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Discrimination / Harassment

Poor economy, new legal peril: Refusing to hire the unemployed

01/07/2011
No federal law says it’s discriminatory to refuse to hire unemployed people. However, legislatures in several states are considering bills that would make it illegal to discriminate on the basis of current employment status. Moreover, many who are jobless fall into protected classes—including women, minorities, people with disabilities and those over age 40.

Lawsuit: NYC watch seller had no time for crucifix

01/07/2011

A workplace conflict that started with jewelry has escalated into a case of dueling lawsuits. On one side: Jamie Errico, former vice president of sales for Manhattan watch retailer Concepts in Time, who has filed a gender and religious discrimination suit against her former employer. On the other: The store’s owners, who are suing Errico for trying to poach customers.

Asking worker to stay can counter constructive discharge

01/07/2011
Employees who believe they work in a hostile environment can quit and claim they were “constructively discharged,” arguing that no reasonable person would stay and suffer intolerable conditions. But when an employer responds to a resignation with entreaties to stay, chances are the employee will have a hard time arguing things were so terrible she had to quit.

Be sure to document all employee complaints

01/07/2011
If you don’t already have a system in place to track all employee complaints, develop one now. You simply never know when someone will sue. When a lawsuit claims that an employee worked in a hostile environment, a record of those complaints—or the lack thereof—will come in handy.

Court limits reach of obscure bias law: Discrimination case must stay in state court

01/07/2011
Here’s a bit of good news for employers that would prefer to keep New York discrimination claims in state court. A federal court has refused to let a former employee use Section 1981 of the Civil Rights Act to move state claims to federal court.

After worker complains of bias, beware even small job changes–such as less overtime

01/07/2011
Employees who complain about discrimination are protected from retaliation. Anything that would cause a reasonable employee to rethink the original complaint is fair game for a retaliation lawsuit, including such seemingly minor consequences like losing a few hours of overtime pay.

Request medical clearance for chronic condition

01/07/2011

It’s not always easy to accommodate disabled employees. You want to follow the law, but you also want to make sure that the employee isn’t a danger to herself or others if she has a serious condition like epilepsy. But it is possible to handle these tricky situations right—as the employer did in this case.

The practice judges never forgive: Retaliation

01/07/2011
Some employers are slow learners—they still don’t understand the danger of retaliation. Judges are fairly tolerant of all kinds of inappropriate employment practices, but they really, really don’t like it when an employer punishes someone who has just complained about those practices.

Highland Village firefighter: Department harassed, retaliated

01/07/2011
A female firefighter in Highland Village has filed a lawsuit accusing the municipality of sexual harassment and retaliation following her firing in November 2008, after she filed internal and state complaints.

Allen debt counseling firm sued for race bias, FLSA violations

01/07/2011
Two former salespeople are suing Greenshield Financial Services, a debt consolidation firm based in Allen, claiming the company is racially biased and failed to properly pay them for overtime hours.