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Employee Relations

Fair discipline process is key to avoiding lawsuits

10/01/2007

Do you have an employee who grates on everyone’s nerves and makes unreasonable demands on subordinates? Are you afraid to discipline the employee because he or she belongs to a protected class (e.g., race, age, sex)? Fear no more! As long as you use a fair process to correct the employee’s shortcomings, chances are he or she won’t win a lawsuit …

Steelworkers drop discipline against Goodyear strikebreakers

10/01/2007

The United Steelworkers have dropped disciplinary action against four former members who defied the union’s three-month strike at the Goodyear Tire & Rubber plant in Akron this summer …

Speedway SuperAmerica prevails on retaliation charges

10/01/2007

Speedway SuperAmerica, the Enon-based convenience store chain, won a recent sexual harassment and retaliation lawsuit by a former cashier in a West Virginia store. The cashier alleged that she endured repeated sexual harassment by a co-worker. Shortly after complaining, she came up $200 short on her cash register. The company did not accuse her of stealing, but fired her …

Separate the decision-Maker from the investigation

10/01/2007

When it comes to internal investigations looking into potential wrongdoings, it’s a good idea to put a wall between the investigator and the ultimate decision-maker. The investigator should present the facts of the case and leave drawing conclusions and deciding discipline to someone else …

Is everyone in your company treated equally? Here’s how to track

10/01/2007

Do you have ready access to your organization’s discipline records? Can you say with certainty that everyone charged with the same misconduct receives the same punishment? Or is there bias hiding in those records? The best way to check is to group discipline by type of misconduct and punishment …

Public supervisors who report fraud are immune from defamation claims

10/01/2007

Good news for supervisors who work in the public sector: Reporting suspected fraud and workers’ compensation abuse won’t lead to losing a defamation case. Nor will commenting on the possibility that someone is facing criminal charges for fraud. That’s true even if the employee suspected of wrongdoing is cleared entirely and the accusations were largely unfounded …

‘Rubber stamp theory’ applies to Civil Service decisions, too

10/01/2007

Employees who claim they were fired illegally and whose jobs are protected by the Civil Service Act can win their lawsuits—if they can prove the Civil Service Board merely rubber-stamped a supervisor’s discriminatory decision. Until now, it was unclear whether that was the case …

St. Augustine florist sues over manager’s wilting remarks

10/01/2007

When Michaels, a chain of arts-and-crafts stores headquartered in Irving, TX, transferred manager Daniel Zimmerman into its St. Augustine store, upper management received numerous complaints from staff about his rudeness. Joseph Lewis, a floral designer suing the company for age and gender discrimination and retaliation, said employees began “dropping like flies” after Zimmerman joined the store …

When disciplining employees, pick one reason and stick with it

10/01/2007

Nothing raises suspicion among judges and juries more than inconsistent explanations. For example, shifting reasons for firing someone can backfire. You’re courting trouble if the employee filed a discrimination claim with your HR office or the EEOC or sued your organization before being fired. The key to a clean discharge—especially when the employee has filed discrimination charges—is picking a legitimate reason for firing the employee and sticking with it …

Track discipline by type and protected characteristics

10/01/2007

Do you have ready access to your organization’s discipline records? Can you say with certainty that everyone charged with the same misconduct receives the same punishment? Or is there bias hiding in those records? The best way to check is to group discipline by type of misconduct and punishment and then compare employees’ sex, race, age and other protected characteristics against punishment for the same conduct …