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

Discrimination / Harassment

Each new racial slur can reset the litigation clock

01/08/2016

Generally, employees don’t have long to get the litigation ball rolling if they want to complain about discrimination. In most cases, they must file a complaint with the EEOC or a state agency within 300 days of an alleged discriminatory act. However, employees often have lots more leeway if they are claiming they had to work in a hostile environment characterized by repeated slurs or other harassing behavior.

Isolated comments aren’t enough to prove discrimination

01/07/2016
When an employee gets fired, his thoughts may turn to filing a lawsuit—maybe based on some suddenly remembered comment that he took as offensive or another supposedly discriminatory act. Fortunately, courts are rarely persuaded.

Racial slur or everyday saying? If it’s offensive, make sure it stops

01/07/2016
Certainly, train your managers that they cannot use common racist phrases and names. But go beyond the obvious and provide examples of other terms and behaviors that may not seem obvious. The following case provides an example.

Rejecting sexual advances protected in NYC

01/07/2016
Under federal law and New York state law, merely rejecting a supervisor’s sexual advances without reporting the conduct to HR probably isn’t protected activity. However, that’s not the case under the New York City Human Rights Law.

Harassment ended? Tell employee to move on

01/07/2016
Some employees will never be satisfied with their employer’s solution to perceived harassment. But if you have fixed the problem, it’s perfectly fine to tell the employee he needs to move on and forget about the past.

EEOC claims Glenwood F.D. hosed older firefighters

01/07/2016
The EEOC has sued a volunteer fire company for age discrimination because of the way it manages its length of service award program.

‘Racist’ not a protected class under Title VII

01/04/2016
Here’s a common sense conclusion: Firing someone you suspect may be a racist is a legitimate decision.

EEOC sues staffing firm for harassment and retaliation

01/04/2016
The EEOC has filed suit against staffing company Labor Ready Mid-Atlantic for actions occurring at its office in Washington, Pa.

Satanic hand scanner costs company half a million dollars

01/04/2016
A mining company’s refusal to accommodate an employee’s religious belief has cost it $586,860. A federal jury in Pittsburgh decided that Consol Energy violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act when it refused an employee’s request to use an alternative method for tracking his hours.

Pennsylvania’s state revenue boss gets probation for harassment

01/04/2016
Albert Forlizzi II has fallen a long way. Now unemployed, the former supervisor at the State Department of Revenue and former mayor of Pen­­brook has been sentenced to four years probation after pleading no contest to charges of indecent assault and official oppression.