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Discrimination / Harassment

Cut your retaliation risk: Make sure training is open to everyone who’s eligible

11/05/2010

Employees who experience retaliation after complaining about bias can sue and win, even if it turns out there was no basis for the original discrimination complaint. The retaliation doesn’t even have to be something serious such as a demotion or firing. It can be something as subtle as lost training opportunities.

No employee handbook or written policy? Good luck proving you take harassment seriously

11/05/2010
One reason employers have handbooks is to protect themselves from surprise allegations of harassment. Without a handbook, they are left with having to show that employees knew how to complain. That’s tough if there’s no documentation that you told them how.

New hire a dud? Have hiring manager fire

11/05/2010
Here’s a practice you should make standard operating procedure: Have the same manager who makes hiring decisions also make the firing decisions. Doing so will cut the chances of a successful discrimination lawsuit.

New employee a dud? Give the early hook without heading to court

11/02/2010

Sometimes it’s obvious from the get-go that a new hire just isn’t working out. You must dismiss him, the sooner the better. When the employee is a member of a protected class, who does the firing can make all the difference between a clean break and a messy discrimination lawsuit.

Establish clear performance expectations so courts can judge if employee was meeting them

11/01/2010

Courts often hesitate to second-guess employers when they fire employees for what seem like honest reasons. And employers that set out clear performance expectations and then show how the terminated employee fell short rarely lose a lawsuit. That’s because, absent smoking-gun evidence of discrimination, fired employees have to prove they were meeting their employer’s legitimate expectations.

4 phrases that can sabotage job reviews

11/01/2010

When supervisors talk with employees about job performance, they must beware using common phrases that can unintentionally communicate the wrong message, or come across as too negative … or even legally dangerous. Feel free to share this “Memo to Managers” article with everyone in your organization who conducts performance reviews. Bonus: They’ll also learn the two phrases virtually guaranteed to spark a lawsuit.

How responsible is a parent company for an action filed against a subsidiary company?

11/01/2010
Q. A former employee has filed an employment discrimination lawsuit against one of my company’s subsidiaries. The suit names both the subsidiary and us—the parent company—as the responsible employers. Isn’t this charge just the subsidiary’s problem and not ours?

Former Bells bank worker files age discrimination suit

11/01/2010
A former employee of First Bells Bankshares in Bells, north of Dallas, has filed a discrimination lawsuit alleging that the Texas bank fired her after she refused to be demoted.

EEOC puts the bite on Burleson dental office

11/01/2010

The EEOC has filed a sexual harassment lawsuit claiming that a Burleson dentist subjected two employees to unwanted sexual conduct and a sexually hostile work environment. David Mikitka is the lead dentist at the practice, known as Smile Brands of Texas.

Fired after cancer diagnosis, Nacogdoches bus driver sues

11/01/2010
A former school bus driver is suing the Nacogdoches Independent School District, arguing she was fired because of a dire medical condition. She accuses the school district of firing her for exercising her right to medical leave due to a serious health condition under the FMLA. The suit also alleges disability discrimination, race discrimination, retaliation, breach of contract and violations of the Texas Labor Code.