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Discrimination / Harassment

It’s now harder to sue for bias, retaliation

07/10/2013

Good news for employers: A pair of U.S. Supreme Court rulings handed down on June 24 will make it more difficult for your employees to file lawsuits against your organization, claiming discrimination or retaliation. Here’s the impact for HR:

Scrub protected-class info from résumés

07/09/2013
Here’s a simple way to keep many disappointed applicants from filing needless lawsuits: Make sure someone removes any application or résumé information that indicates race, national origin or other characteristics belonging to a protected class before the information is passed on to whoever makes the initial screening decision.

Settlement pays FDNY women $1.3 million to end bias suit

07/09/2013
The New York City Fire Department (FDNY) has settled a long-standing gender discrimination case with five women who work as emergency medical technicians. They’ll split $1.3 million under the terms of the settlement.

Add civility code to prevent avoidable lawsuits

07/09/2013
Do you have a comprehensive civility code? If not, consider adding one. A work environment contaminated by yelling, cursing and other uncivil behavior could lead to discrimination and retaliation lawsuits.

Mere guessing at compensation disparity won’t help employee win EPA lawsuit

07/09/2013
Here’s some good news. A court has quickly dismissed a pay disparity lawsuit that a university mathematics professor filed accusing her university of paying male faculty more than their female colleagues.

Employee complains co-workers ignore her? That’s not enough for discrimination claim

07/09/2013
Some employees just aren’t very likable, and that can lead to workplace awkwardness. Co-workers may ignore their prickly colleagues and only deal with them when necessary. That’s OK as long as the co-workers don’t end up going beyond mild ostracism.

Beware firing for forwarding emails that might support retaliation claim

07/09/2013
Be careful before firing someone for violating email policies that prohibit forwarding company documents to a personal email account. If the forwarded documents support an EEOC or other discrimination complaint, and if the forwarding isn’t “disruptive,” firing the employee could trigger a retaliation claim.

Supreme Court backs employers in Title VII cases

07/09/2013
With two rulings on June 24, the U.S. Supreme Court handed major victories to employers, limiting liability for supervisory discrimination and setting a higher bar for employees who file retaliation lawsuits. Both decisions clarify long-standing Title VII questions. Both mean employers are less likely to lose potentially costly lawsuits.

Don’t worry a somewhat negative performance review will cost you a lawsuit

07/09/2013
Here’s one less thing to worry about when preparing performance reviews: Employees can’t use a poor review as an excuse to sue unless they can show it affected their job in some significant way, such as making the employee ineligible for a pro­­motion.

Never blame an employees’ work deficiencies on her pregnancy

07/09/2013
Here’s an important tip to pass on to all supervisors: Never speculate on why an employee may be performing poorly. Focus on the work itself, and leave the diagnosis and psychoanalysis to the experts. That’s especially true when you think an employee’s work may be affected by pregnancy or pregnancy-related complications.