From charlie.burr at state.or.us Wed Jul 1 09:08:58 2015 From: charlie.burr at state.or.us (Burr, Charlie) Date: Wed, 1 Jul 2015 16:08:58 +0000 Subject: NEWS RELEASE: Portland and Salem seminars will help construction industry navigate Occupational Wage Survey Message-ID: <6376A41CAD6C3E4F8A65385BDA4072615E5A08BD@D5DAG1B.D5.USA.NET> [cid:image001.gif at 01D0B34C.8300D2A0] For Immediate Release July 1, 2015 CONTACT: Charlie Burr, (971) 673-0788 wk. or (503) 913-5407 mobile Portland and Salem seminars will help construction industry navigate Occupational Wage Survey Free workshops will provide tips to make survey reporting easier PORTLAND, OR-Three construction industry-focused seminars will help contractors and subcontractors understand the Bureau of Labor and Industries (BOLI) occupational wage survey, the agency announced today. Every year, BOLI collects survey information from thousands of construction contractors to determine prevailing wage rates for qualifying public projects. The mandatory surveys can be difficult for some contractors. Contractors must provide information about project locations, occupations of workers, hours worked, and benefits paid to each employee. "We want to be a resource for contractors so that we can demystify the survey process. Our goal is to collect the most accurate data possible while minimizing the difficulty for contractors," said Labor Commissioner Brad Avakian. The seminars-free to construction industry participants-will include information on: * contractor's responsibilities when they receive a survey; * recent changes; * how to report hours, wages and benefits; and * how the results help BOLI set prevailing wage rates. The Oregon Employment Department will conduct the trainings and answer questions from participants. Seminar 1: Portland Portland State Office Building Room 1A 800 NE Oregon Street Portland, OR 97232 Date: Monday, August 10, 2015 Time: 10 a.m. to noon Seminar 2: Portland Portland State Office Building Room 1A 800 NE Oregon Street Portland, OR 97232 Date: Monday, August 10, 2015 Time: 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. Seminar 3: Salem Oregon Employment Department Building Auditorium 875 Union Street NE Salem, OR 97311 Date: Monday, August 17, 2015 Time: 10 a.m. to noon To reserve a spot, please complete and return a registration form at least seven days before the workshop. Forms should be sent to Rachelle Herbert at Rachelle.herbert at state.or.us. For more information about BOLI's efforts to support Oregon employers and protect Oregon's workforce, visit http://www.oregon.gov/BOLI. ### Charlie Burr Communications Director Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries 800 NE Oregon Street, Suite 1045 Portland, Oregon 97232 Tel: 971-673-0788 Cell: 503-913-5407 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: image001.gif Type: image/gif Size: 5043 bytes Desc: image001.gif URL: From charlie.burr at state.or.us Thu Jul 2 12:37:09 2015 From: charlie.burr at state.or.us (Burr, Charlie) Date: Thu, 2 Jul 2015 19:37:09 +0000 Subject: NEWS RELEASE: BOLI issues Final Order on Sweet Cakes discrimination case Message-ID: <6376A41CAD6C3E4F8A65385BDA4072615E5A0F6B@D5DAG1B.D5.USA.NET> [cid:image001.gif at 01D0B4BF.62E1E8F0] For Immediate Release July 2, 2015 CONTACT: Charlie Burr, (971) 673-0788 BOLI issues Final Order on Sweet Cakes discrimination case Respondents may now file an appeal with the Oregon Court of Appeals Portland, OR-A Gresham bakery that denied service to a same-sex couple must pay $135,000 in damages, the Bureau of Labor and Industries has ruled. Under Oregon law, businesses cannot discriminate or refuse service based on sexual orientation, just as they cannot turn customers away because of race, sex, disability, age or religion. Respondents may now file an appeal with the Oregon Court of Appeal. The Oregon Equality Act of 2007 includes an exemption for religious organizations and schools, but does not allow private business owners to deny service and unlawfully discriminate against potential customers. >From the Final Order: "This case is not about a wedding cake or a marriage. It is about a business's refusal to serve someone because of their sexual orientation. Under Oregon law, that is illegal. Within Oregon's public accommodations law is the basic principle of human decency that every person, regardless of their sexual orientation, has the freedom to fully participate in society. The ability to enter public places, to shop, to dine, to move about unfettered by bigotry." The BOLI Final Order awards $60,000 in damages to Laurel Bowman-Cryer and $75,000 in damages to Rachel Bowman-Cryer for emotional suffering stemming directly from unlawful discrimination. The amounts are damages related to the harm suffered by the Complainants, not fines or civil penalties which are punitive in nature. The