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Discrimination / Harassment

Document every discharge just in case there’s a lawsuit

07/26/2013

You might assume that someone won’t sue if they’ve been accused of sexual harassment by several employees and cited for poor performance. You could be wrong. That’s why you should document every discharge decision as if you expect a lawsuit.

Does your discipline policy grant ‘one harassment free’?

07/24/2013
We all struggle with drafting policies. In the following case we learn that leaving certain words out of your disciplinary policy can be just as legally dangerous as putting the wrong words in. In this case, the employer’s discipline policy essentially allowed employees to engage in one act of sexual harassment without being terminated.

TV chef Paula Deen hires L.A. attorney-to-the-stars

07/23/2013
Embattled celebrity chef Paula Deen has fired her Georgia attorneys and called in the big guns—including famed Hollywood attorney-to-the-stars Patricia Glaser—to help salvage her reputation and media empire.

Suit claims Chivas USA illegally fired non-Latino coaches

07/23/2013
Major League Soccer team Chivas USA, which plays its home games in suburban Los Angeles, has been sued for race and ethnic discrimination by two former youth coaches. They claim they were fired because they are not Mexican or Latino.

Employee acts as own lawyer? Expect legal complications

07/23/2013
Before you jump for joy when an employee acts as her own lawyer in a federal lawsuit, consider this: Courts give pro se litigants lots of leeway, as this case shows.

One subjectively offensive comment won’t support lawsuit

07/23/2013

Courts are losing patience with employees who are overly sensitive when it comes to joking and off-color comments in the workplace, and are tossing out flimsy lawsuits because it’s not their role to manage workplaces.

Buying business and rehiring staff? Beware excluding employees who have filed lawsuits

07/23/2013
When you buy a business, the employees generally don’t automatically transfer. Typically, the new owner decides which employees to keep on the payroll. Before you exclude any existing employees from consideration, make sure that rejecting them won’t look like a failure to hire because they have previously filed discrimination litigation.

It’s legal to punish boss/employee harasser more harshly than harasser of co-workers

07/19/2013
Supervisors can and should be held to a higher standard when it comes to enforcing workplace rules. That in­­cludes punishing a supervisor who har­­asses a subordinate more harshly than a co-worker who harasses a colleague.

National origin, language & religion: Legally managing diversity at work

07/17/2013
To achieve compliance and prevent successful discrimination claims (which could involve class-action exposure), employers must be attuned to workplace issues around national origin, religion and race. For most employers, this means training management and HR personnel to carefully consider their policy-making and daily decisions that can affect such issues.

Long ago comment won’t taint current legitimate disciplinary action

07/17/2013
Here’s some good news for em­ployers that promote an employee into a supervisory position not knowing she may have made racist comments in the past. As long as the new supervisor follows company disciplinary rules and HR carefully documents any performance and disciplinary problems, chances are the old comments won’t sink the em­­­ploy­­er’s defense of a discrimination claim.