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

Discrimination / Harassment

Can your practices withstand EEOC scrutiny? Use its standards to check hiring bias

06/10/2011
Even one employee’s complaint to the EEOC can launch a massive investigation into your hiring practices. That’s true even if the initial complaint didn’t strictly concern hiring. That’s why you must proactively look for inadvertent discrimination in all your hiring and employment practices. Don’t wait for the agency to come snooping.

‘In our prayers’ condolences: Is it religious bias?

06/10/2011
Q. We send out a condolence card when one of our em­­ployees has a death in the family. We usually say something like, “Our thoughts and prayers are with you at this difficult time.” Now one of our employees has complained about the use of the word “prayer.” Do we need to change the message?

Check your leave policies! EEOC looks at return-to-work issues

06/08/2011
Now is the time to review your return-to-work policies and practices for employees on leave. They need to be integrated without regard to the reason that prompted leave. Treating workers differently depending on the reason for their absence opens the possibility of a disability discrimination claim.

Hot streak over? EEOC loses bid to limit credit histories in hiring

06/08/2011
In a recent case, EEOC v. Kaplan Higher Education, employers scored a major victory. Now, perhaps, we can expect more courts to look skeptically on some of the EEOC’s tactics, giving employers more tools to build the workforces they need.

Aldi warehouse parent company will pay $60,000 for bias

06/07/2011
Eclipse Advantage, Inc.—a transportation, logistics and distribution management company—has agreed to pay $60,000 to settle an EEOC racial harassment and retaliation lawsuit.

Overexposed meat manager costs supermarket $300,000

06/07/2011
Dave’s Supermarket will shell out $300,000 to settle sexual harassment charges after it failed to act swiftly to address a misbehaving meat manager at its Lee-Harvard Shopping Center store on Cleveland’s east side.

Check for job search if employee was ‘forced’ to quit

06/07/2011
Under limited circumstances, an em­­ployee can claim that harassment or discrimination at work made her life so miserable that she had no choice but to quit. She can then walk out and sue as if she had been fired. But what if it turns out that the employee found a job before quitting? That can sink her claim.

You can demand a mental exam if you’re sued for emotional damage

06/07/2011
Employees who claim they worked in an environment so sexually hostile that they suffered psychological damage may have to undergo a mental examination and intensive testing before the case goes to trial. It’s the only way an employer can determine whether the alleged damage was indeed related to the harassment, or perhaps came from another source.

Suspect medical excuse is bogus? Ask employee for a (real) doctor’s note

06/07/2011
Some people will do anything to get out of work early, including lying about their child’s health. One employer did the smart thing and demanded proof when it became suspicious.

Employer beats EEOC in credit-history fight

06/07/2011
The EEOC has been pushing the idea that using credit reports to screen job applicants may discriminate on the basis of race—and it’s actively pursuing cases in federal court. But now an Ohio federal court has limited the scope of a class-action lawsuit after the EEOC wanted to include many years of hiring history.