235,000 jobs in August, a disappointing month of hiring as the delta variant caused coronavirus caseloads around the country to spike. The unemployment rate stayed mostly level at 5.4 percent. The stubbornness of the coronavirus, fueled by the transmissibility of the new variant and the country’s large pockets of unvaccinated people, …

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Walgreens To Join CVS In $15/Hour Starting Wage

From Walgreens’ corporate blog: Walgreens is further investing in its hourly team members who provide trusted care and services in communities across the U.S. Walgreens will increase the starting hourly wage for all team members to $15.00 an hour, taking effect in phases beginning in October of this year and are expected to be fully implemented by November 1, 2022. …

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Hobby Lobby Loses Trans Discrimination Appeal

Bloomberg Law reports: Hobby Lobby Stores Inc. violated Illinois anti-bias law by denying a transgender woman employee access to the women’s bathroom, a state appellate court ruled in a case of first impression. Meggan Sommerville’s sex is “unquestionably female” and Hobby Lobby unlawfully discriminated against her based on her gender identity, the Illinois Second District Appellate Court said in its …

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Labor Dept: Jobless Claims Fall For Third Straight Week

CNBC reports: Initial jobless claims declined for the third consecutive week as the U.S. labor market continued its recovery from last year’s recession. New claims for jobless benefits totaled 375,000 last week, the Labor Department said Thursday, matching estimates from economists surveyed by Dow Jones. The reading for the previous week was revised upward by 2,000 to 387,000 claims. The …

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Labor Department: US Added 943,000 Jobs Last Month

The New York Times reports: The American economy roared into midsummer with a strong gain in hiring, but there are questions about its ability to maintain that momentum as the Delta variant of the coronavirus causes growing concern. Employers added 943,000 jobs in July, the Labor Department reported Friday, but the data was collected in the first half of the …

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Anti-Vaxxers Protest TX Hospital For Firing Covidiots

Houston’s Fox News affiliate reports: Several dozen protesters gathered Saturday outside Houston Methodist Hospital to voice their opposition to the hospital’s mandatory COVID-19 vaccine policy. “I’m running out of options for my career because of a mandatory vaccine that could affect my fertility,” said Keri R, a registered nurse previously at Houston Methodist. “They’re not giving proper informed consent,” said …

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Federal Court Tosses Vaccine Suit By Hospital Workers

USA Today reports: In the first federal ruling on vaccine mandates, a Houston judge late Saturday dismissed a lawsuit by hospital employees who declined the COVID-19 shot – a decision that could have a ripple effect across the nation. The case involved Houston Methodist, which was the first hospital system in the country to require that all its employees get …

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US Added 559K Jobs In May, Unemployment At 5.8%

Bloomberg News reports: U.S. job growth accelerated in May and the unemployment rate fell, signaling firms are making progress filling a record number of openings as the economy powers up. Payrolls increased by 559,000 last month after a revised 278,000 gain in April, according to a Labor Department report Friday. The median estimate in a Bloomberg survey of economists was …

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Weekly New Jobless Claims Near Pre-Pandemic Level

CNBC reports: Initial jobless claims fell below 400,000 for the first time since the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic as the labor market continues to recover, the Labor Department reported Thursday. First-time filings for unemployment benefits totaled 385,000 for the week ended May 29, a decline from the previous week’s 405,000 and below the Dow Jones estimate of 393,000. …

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EEOC: Employers May Require COVID Vaccination

From the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission: The federal EEO laws do not prevent an employer from requiring all employees physically entering the workplace to be vaccinated for COVID-19, subject to the reasonable accommodation provisions of Title VII and the ADA and other EEO considerations. These principles apply if an employee gets the vaccine in the community or from the employer. …

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Labor Dept: New Jobless Claims At Pandemic-Era Low

Bloomberg News reports: Applications for U.S. state unemployment insurance fell last week to a fresh pandemic low, signaling steady improvement in the job market as remaining business restrictions are lifted. Initial claims in regular state programs decreased by 34,000 to 444,000 in the week ended May 15, Labor Department data showed Thursday. The drop in jobless applications shows the labor …

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WSJ: Businesses Scramble As Economy Comes To Life

The Wall Street Journal reports: Consumers are splurging on cars and furniture—and facing extended waits for delivery. Restaurants and gyms are reopening—and struggling to find workers. Factories and home builders are trying to ramp up—but are short on semiconductors or raw materials. The Covid-19 outbreak paralyzed both supply and demand last spring. This spring, vaccinations and government stimulus have created …

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