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Discrimination / Harassment

Beware! Your ‘neutral’ rule may invite lawsuit

09/24/2010
So your work rules are fair and neutral. There’s no way employees belonging to a protected class would sue you, alleging the rule has a disparate impact. Guess again—it happens. Consider this recent case, which has resulted in years of legal wrangling.

Ensure fair distribution of work opportunities

09/24/2010

Does your company employ salespeople who are responsible for meeting certain benchmark goals? If so, be sure you have some way to check that everyone competes on an even footing. That includes ensuring that things like territories and leads are distributed in a way that doesn’t favor members of one group at the expense of another.

EEOC: Railroad had two disciplinary tracks–one for whites, one for blacks

09/24/2010
CSX, the Jacksonville-based freight railroad, faces racial discrimination charges after it disciplined a black train engineer and conductor working out of its Cincinnati yard.

How seriously should we take allegations of female-on-male sexual harassment?

09/24/2010
Q. A male employee recently complained to HR that a female co-worker was sexually harassing him. Do I have to investigate this claim the same as I would a claim by a woman against a male co-worker?

Summer intern sues law firm over rescinded job offer

09/22/2010
Sometimes, the employee not hired is the one who causes the most legal trouble. A San Francisco law firm is facing a discrimination lawsuit after it declined to hire a young lawyer who had interned there. Her suit alleges that Howard Rice discriminated against her on the basis of gender, national origin and race when it decided to defer and later rescind her associate contract.

Court says no to unlimited right to sue

09/22/2010
The Court of Appeal of California has refused to expand the time a former employee has to file a claim under the Fair Employment and Housing Act.

The Supreme Court may rule on the pay bias lawsuit everyone is watching

09/22/2010

Walmart has asked the High Court to overturn a 9th Circuit ruling that allows a class-action suit alleging widespread discrimination against women to proceed. At stake: $1 billion or more. The class of potential plaintiffs includes more than 1.5 million past and current female Walmart employees, the largest pay-bias class action ever.

USF settles bias claim with fired academic advisor

09/21/2010
The University of South Florida has settled a discrimination claim brought by an academic advisor who was fired just 10 months shy of vesting her pension following a 30-year career with the Tampa-based university system.

Use absenteeism point system to avoid favoritism disputes

09/21/2010
Many employers use a point system to punish absenteeism, firing employees who accumulate too many points. Such a system negates the need to track the total number of hours of work an employee misses, since the employer is counting points rather than time.

Base all decisions on legit business needs–and then be sure to document your reasoning

09/21/2010

Smart employers don’t make any decisions that affect employees without documenting the reasons. You may never need that documentation, but it’s good to know it’s available. It could come in handy if an unhappy employee claims the real reason behind the decision was discrimination.