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Discrimination / Harassment

High Court to hear religious dress code case

10/06/2014
The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear a case that will decide whether a job applicant must specifically request an accommodation before an employer can be held liable for having a dress code that prohibits religious attire or grooming practices.

He never applied; but can he still sue for hiring bias?

10/06/2014
In most cases, people who file discrimination lawsuits (age, race, sex, etc.) based on hiring decisions are people who applied and were officially rejected. But what if someone simply believes the employer would favor one gender—and he never actually applies? Can that person still sue for hiring discrimination?

The hot lawsuits of 2014: Discrimination, harassment

10/01/2014
A survey asked: “In which of the following areas has your organization seen the most employee lawsuits or class action over the past year?”

Even courts can wind up in the EEOC’s cross hairs

09/26/2014
The Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas faces an EEOC age dis­crimination lawsuit after it dismissed a 70-year-old employee.

Boss’s stupid sexist comment may spur lawsuit

09/26/2014
Even a single comment can be enough to keep a sex discrimination case going—especially if the commentator happens to be a supervisor with firing authority.

Warn supervisors against comments on military service

09/26/2014
Here’s something to include in supervisory training sessions: Warn that negative comments about military service may put the employer on the defensive in the event the employee is terminated.

Complaining about unfairness isn’t protected

09/26/2014
Life can be unfair. When an em­­ployee complains about unfairness at work, make sure you document the complaint and make some notes on exactly what she said. If you can show she never mentioned sex, race, age or some other protected characteristic as the underlying reason for the “unfair” treatment she complained about, she hasn’t engaged in “protected activity” and can’t bring a retaliation claim against her employer.

Don’t let manager conduct an evaluation if he isn’t familiar with employee’s work

09/22/2014

While it’s best for supervisors familiar with an employee’s work to provide the bulk of the em­­ployee’s evaluation, sometimes that’s not possible because of a resignation, transfer or other circumstance. In such cases, make sure you explain (and document) why the immediate supervisor or someone else who has observed the employee’s work isn’t doing the evaluating.

Employee acting as her own lawyer? That may not be the easy win you hope for

09/19/2014
Lately, courts have landed hard on attorneys who take so-called frivolous cases, hoping to wrestle a quick settlement from ­employers eager to make the case go away. That should theoretically reduce the number of frivolous lawsuits. It probably won’t.

Seek attorney’s help to craft arbitration agreements that will keep you out of court

09/19/2014
A California appeals court has ruled that it’s up to the arbitrator handling a dispute to determine if the arbitration agreement allows class-action arbitration.