A man who was fired from his job with a Detroit automaker in 2007 after he was stranded in Gaza has sued for discrimination. In 2007, a product engineer for a major Detroit automaker was approved for an extended leave of absence beginning June 1. Before the man left...
Year: 2013
Superior Court rules against discriminated workers
After a group of 22 cocktail servers brought a weight-discrimination lawsuit against their former employer, a superior court judge ruled against them. Michigan is the only state in the U.S. that expressly prohibits workplace discrimination based on height or weight,...
A living wage is a human right
The current minimum wage is $7.40 in the state of Michigan and has been the standard for five years. There has not been much in the way of legislation to change it. However, an effort being led by workers' organizations in the cities of Detroit and Lansing aim to...
Michigan supreme court refuses to opine on right-to-work
Michigan's Supreme Court recently denied a request from the state's governor to opine on the constitutionality of the state's newly enacted right-to-work law. In denying the request, the court questioned whether granting the request would be an appropriate exercise of...
Unpaid internships come under fire
A series of labor lawsuits against Fox Entertainment and Gawker Media has sparked new concern regarding unpaid internships, which are a common way for college students in Michigan and elsewhere to gain industry experience. The companies were sued by former interns who...
Michigan author urges caution regarding workplace discrimination
In the state of Michigan, a person may be fired simply because of his or her sexual orientation. The author of a new book on the subject of workplace discrimination is the founder of a nonprofit organization in Michigan that helps to prepare LBGT students with the...
Goodwill pays as little as 22 cents per hour
Anyone who lives or works in Michigan may be interested in reports involving Goodwill. Some supporters of employee rights were outraged when the non-profit organization was reported to pay disabled employees hourly wages significantly below the mandatory minimum wage....
EEOC finds workplace discrimination in pre-employment physicals
Michigan residents may be interested in a recent lawsuit that will be the first to test the Genetic Information Non-Discrimination Act, a 2009 act designed to curb discrimination in pre-employment medical examinations. Although employers may require job candidates to...
Most small businesses support protection of LGBT employees
Laws protecting LGBT employees may not be as controversial as some Michigan residents believe. New research shows that more than two-thirds of small businesses believe that employment laws should protect gay and transgender people from workplace discrimination, and...
Women accuse civil rights leader of sexual harassment
A Michigan state representative has filed a sexual harassment complaint against a local Arab-American leader. The accused man has been placed on administrative leave by the civil rights group for which he works, the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee. The...