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Discrimination / Harassment

Texas Supreme Court clarifies: It’s not age bias if new worker is older than the original

07/31/2012
The Texas Supreme Court has just made it much easier for employers to avoid age discrimination claims. In what the court calls a “true replacement case” under the Texas Commission on Human Rights Act, an older worker must show that she was replaced by a younger worker.

Aftermath of an affair: Beware harassment

07/31/2012
You can’t stop all romantic entanglements at work, but you can and should make sure the post-affair fallout doesn’t disrupt the workplace.

Manager mistakes: 3 key lessons from the courtroom

07/30/2012
It’s always smarter—and less expensive—to learn about employment law from others’ mistakes, rather than your own. Here are three new court decisions that serve up great lessons for any manager:

The ‘perceived as’ theory of discrimination in Pennsylvania

07/27/2012
An intriguing discrimination case in New Jersey raises complicated issues that Pennsylvania courts may one day have to address: discrimination claims based on perceived membership in a protected class.

Track your fair and equitable discipline to prove you don’t discriminate

07/27/2012
Even an employee who was terminated for good reasons can win a discrimination lawsuit if she can show that someone outside her protected class wasn’t fired for the same transgression. That’s why you must track all discipline.

Family Dollar signs on to EEOC’s mediation program

07/25/2012
Matthews-based retailer Family Dollar is the latest employer to take up the EEOC’s offer to mediate its em­­ployment disputes. It has signed an agreement—known as a National Universal Agreement to Mediate (UAM)—that allows employers to use EEOC mediators to informally resolve discrimination complaints through alternative dispute resolution.

EEOC sews up settlement with Asheboro textile firm

07/25/2012
Asheboro-based BJ Con/Sew will pay $75,000 to settle an EEOC national-origin harassment lawsuit filed on behalf of a former employee who says he endured almost daily ethnic slurs for two years.

Beware jumping the gun when firing injured worker

07/25/2012
Before terminating an employee who has racked up absences that may or may not be related to a workplace in­­jury, make sure she has had a chance to show that the injury contributed to her attendance problems.

Don’t expect quick dismissal just because employee has decided to act as his own attorney

07/25/2012
When an employee represents himself, prepare for a fight—even if you know the claim doesn’t have much merit. That’s because courts don’t like to toss out cases without giving every benefit of the doubt to employees who can’t find attorneys to represent them.

Federal court to decide: Does firing a pregnant employee violate public policy in N.C.?

07/25/2012
A federal court has said it will soon decide a case that may make pregnancy discrimination illegal in North Carolina. At issue is whether North Carolina employers are liable for wrongful discharge if they fire a pregnant woman from her at-will job.