• The HR Specialist - Print Newsletter
  • HR Specialist: Employment Law
  • The HR Weekly

Discipline / Investigations

Warning: Even legit firing can lead to lawsuit

11/04/2008

You’d think terminating someone for obviously gross misconduct and behavior that was simply unacceptable would be a slam-dunk. No chance such an employee could bring a lawsuit, right? Wrong. There’s always the potential for a discrimination suit …

Crying wolf? 4 steps for handling serial complainers

10/28/2008

Some employees have chips on their shoulders—everything is always someone else’s fault, not theirs. They constantly pester supervisors and higher-ups with complaints about discrimination, retaliation and general unfairness. How is an employer supposed to deal with such constant whining? …

Don’t be surprised if tort claim follows initial lawsuit

10/28/2008

Government employees who want to sue for such things as defamation have to let the state know before they file suit. It gets trickier, however, when the employee amends a previous suit …

Employee does not have to specify race to invoke protection

10/28/2008

Bernard Pettis, who is black, worked for R.R. Donnelley as a materials handler, loading skids for press operator Tim Cain. Whenever Cain, who is white, helped Pettis seal the skids, he would smash Pettis’ hands under the top board, then laugh and tell co-workers, “I got his hands,” or “Ooh, look at him.”

Rutgers poli-sci department is old school, women claim

10/27/2008

Five female faculty members at Rutgers University in New Brunswick have filed a complaint with the state Attorney General’s Office, alleging bias in pay and decision-making in the Political Science Department.

There’s getting hurt … then there’s the fear of getting hurt

10/27/2008

Here’s a tale of workplace terror so harrowing that one of the characters even used a pseudonym when he filed for workers’ comp … for injuries he had yet to receive.

N.J. Supreme Court sets rules for proving religious discrimination

10/27/2008

The New Jersey Supreme Court has ruled for the first time on the proof employees must offer to make a religion-based hostile work environment claim stick. The case, Cutler v. Dorn, established that New Jersey courts must decide workplace religious discrimination claims using the same legal standards they use in racial and gender discrimination claims.

Discipline only after documenting work slippage

10/24/2008

Sometimes, it takes a new manager or supervisor to see how poorly an employee is performing. If an employee who has been getting good reviews suddenly appears to slump under new leadership, don’t jump the gun and discipline the employee right away. Here’s a better approach …

Former sheriff won’t be handing out paychecks anytime soon

10/24/2008

Ronald Hewitt, former Brunswick County sheriff, has been sentenced to 16 months in prison, ordered to pay a $10,000 fine and attend mandatory substance-abuse counseling after pleading guilty to obstructing justice in a case that was a hit parade of workplace impropriety.

Track discipline by protected characteristics

10/24/2008

Poor performers who think they have been discriminated against when fired, demoted or otherwise disciplined can still win a lawsuit—if they can show that others outside their protected class were just as lousy but didn’t receive the same discipline. Be ready to defend yourself with solid, carefully documented proof…