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Employee Relations

What if a disability accommodation might cause morale problems with other employees?

10/28/2008

Q. An employee whose doctor says she cannot stand for long periods of time recently requested an accommodation. The employee requested the opportunity to sit on a stool while she works. We are concerned that giving this employee a stool will prompt other employees to request seats of their own, even though they do not have the disability she does. Do we have to accommodate her request, knowing that it could lead to significant morale problems?

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.”

ADA protections don’t cover independent contractors

10/28/2008

Independent contractors aren’t covered by the ADA, as the following case shows …

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.

Warn bosses: Don’t exclude from ‘inner circle’

10/27/2008

Train all bosses to avoid even the appearance of favoritism. Explain that excluding anyone from an “inner circle” may trigger a lawsuit, especially if those on the “in” list are largely members of the same protected classification as the supervisor or manager. Something as simple as speaking a common foreign language with select subordinates can trigger a lawsuit …

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 …