Discipline / Investigations

How seriously should we take allegations of female-on-male sexual harassment?

09/24/2010

Q. A male employee recently complained to HR that a female co-worker was sexually harassing him. Do I have to investigate this claim the same as I would a claim by a woman against a male co-worker?

Can we discipline late worker by cutting her pay?

09/23/2010

Q. One of our hourly employees ($15 per hour) arrives late way too often. We’d like her to get here on time so we’re considering cutting her hourly rate when she arrives late. For example, if she arrives an hour late, we would not pay her for the hour and cut her pay to minimum wage for the rest of the day. Can we do that?

You can insist on investigation confidentiality

09/10/2010

Make it a policy to keep it confidential when conducting internal investigations into discrimination or harassment. That way, rumors and exaggerated claims won’t influence other employees who haven’t yet told investigators their side of the story. Employers that terminate employees for violating that confidentiality needn’t worry that doing so is retaliation, at least according to a recent 11th Circuit decision.

Philadelphia attorney accused of $1 million embezzlement

09/10/2010

Jeffrey Abramowitz had worked his way from law student to named partner at the Center City firm of Klevan & Abramowitz. That all came to an end last December when senior partner Mitchell Klevan discovered evidence that Abramowitz had been depositing client funds into his personal account and diverting firm funds for his own purposes.

Can worker be disciplined for wheelchair damage?

09/09/2010

Q. One of our employees has intellectual delays and is in a motorized wheelchair. In the past year, he ran over a client’s foot and damaged the office walls numerous times, including punching through the drywall. We are at our wit’s end. Can we terminate him if he continues to cause damage or at least make him pay for wall repairs out of his paycheck?

Is it time to ban swearing in the workplace?

08/25/2010

Should you establish a zero-tolerance ban on swearing in the workplace? It’s probably not realistic and you may set yourself up for discrimination claims if you clamp down on one employee’s slip-up but not another’s. Instead, establish more general rules that say offensive language and other disrespectful conduct are not permitted, and violators will be subjected to the discipline policy.

When firing, choose words carefully, stick to performance

08/23/2010

Employees who have just lost their jobs usually leave their termination meetings in a foul mood. So, don’t give them any reason during that meeting to send them marching to a lawyer’s office. As you’ll see in the following case, one inflammatory phrase from a supervisor can spark a lawsuit.

Outrageous co-worker harassment? 4 quick actions can help you avoid liability

08/20/2010

It’s going to happen eventually: An employee will report egregious behavior that is clearly sexual harassment. If your organization is lucky, the harasser will be a co-worker, which means you will have a shot at mitigating the damage with quick action. Here’s what to do when the co-worker harassment call comes in:

When co-workers engage in racial harassment, act fast to remove offensive symbols

08/13/2010

Employers can escape liability for employees’ racist actions if they can show they acted quickly to stop any potentially race-based harassment such as graffiti or offensive symbols.

Checking up on alleged leave abuser? Document why you suspect particular employee

08/06/2010

Do you think some employees may be taking advantage of your paid leave plan? If so, it’s OK to set up a surveillance program to catch the worst offenders. Just make sure you document why a particular employee’s behavior is suspicious. Good reasons to check up include “coincidental” timing like absences clustered around weekends or holidays.