Employees, Not Independent Contractors May Sue For Discrimination
Employment laws apply to employees, not independent contractors. In Alexander v. Avera St. Luke's Hosp., 2014 WL 4817821 (8th Cir. September 30, 2014) , Dr. Alexander was employed by the hospital as an independent contractor. He was terminated and sued under the ADEA, the ADA, and FMLA. The Eighth Circuit held the ADA and ADEA applied to the employer-employee relationship, which means the employer must exercise control over an employee. Alexander admitted he performed his duties free from control of the hospital. Though the FMLA has a more broad definition of "employee," Alexander had economic independence and had the ability to hire physicians, which is not characteristic of FMLA employees.

Isolated Acts of Bad Behavior Do Not Constitute Discrimination
A supervisor made disparaging remarks about an employee’s age and subjected him to sexual harassment by allegedly grabbing his nipple and rubbing a towel on his own crotch and handing it back to his employee. The supervisor was disciplined. The employee retired because of stressful working conditions. He sued, claiming hostile work environment. The court held simple teasing or offhand remarks and in this case, conduct, was insufficient to support a discrimination claim. Rickard v. Swedish Match North America, Inc., 773 F.3d 181 (8th Cir. 2014).

Title VII Expanded to Protect Transgendered Government Employees
The United States Department of Justice recently interpreted Title VII of the Civil Rights Act to protect employees in state and local government from discrimination based on gender identity, including transgender status. Attorney General Holder noted the First, Sixth and Eleventh Circuit Courts of Appeals have interpreted sex discrimination to include a perceived failure to conform to socially constructed characteristics of males and females. Employers need to ensure that their equal employment policies include the appropriate individual classes.