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Employers can’t refuse to hire someone because they have a disability or because the employer perceived the applicant to be disabled, per the provisions in the Americans with Disabilities Act. A blanket rule barring hiring an applicant who takes prescription medication for a medical condition violates the ADA. That’s true even if the medication is used to treat a condition that could pose a potential safety risk.

Serving as an HR director can be tough. Still, HR professionals are expected to do the right thing. Federal laws like Title VII protect HR professionals from retaliation for bringing discrimination and harassment to light, and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has a long history of vigorous enforcement of retaliation protections. A recent EEOC settlement makes that clear.

A Colorado jury awarded $11.5 million to a former Society for Human Resource Management employee on race-discrimination and retaliation claims. Employers do not need to take a side to learn from what happened. The themes in this case surface in workplaces of every size.

Employers may not realize they’re perpetuating past discrimination by not equalizing pay across protected characteristics. Nor may they realize, for example, that female employees in one division whose jobs are substantially equivalent to male employees in another division are being underpaid. That lack of awareness may end up costing an employer thousands, if not millions, of dollars in a lawsuit.

Pennsylvania just became the 28th state to pass a version of the model legislation, which stands for Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair.

2025 has proven to be a tough year for employers seeking to create an equitable workplace. With the new administration challenging the legality of some DEI policies, employers have had to make changes. The ABA was ready with suggestions.

Here’s what EEOC commissioner Kalpana Kotagal predicts for 2026.

We tend to think of national origin discrimination as discrimination against employees from countries other than America. The EEOC’s latest initiative, however, is aimed at national origin discrimination against American citizens.

A woman who worked as an Amazon driver has sued the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. She says the agency has stopped investigating disparate-impact cases and, therefore, abrogated its responsibility to investigate all discrimination complaints.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has sued Fat & Broke over allegations that it blatantly discriminated against older workers. The allegations include firing and refusing to hire older workers using the excuse that they could not find truck liability insurance covering drivers over age 65.