Employment Law Blog

The current chaos in our lives includes a pandemic that has put over twenty million people out of work and the seemingly unceasing killing of Black people by police. But last week, we saw glimmers of hope for a better future.

On Thursday, June 18, 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected the Trump administration's attempts to rescind the DACA program. Three days earlier, the high court found the language of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (prohibiting sex discrimination) applies to discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. Both decisions significantly impact workers of color and suggest that the hard work the racial and social justice movements may be bearing fruit.

As conversation surrounding racial justice grows nationwide, candid discussions regarding race are coming to a head in the workplace, where employers and employees are pushing one another to be on the right side of the conversation.

While the national conversation is shifting, studies show that more employees are likely to share their social and political views at work. When Starbucks employees were told via internal company memo they could not wear Black Lives Matter pins and t-shirts at work, as it violated dress code, employees leaked the memo and swift media attention and public backlash quickly caused the coffee company to reverse course. Soon after, Starbucks not only changed its policy, it created its own Black Lives Matter apparel for employees to wear in stores.

Ban the Box legislation can be an important tool in remedying Black underemployment by removing employers' ability to use criminal history as a proxy for discrimination. However, it only attacks a symptom of the problem created by America's racist history, the insidiousness of which contributes to the devaluation of Black lives and the exclusion of Black men and women from all sectors of the workforce.

The COVID-19 pandemic is a worldwide crisis of epic proportions. It has created enormous challenges, some of which are apparent, such as health and economic impacts that are without equal in our lifetimes. More challenges undoubtedly await us, some of which we may not even imagine. On the other hand, the crisis may present opportunities for us to learn and to improve in our personal and professional lives.

"The Chinese use two brush strokes to write the word 'crisis.' One brush stroke stands for danger; the other for opportunity. In a crisis, be aware of the danger - but recognize the opportunity." - John F. Kennedy

President Kennedy may have exercised some poetic license in that quote, but it serves as a useful rhetorical device here. In short, out of a crisis can come opportunities.