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Discrimination / Harassment

Don’t treat pregnancy-related absences differently than other medical absences

04/11/2012
If you provide additional leave or special arrangements for someone recovering from a heart attack or broken leg, you must provide them for a pregnant employee, too. Otherwise, you may be violating the Pregnancy Discrimination Act.

Boca Raton gas station draws ire for alleged religious bias

04/11/2012
It’s not just discrimination against workers that gets employers in trouble. Bias against customers can land them in hot water, too.

No job protection for urging criminal report

04/11/2012
In a recent case, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals has refused to extend protected status to an investigator who wanted her company to go further than it was willing to after it discovered sexual harassment.

Nasty racial bias: Would you like fries with that?

04/11/2012
Does your computer system allow employees to write notes about customers? Do your employees think the customers will never see those notes? That’s a recipe for a disaster, as a California restaurant found out.

Employee concedes shortcomings? Document it!

04/09/2012

Employees who lose their jobs have an incentive to sue—and they’ll often look for evidence of discrimination to form the basis of their lawsuits. But to win in court, employees have to show they were meeting their employer’s legitimate expectations. That’s hard to do if the employer can show the employee admitted her shortcomings.

Promoted? Judge performance in new job, not old

04/09/2012
Once in a while, promotions just don’t work out. Someone who was great at one job might bomb at another. That’s especially true if the new job involves different skills and talents. Don’t let past performance make you hesitate to discipline.

Employee performance not up to snuff? You must communicate your concerns

04/09/2012
Employers have an obligation to make sure employees know what kind of performance is expected of them. Under no circumstances should you wait until you’re ready to discharge the employee to put criticism in writing. That creates the suspicion that you came up with reasons as a cover for illegal discrimination.

Harassment or love affair? Depends if it was welcome

04/09/2012
Workplace affairs almost always get messy, especially when they involve a supervisor and a subordinate. But that doesn’t mean that the subordinate is destined to win the case every time. If she can’t show that the affair was unwelcome, she won’t win.

Court: To allege promotion bias, you must have actually applied for the job

04/09/2012
Except in very limited circumstances, an individual must actually apply for a position before he can challenge the decision to hire someone else.

Stop harassment with warning, then follow up to confirm problem was really solved

04/09/2012
Sometimes, all it takes to stop sexual harassment (or behavior that could escalate to harassment) is to tell the individual to cut it out. But you’ll never know if it worked unless you follow up. You should periodically check back with those affected and note their response in your files.