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Discrimination / Harassment

Ohio Supreme Court refuses to hear false ticket case

03/31/2011
Beth Rist, former Ironton police officer and current Ironton City Council member, appears to have exhausted her legal appeals in her battle to return to uniform. The Ohio Supreme Court has declined to hear her case.

Old pay cut may be basis for new pay-bias claim

03/31/2011

It’s important to regularly review your records of evidence of past discrimination. If an employee now earns less after missing out on past promotions, each new paycheck can support an equal-pay claim under the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. Now a court has expanded that reasoning to include lower paychecks based on past discriminatory pay cuts.

Insubordinate worker? Fire away knowing court probably won’t second-guess

03/31/2011

Employees are expected to follow directions and treat their supervisors with respect. Employees who lose their tempers or refuse to follow legitimate directions are insubordinate. That means you can terminate them, a decision courts will rarely second-guess.

Overly sensitive employee or bully boss? Trust instincts to determine who’s right

03/31/2011

Sometimes, HR professionals have to make judgment calls about who is telling the truth. In fact, just about every workplace investigation requires assessing the credibility of employees, co-workers and managers who disagree about what happened. Take, for example, an employee who complains about a supervisor’s harassment or hostility.

Appeals court rules for employers on ADA

03/31/2011

There’s good news for Ohio employers worried about ADA compliance: The 6th Circuit Court of Appeals has refused to change the law on disability discrimination. A recent ruling upheld prior court decisions that said an employee can’t win a disability discrimination discharge lawsuit unless she can prove that her disability was the “sole” reason for the discharge.

Not everyone wears a halo: Courts don’t expect your work atmosphere to be perfect

03/30/2011
You’d like to think that employees will never do or say anything even mildly offensive. But that’s just not realistic … and courts don’t expect it to be. As long as workplace squabbles and personality conflicts don’t turn into discrimination based on age, race, religion or another protected category, they simply won’t rise to the level of unlawful discrimination.

EEOC issues final ADAAA regs

03/29/2011
The EEOC has issued final regulations for implementing the ADA Amendment Acts, clarifying many of the provisions contained in legislation that was enacted in January 2009. The likely result of the final regulations, according to employment law attorneys: More ADA cases will probably go to trial.

Supreme Court: Complaints don’t have to be in writing to be protected

03/29/2011
Employees are now three-for-three in Supreme Court employment law cases this term, now that the High Court has ruled that an employee’s complaints don’t have to be written to be protected from retaliation by their employers.

Franklin County EMS head sues for bias, FMLA retaliation

03/29/2011
The former acting head of Franklin County’s emergency management agency has filed federal sex discrimination and hostile work environment charges against the county, alleging her working conditions were so severe she developed a serious health condition that required medical leave.

Chestnut Hill College fires professor-priest for being gay

03/29/2011

It seems administrators at Philadelphia’s Chestnut Hill College didn’t know one of their employees as well as they thought they did. The Rev. James St. George had been teaching Bible studies, theology and justice courses at the Catholic college since 2009. When St. George wrote in a blog posting that he is gay, the college fired him.