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Discrimination / Harassment

Train interviewers to disregard apparent disability

06/02/2010
Employers aren’t supposed to ask about disabilities unless applicants bring them up. That’s to protect disabled applicants from preconceived notions about disability. But ignoring disabilities serves another function: Interviewers can later testify that company policy requires them to consider only qualifications.

Retaliation: Don’t sweat link between complaint and firing, if you would have fired anyway

06/02/2010

You may be worrying too much about firing an employee right after she files a discrimination complaint! If you can easily show that you would have fired her regardless of her complaint, a court is unlikely to connect her complaint with your decision. And in Texas, timing alone isn’t enough to prove the firing was retaliation.

Beat discrimination lawsuits by nailing down specific rationale for employment decisions

06/02/2010
In age discrimination cases, employees only have to show they were replaced by someone younger, or otherwise discharged because of age. You will have a much easier time showing that you had a legitimate reason unrelated to age for terminating the employee if you can cite specific business reasons to back up each part of your decision-making process.

TSU must play defense against suit by former basketball coach

06/02/2010
Surina Dixon, former women’s basketball coach at Texas Southern University, has filed a gender discrimination and retaliation lawsuit against the school, alleging that it violated Title VII by paying her half of what it paid the coach of the men’s team.

El Paso settles police official’s bias lawsuit

06/02/2010
In September 2008, El Paso Police Department Assistant Chief of Staff Diana Kirk filed a lawsuit charging the city with discrimination and retaliation. Now the El Paso City Council has voted to settle the suit, which alleged bias against Hispanic and female members of the police department.

Fresh start good for everyone

06/01/2010
Have you faced a situation where you weren’t sure whether an employee had been unfairly treated by a supervisor? When doubts arise, it’s sometimes best to offer the employee a fresh start. But if the old problems resurface and you end up terminating the employee, chances are a court will view the employee as the problem.

Employment law by the numbers: Know which laws you can ignore

06/01/2010

Employers must stay abreast of an alphabet soup of federal laws—ADA, ADEA, FMLA and so forth—each with its own requirements. To comply, you first must know which laws apply to your business, based on the number of people you employ. Here’s how to tell which laws affect your workplace … and which ones you can safely ignore.

Pre-Employment Testing

06/01/2010

HR Law 101: Many organizations use pre-employment tests to screen applicants. But be aware of the risks involved. Unless you can demonstrate that a test measures job-related qualities and fulfills a business necessity, you could be exposing your organization to charges of discrimination …

Professional Building Systems settles racial harassment case

05/28/2010
Mount Gilead-based Professional Building Systems will pay 12 black employees $118,000 to settle charges of racial harassment. According to the EEOC, which brokered the agreement, six workers filed the initial complaint and six more experienced the same harassment.

Unexpected bias worry: denial of training

05/28/2010

Remind bosses that everyone who is qualified for training should have access to development opportunities, and that hand-selecting subordinates to attend training can be discrimination. Note: Be sure they understand that older employees are also entitled to training—even if it seems reasonable that they may quit or retire soon.