In June, Michigan passed anti-discrimination legislation that makes hair discrimination illegal. This new law, officially known as the “CROWN Act” (Create a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair), amends the Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act (ELCRA) to expand the definition of race to ban hair discrimination. It prohibits discrimination based on hair texture or type. Michigan becomes the 23rd state to sign the CROWN Act into law. Takeaway: Michigan’s new CROWN Act makes hair discrimination illegal, expanding the definition of race in the state’s Civil Rights Act. The law protects individua ..read more

The Michigan Supreme Court ruled yesterday in a 5-2 decision that Michigan’s main civil rights statute, the Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act, prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation. This means ELCRA’s anti-discrimination protections extend to LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) Michiganders. Going Deeper: The Michigan Supreme Court decision stems from a lawsuit, Rouch World LLC v Dept. of Civil Rights, filed by two for-profit companies that refused to provide services to LGBT customers. One company, Rouch World, rented property for events and refused to allow a lesbian ..read more

Last week Amazon was sued over alleged employment law violations. The lawsuit asserts the plaintiff was unlawfully terminated after reporting a co-worker for using mushrooms that naturally contained an active but illegal psychoactive chemical called psilocybin. Why it Matters: Psilocybin and similar psychedelic compounds are considered Schedule I substances. This means they are illegal under federal law and under many state laws, including Michigan. Like medical marijuana usage, with decriminalizing and more research showing psychedelics as a viable therapeutic alternative in treating depressi ..read more

The Michigan Dept. of Labor and Economic Opportunity (LEO) established a dedicated workgroup to focus on mental health, trauma, and resiliency in the workplace. The workgroup recently released its findings. The report also offers strategies for employers to help build supportive workplaces by integrating employee mental health strategies that establish healthier workplaces, enhance employee wellbeing and promote resilient companies Background for the Working Group’s Recommendations:  The LEO workgroup consisted of employers, workers, and professionals brought together to discuss how workp ..read more

On May 17, 2022, the Mayo Clinic was sued by a former employee who believes her religious freedoms were violated by the Clinic’s workplace vaccine policies. Notably, Mayo Clinic accepted the plaintiff’s request for a religious exemption from its vaccine requirement. But the employee, Sherry Ihde, claims Mayo Clinic’s requirement that employees exempt from the vaccine requirement must undergo weekly testing also conflicted with her interpretation of Scripture. Why it Matters: In response to the Covid-19, employers implemented policies like the Mayo Clinic. And like the Mayo Clinic, many employe ..read more

A Michigan bill to amend Michigan’s principal anti-discrimination statute to explicitly ban race-based hair discrimination, e.g., prohibiting discrimination based on hair texture and style, has stalled in the state legislature. Specifically, Michigan House Bill 4275, also called the CROWN Act (an acronym standing for Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair), was introduced in the House of Representatives in February 2021. However, since then, the bill has yet to move through the Republican-controlled Judiciary Committee. Michigan’s Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act prohibits discri ..read more

A recent Michigan Court of Appeals decision shows the value in smartly drafting your employment applications and related hiring documents so they double to protect the business from employment discrimination claims.    Going Deeper:  Specifically, a case captioned McMillon v. City of Kalamazoo, (MI Court of App. Jan. 21, 2021) involved a plaintiff who applied for a position with the Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety in 2004. As part of the 2004 hiring process, she filled out and signed an employment application. Under the application, Plaintiff agreed that any lawsuit a ..read more

The results of a sexual harassment internal investigation by the Michigan Senate’s human resource office concluded that Michigan State Senator Pete Lucido likely engaged in “inappropriate workplace behavior.” That is troubling. But, equally troubling is the response from the top Senate Leader. The sexual harassment investigation and report. The sexual harassment investigation was launched after a reporter complained about Senator Lucido making inappropriate comments about her. Specifically, reporter Allison Donahue explained while interviewing Lucido in front of about 30 teenage boys from ..read more

The U.S. Supreme Court is scheduled to hear a trio of cases involving the protection of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) employees from discrimination in the workplace. The Court’s decision will likely eliminate or clarify what protections LGBT employees have under Title VII. Michigan Employer Fires Transgender Employee In 2016, we covered one of the cases before the U.S. Supreme Court, EEOC v. R.G. & G.R. Harris Funeral Homes, Inc. In this case, a transgender woman was fired by her Michigan employer because she told her employer she was transitioning. The Michigan district c ..read more

Many businesses owners (wrongly) assume they can limit their company’s liability for employment discrimination claims by entering into an independent contractor agreement. But that is not always true as shown by a recent Michigan Court of Appeals decision. Specifically, this decision provides a reminder that companies must focus on compliance with employment laws for its entire workforce, including contractors. Michigan discrimination laws: “Independent contractor” versus “employee.” In Cook v. Farm Bureau Life Ins. Co. of Mich. (Mich. App. 2019) the plaintiff began working as a Farm Bure ..read more