Final Order notes that the non-economic damages are consistent with the agency's previous orders, such as an earlier ruling against a Bend dentist In the Matter of Andrew W. Engle. In that case, BOLI awarded a Christian employee $325,000 in damages for physical, mental and emotion suffering due to religious discrimination and harassment. In public accommodation cases, "the duration of the discrimination does not determine either the degree or duration of the effects of discrimination", as seen In the Matter of Westwind Group of Oregon, a 1998 case in which a southeast Portland Burger King denied service to a customer based on race. Copies of the Final Order can be found on the agency's website. Complaints under the Oregon Equality Act of 2007 are rare. In fact, the agency has found substantial evidence of violations in only seven investigations of Equality Act accommodations complaints in the seven years since the law took effect. In each civil rights investigation, the Bureau of Labor and Industries approaches the complaint not with a bias for or against the Complainant, but with a duty to determine the unique set of facts. In the vast majority of all employment, housing and public accommodations complaints filed under the Oregon Equality Act of 2007, BOLI investigators have found that no substantial evidence exists to support charges of discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity. Any Oregon employer seeking to navigate the Oregon Equality Act or other civil rights protections can contact BOLI's Technical Assistance for Employers with questions at (971) 673-0824. ### Charlie Burr Communications Director Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries 800 NE Oregon Street, Suite 1045 Portland, Oregon 97232 Tel: 971-673-0788 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: image001.gif Type: image/gif Size: 5043 bytes Desc: image001.gif URL: From charlie.burr at state.or.us Wed Jul 29 12:03:48 2015 From: charlie.burr at state.or.us (Burr, Charlie) Date: Wed, 29 Jul 2015 19:03:48 +0000 Subject: =?Windows-1252?Q?NEWS_RELEASE:_BOLI_Final_Order:_Portland_spa_violated_wo?= =?Windows-1252?Q?rker=92s_civil_rights_when_it_retaliated_against_whistle?= =?Windows-1252?Q?blower__?= Message-ID: <6376A41CAD6C3E4F8A65385BDA4072615E5AEB4E@D5DAG1B.D5.USA.NET> [cid:image001.png at 01D0C94A.928161E0] For Immediate Release July 29, 2015 CONTACT: Charlie Burr, BOLI, (971) 673-0788 BOLI Final Order: Portland spa violated worker?s civil rights when it retaliated against whistleblower Hey Beautiful and owner Schoene must compensate employee for damages, lost pay PORTLAND, OR?A Northwest Portland salon and spa must pay $10,000 in damages stemming from retaliation against a worker who reported wage violations, the Bureau of Labor and Industries (BOLI) announced today. The agency had previously found in a May 2014 ruling that the business, Hey Beautiful Enterprises, had failed to pay four employees more than $21,000. The earlier order has been referred to the Oregon Department of Revenue for collections. A separate civil rights investigation found that spa owner Kimberly Schoene unlawfully retaliated against a worker when she fired the employee for inquiring about filing a wage claim. Under Oregon law, employers may not punish workers for complaining about not being paid. Under the BOLI Final Order issued this month in the civil rights case, both Hey Beautiful Enterprises and owner Kimberly Schoene are liable for damages. The agency also awarded the worker $644 for lost wages and tips. During the contested case hearing, the administrative law judge found Schoene?s testimony ?disingenuous and self-serving.? For example, Shoene testified that she didn?t maintain payroll ?specifically because I didn?t want anybody to think that I would ever cheat them.? After the complainant told Hey Beautiful that she was in contact with BOLI, owner Schoene replied by saying ?I guess she quit. I guess she made her decision.? The order found that the employee had no intention of quitting and clearly wanted to continue working for Hey Beautiful. Kimberly Schoene and Hey Beautiful Enterprises LTD. have 60 days from the Final Order served on July 21st to file an appeal with the Court of Appeals. Any employee who believes that he or she is being denied wages may contact BOLI?s Wage and Hour Division at (971) 673-0844 or Civil Rights Division at (971) 673-0764 for whistleblower protection. BOLI?s Technical Assistance for Employers program can also help businesses understand Oregon civil rights and wage and hour law so that employers can avoid potential violations in the first place. A copy of the Hey Beautiful Enterprises Final Order (#41-15) is available online at the agency?s website. ### -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: image001.png Type: image/png Size: 3872 bytes Desc: image001.png URL: