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Discrimination / Harassment

When faced with irrationality, act rationally

10/29/2010

Have you ever run across an irrational employee who thought everyone was out to get him because of bias? You probably listened carefully to his complaints, only to realize there was no real discrimination going on. It would be easy to dismiss the complaint out-of-hand. However, a better approach is to try to fix the “problem.” The reason: Irrational employees often file lawsuits despite ample evidence that nothing is amiss.

EEOC extinguishes Cintas’ harassment fire

10/28/2010

Uniform supplier Cintas will pay $152,000 to workers at its Conshohocken facility after agreeing to settle an EEOC race and sexual harassment suit. The suit stemmed from a supervisor’s sexual and racial harassment of black workers in Cintas’ fire-protection division.

Philly firm bans Muslim scarf, earns religious bias lawsuit

10/28/2010
Imperial Security, a Philadelphia-area security firm that provides guards for the Pennsylvania Convention Center and other locations in the city, faces a religious discrimination lawsuit after it refused to allow a Muslim woman to wear a khimar, a religious head scarf, on the job.

EEOC challenges Cavalier attitude toward age bias

10/28/2010
The EEOC has filed a class-action lawsuit against Cavalier Telephone on behalf of a group of account executives and job applicants from Pennsylvania and other Mid-Atlantic states, charging that the company refuses to hire older workers and fired two employees in retaliation after they objected to the alleged discrimination.

EEOC sues Ricoh for national-origin harassment

10/26/2010
The EEOC has sued copier company Ricoh on behalf of three former employees—two Hispanics and one man of African origin. The suit alleges the three endured almost daily racial epithets and race-based harassment at the company’s Greensboro location.

Goldsboro builder settles bias case with Adventists

10/26/2010
Goldsboro-based construction company T.A. Loving has settled a religious discrimination complaint for $47,500. Elvis Cifuentes Angel and two other workers filed the complaint stating that Loving forced them to work on their religion’s Sabbath. All three workers are Seventh-day Adventists.

Subway assistant manager too fresh for EEOC

10/26/2010
SKMATCH Inc., a Subway franchisee with several stores in the Wilmington area, faces charges it failed to address sexual harassment complaints leveled at one of its assistant managers.

Dillard’s faces age bias charges after firing in Cary

10/26/2010

Dillard’s department stores will have to answer in court to charges it discriminated against former area sales manager Virginia Keene because of her age. Working in Cary, Keene was 61 years old at the time the company fired her and replaced her with a 24-year-old with only four months’ experience.

Court refuses to expand Title VII liability to bosses

10/26/2010
A federal court hearing a sexual harassment case has dismissed the charges against a district manager because individuals aren’t personally liable for Title VII violations.

Check calendar when employee files EEOC complaint

10/26/2010
Employees who wait too long to file a discrimination complaint with the EEOC lose their right to sue.