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

Discrimination / Harassment

Fire if necessary: Complaining about bias doesn’t earn free pass to terrorize co-workers

11/19/2012
Don’t let past discrimination complaints by an obviously troubled employee keep you from ensuring workplace safety. Even vague threats can justify firing a potentially dangerous employee. Few judges will see that as retaliation.

Of mice and Muslims: EEOC sues UPS for bias

11/16/2012
The EEOC is suing UPS for race and religious discrimination and retaliation, alleging a Muslim of Jordanian descent working at the company’s San Bruno hub was subjected to physical and verbal harassment, including being called “Dr. Bomb,” “al-Qaida” and “Taliban.”

$1 million settlement ends bias suit at Delano hospital

11/16/2012
Delano Regional Medical Center has agreed to pay almost $1 million to settle a lawsuit filed by the EEOC and the Asian Pacific American Legal Center on behalf of a group of Filipino-American workers.

Track the training you offer, who qualified–and which employees took advantage of it

11/16/2012

If you offer training to some, you must offer it to everyone else in the same classification who qualifies. Refusing to train some employees may be grounds for a discrimination lawsuit. Prevent such lawsuits by carefully documenting all training offers and how employees respond.

Watch out! Employee who quits can still sue

11/16/2012
Think you can avoid a discrimination lawsuit by making life so miserable that an employee quits, making it unnecessary to fire her? Don’t bet on it.

Steer clear of blanket hiring policies that stymie disabled applicants

11/15/2012

Do you have a standard hiring rule that effectively screens out some job applicants? If so, scrap it. Instead, consider each applicant on his or her merits, especially if the rule could harm applicants with certain disabilities.

Examine actual job duties–not job descriptions–to determine if jobs are truly equivalent

11/15/2012
Don’t rely on job descriptions to counter claims that you violated the Equal Pay Act. How the job is actually performed counts much more.

Communicate findings of bias investigation

11/15/2012
If an employee complains about alleged discrimination and you investigate, make sure you let the employee know the result. It could prevent a lawsuit.

How to establish a sexual harassment defense?

11/14/2012
Q. We have several 16-year-old girls working as servers in our restaurant. One worker’s mother told us about alleged harassment. Can we rely on our training for our defense?

Long gap after complaint won’t support retaliation claim

11/13/2012
A federal court has ruled that a two-year gap between an employee’s discrimination complaint and alleged retaliation is too long. Otherwise, employers could face retaliation claims years or even decades after resolving an original complaint.