Virginia Employment Lawyers Publish Article About Virginia Anti-Discrimination and Whistleblower Protection Laws

Virginia employment lawyers Jason Zuckerman and Dallas Hammer published an article in Virginia Lawyer magazine titled 2020 Legislative Session Heralds a Sea Change in Virginia Employment Law. The article discusses how the 2020 legislative session significantly transformed workers’ rights, producing more than 50 employment-related bills, including strong protections to remedy wage theft and inequality, combat discrimination, and prohibit whistleblower retaliation.

2020 Legislative Session Heralds a Sea Change in Virginia Employment Law

These new employment laws represent a sea change for workers’ rights in Virginia, and employers will act at their peril when they discriminate or retaliate against employees. Additional implications include:

The Values Act will likely foster more diverse and tolerant workplaces, which could make Virginia business more profitable and competitive as it seeks to attract businesses and workers that will thrive in the digital age. The benefits of diversity in the workplace include increased innovation and employee engagement, lower turnover, and superior decision-making.
A robust whistleblower protection law will encourage employees to report unlawful conduct internally, thereby benefiting employers by giving them an opportunity to investigate and rectify misconduct.
As Virginia civil procedure respects the important right to a jury trial by making it difficult to obtain summary judgment, there will likely be a mass migration of employment litigation from federal court to Virginia circuit court. More employment cases will go to trial, and jury verdicts could encourage employers to comply with these laws. In addition, employment litigation will likely become a much larger portion of circuit court dockets.
Employers will need to take steps to comply with these new laws and mitigate against the risk of employees bringing claims. For example, employers should consider training managers and supervisors about discrimination and retaliation. In addition, employers should update their policies prohibiting discrimination and retaliation.

Virginia Employment Lawyers

The employment attorneys at Zuckerman Law serve workers in Virginia. We endeavor to find common sense, practical solutions to achieve our clients’ objectives, but also relish the opportunity to take cases to trial to maximize a client’s recovery. To schedule a confidential consultation, click here or call us at 202-262-8959.