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Discrimination / Harassment

Court refuses to freeze employer’s assets pending outcome of discrimination case

10/26/2010

Here’s a happy ending to a case that could have made very bad law for employers. A federal judge has rejected a former employee’s request for the court to seize an employer’s assets pending the outcome of the case.

Court: Employers can collect costs after win

10/26/2010
If an employer loses a discrimination case, it typically has to pay the employee’s legal fees and associated costs plus any damages due. But what if the employee loses the case? Judges have begun assessing legal costs to the losing side. Such costs typically include expenses associated with defending a lawsuit such as deposition fees, copying costs and expert witness expenses.

New employee a dud? Boss who hired should fire

10/26/2010

Someone who harbors animosity against a protected class isn’t likely to hire someone he knows belongs to that protected class. If a manager picks a black man as his preferred candidate for an opening and offers the job, he probably isn’t a racist. If that same manager finds out the new employee isn’t as qualified as he sounded or looked on his résumé, he should be the one to make the termination decision.

Discrimination claims by Muslims rise to all-time high

10/26/2010
The number of discrimination claims filed with the EEOC by Muslims has more than doubled in the past five years, rising to a high of 1,490 last year. Surprisingly, that’s more claims than in the year following the 9/11 attacks.

Steamed at Maxwell House, employee wins reinstatement

10/25/2010

Francena Smith will return to her former job at Kraft Foods’ Maxwell House division in Jacksonville following an arbitrator’s decision. Smith filed an EEOC gender discrimination claim alleging she was disciplined more harshly than several male workers who were also involved in incidents at the plant that caused contamination of the coffee.

Document all efforts to investigate complaints

10/25/2010
One of the best ways to show you took a harassment or discrimination complaint seriously is to come up with figures quantifying your efforts to resolve it. A critical step: logging the number of hours you spent investigating claims, along with a detailed account of all the other steps you took.

Voters to decide: Will sheriff have to get out of Dodge?

10/15/2010
A supposedly confidential sexual harassment complaint has become an election issue in the Dodge County sheriff’s race. An employee in the sheriff’s office claims she was sexually harassed by current Sheriff Jim Trihey.

How should we structure an anti-nepotism policy?

10/15/2010
Q. To prevent productivity and morale problems, we would like to adopt a policy banning the hiring of our current employees’ spouses. Would this be lawful?

Bay Area worker files sexual orientation harassment suit

10/15/2010
A former clerical worker is suing a San Francisco Bay Area-based trucking company, claiming he was harassed and subsequently fired for asking about medical benefits for his same-sex partner.

Sending Form 1099 to IRS doesn’t amount to retaliation

10/15/2010

Sometimes, settling a discrimination complaint may mean paying the employee several thousand dollars. That payment may or may not be taxable. Employers often send a 1099 miscellaneous income form to the IRS. Some employees think this is a deliberate effort to alert the IRS to their miscellaneous income and amounts to retaliation. Courts disagree.