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

Discrimination / Harassment

Do your best to promote workplace civility, but don’t sweat faux pas that weren’t meant to offend

12/01/2010
Good employers strive to create a workplace that’s as respectful and civil as possible. But even in organizations that try their best, supervisors and managers sometimes mess up. A poor choice of words or an ill-timed joke can create tension and inflame passions. Mistakes like those don’t necessarily mean the employer is destined to lose if an employee sues.

Use deliberate process to make termination decisions–and demonstrate your good faith

12/01/2010

When you must terminate an employee, resist the temptation to “throw the book” at him by dredging up every possible mistake. That can backfire. Instead, make sure your termination process is respectful, careful and deliberate. An employer that seems reasonable almost always fares better in court.

Same offense, different discipline? Back it up

12/01/2010

Your progressive discipline probably gives you some flexibility to hand out different punishment, depending on the seriousness of the employee misconduct. As a practical matter, that means you must decide whether what one employee does is more serious than another’s similar transgression. Make sure you’re able to explain why one offense was worse than another and deserved harsher punishment.

Unionized? You may be able to use progressive discipline to address some forms of harassment

12/01/2010

If your organization is unionized and operates under a collective bargaining agreement that calls for progressive discipline, think twice before automatically firing an employee you believe has sexually harassed other employees. Unless your contract specifies discharge for a first harassment offense, you may have to follow your progressive discipline program.

Ho Ho No! Don’t force wearing of Santa hats

11/30/2010
A Jehovah’s Witness was fired from her department store job after she refused to wear a Santa hat while wrapping Christmas gifts. The problem: Her religious beliefs didn’t allow it. Now the EEOC wants a judge to decide whether the store should get coal in its stocking this Christmas.

State bar expands nondiscrimination rule

11/30/2010
The North Carolina Bar Association has voted to add sexual orientation and gender identity to its list of protected classes in the Preamble to the Rules of Professional Conduct for attorneys. The change means North Carolina attorneys may not discriminate against clients because of sexual orientation.

Courts losing patience with frivolous lawsuits

11/30/2010

More and more employers are finding they have to defend against frivolous lawsuits. Both current and former applicants may file suit but don’t provide any details. Often, they are too poor to even pay the filing fees and ask the court to waive the costs. But courts are beginning to toss out such cases right away.

When supervisors leave subordinates in tears, don’t hesitate to demote or fire them

11/29/2010

Some people aren’t cut out to be supervisors. Too bad employers don’t always realize that until a steady stream of subordinates make their way to HR with complaints. If it appears obvious that there’s a problem with the supervisor and not his subordinates, document the complaints and take action.

Cobra, bitten by lawsuit, pays for sexual harassment

11/29/2010
Delray-based construction companies, Cobra Pavers & Engineering and Cobra Construction have agreed to pay $125,000 to settle sexual harassment charges brought by women who worked in the firms’ offices.

Bulletproof anti-harassment policy by ensuring employees know how to lodge their complaints

11/29/2010

It’s been over a decade since the U.S. Supreme Court laid down the law on what employers need to do to prevent and cure sexual harassment. That’s long enough for complacency to have set in. By now, some employers may have started taking sexual harassment less seriously than they did when the court first ruled. That’s a potentially costly mistake.