FDPK Partner Stephen Pincus Joins National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).

Stephen Pincus resigned from the firm as of the end of December to join the NLRB National Labor Relations Board in Cleveland as a Field Attorney.[1]

Stephen was associated with the firm for more than 10 years. He primarily represented the firm’s union clients in retiree health class actions and individuals in employment law matters. Among his accomplishments at FDPK:

• Member of the firm’s litigation team in more than thirty ERISA lawsuits, including company stock, excessive mutual fund fees and retiree health cases, that recovered $200MM+ in reinstated benefits and monetary relief.
• Pursued the first successful claim of sexual orientation discrimination before the Allegheny County Human Relations Commission.
• Successfully litigated a First Amendment free exercise challenge against Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, resulting in a change in Funeral Director law to the benefit of religious burial societies.
• Filed and settled a class action against the University of Pittsburgh challenging its changes to its men’s basketball season ticket renewal policy.

While at FDPK, Stephen also served as an adjunct professor at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law, where he co-directed the school’s Unemployment Law Practicum. Stephen was the firm’s road warrior, traveling to more than 40 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico to champion the rights of our clients.

We wish Stephen the best of luck in this new professional endeavor.

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[1] The NLRB is an independent federal agency with the power to safeguard employees’ rights to organize and to determine whether to have unions as their bargaining representative. The agency also acts to prevent and remedy unfair labor practices committed by private sector employers and unions. One of the NLRB’s recent accomplishments is a ruling reversing a 2007 decision) that employees may use work email accounts in union organizing activities, as long as they do it on their own time. Workers are now permitted to use work email to discuss wage and other workplace issues.

Title IX Update:  Department of Education Broadens Rights of Transgender Students in Public Schools in 2014

The U.S. Department of Education made significant steps in 2014 to protect the rights of transgender students.  In April, the U.S. Department of Education released “Questions & Answers on Title IX and Sexual Violence.”  This document directs that Title IX (the federal statute that prohibits sex discrimination in education) protects students from sexual violence at public schools. In explaining which students the federal law protects, the Department wrote: “Title IX’s sex discrimination prohibition extends to claims of discrimination based on gender identity or failure to conform to stereotypical notions of masculinity or femininity.”

In October, the Department of Education resolved a civil rights complaint with California’s Downey Unified School District.  Click here: http://www.ed.gov/news/press-releases/us-department-educations-office-civil-rights-announces-resolution-civil-rights-I  A transgender student had been harassed and discriminated against for gender nonconformance at school. The settlement provided that the school district would hire an expert in child and adolescent gender identity; remove all discipline from the student’s record (the student had been punished for wearing makeup); and provide mandatory training for school administrators in handling issues related to gender nonconformance and gender-based harassment.

In December, the Department of Education expanded its guidance regarding Title IX issues and transgender students when it released: Questions & Answers on Title IX and Single-Sex Classes and Extracurricular Activities.”  The bulletin explains how coeducational public schools should administer single-sex classes or extracurricular activities.  Although a coeducational learning environment is preferable, the guidance identifies certain areas where a single-sex class or activity may be justified.

If a single-sex class or activity is necessary, the school must “treat transgender students consistent with their gender identity in all aspects of the planning, implementation, enrollment, operation, and evaluation of single-sex classes.” This means that if a transgender girl attends a public school with single-sex gym classes she must be allowed to participate in the class with her female peers.

Although there is more work to do to protect the rights of transgender Americans, the U.S. Department of Education made positive steps in the past year to correct injustices related to gender nonconformance and gender identity.

If you have questions concerning education discrimination, contact Ed Feinstein or Sarah Martin for a confidential consultation.

Posted by Sarah Martin.  December 22, 2014.

Department of Justice States That Title VII Prohibits Gender Identity and Transgender Discrimination

Title VII News – Attorney General Eric Holder announced on December 15, 2014 that the Department of Justice takes the position that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits employment discrimination based on gender identity, including transgender status.

This reverses the Department of Justice’s 2006 position that Title VII’s prohibition of discrimination “because of . . . sex” did not cover discrimination because of gender identity or transgender status.

Attorney General Holder noted that courts have reached different conclusions about whether Title VII’s prohibition of discrimination “because of . . . sex” includes discrimination due to gender identity or transgender status. Some courts have allowed gender identity and transgender discrimination claims under a “sex stereotyping” theory, where an employee believes they were discriminated against due to his or her failure to live up to socially constructed expectations of how men and women should look and act. This is the first time the Department of Justice stated that Title VII’s prohibition of discrimination “because of . . . sex” also forbids discrimination because of gender identity or transgender status in and of itself, and not using a “sex stereotyping” theory.

Attorney General Holder concluded, “My hope . . . is that this clarification of the Department’s position will foster consistent treatment of claimants throughout the government, in furtherance of this Department’s commitment to fair and impartial justice for all Americans.”

Transgender individuals face employment discrimination and unemployment at higher rates and are more likely than others to live in poverty. FDPK lawyers are committed to ensuring that all employees can work free of discrimination.

Click here to view the Department of Justice’s announcement: Title VII Memo

If you have questions concerning employment discrimination contact Ed Feinstein or Sarah Martin.

Posted by Greg Murray.  December 19, 2014.

Protein Spiking:  Consumers May Be Paying for Protein Powder or Supplements that Don’t Contain the Amount of Protein They Claim

Protein Spiking, also sometimes called amino spiking or nitrogen spiking, is when a protein manufacturer “spikes” or adds amino acids that are cheaper than the base protein powder to increase the product’s nitrogen content.

FDPK is investigating a potential class action on behalf of consumers who purchase protein supplements that are suspected to have been spiked with cheaper ingredients (such as amino acids).  Protein spiking causes products to appear to contain more protein than they actually do. As a result, consumers end up paying more for an inferior product and they do not receive natural protein.

Protein spiking manufacturers use amino acids because they are less expensive than complete proteins such as whey protein, casein protein or egg protein, but lack the same beneficial effects of these proteins because the body absorbs them differently.

You may suspect protein spiking if  the price for a protein powder (usually whey isolate) appears too good to be true.  Check the label.  If certain amino acids such as taurine and glycine are very high, the protein powder could have been spiked.  If there are white specks in the protein powder (easy to see in chocolate), this could indicate protein spiking with amino acids.

FDPK is investigating reports of protein spiking by several different protein supplement manufacturers. If you have purchased protein supplements and want to learn more, please contact us by calling toll-free at 1-888-355-1735, by emailing [email protected], or by completing an inquiry form.

Posted by McKean Evans.  December 18, 2014.