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Discrimination / Harassment

Tell supervisors and executives: Keep anger to yourself when employee files lawsuit

05/11/2010

Supervisors often get angry when a subordinate files a lawsuit. Sometimes that anger is justified, but supervisors should be careful how and where they vent. The outcome of the lawsuit may depend on how supervisors handle their outrage about being sued. For example, calling a press conference and attacking the employee for suing may not be the most constructive approach.

Limit hostile environment liability by getting to the bottom of every harassment complaint

05/11/2010

It’s up to employers to make sure their workplaces are free of racial harassment. Watch out if you’re not willing to do everything in your power to prevent a racially hostile environment. Courts simply won’t tolerate it. In many cases, it takes only two incidents of harassment for a judge or jury to conclude that a workplace is hostile. That low threshold makes it essential for HR to follow up on every harassment complaint.

Stop harassment or face personal liability

05/11/2010

Ordinarily, managers who have the authority to make personnel decisions aren’t held personally liable for sexual harassment under Title VII. But that’s not necessarily the case under the New York State Human Rights Law. If you’re an HR professional with the power to make recommendations on hiring applicants or firing employees, make sure you don’t ignore sexual harassment claims that come your way.

OK to base pay on performance–without bias

05/11/2010

If you’re thinking about switching to a production-based compensation system that pays more to the most productive employees, don’t worry too much about the plan’s possible disparate impact on some groups. As long as you don’t use the system to discriminate against a particular group—or favor another—courts are unlikely to conclude that any uneven results were caused by discrimination.

12 manager mistakes that spark lawsuits

05/11/2010

Most lawsuits against employers don’t start with some outrageous injustice. More often, a simple management mistake or a perceived slight starts the snowball of discontent rolling downhill toward the courtroom. Here are 12 of the biggest mistakes managers make. They can all lead to litigation—and kill your credibility in court.

Policy alone isn’t enough: Take the next steps to stamp out harassment

05/10/2010

Sexual harassment cases aren’t going away. Employers that don’t take such harassment seriously put their companies in peril. It isn’t enough to come up with a policy. You must also train employees at every level about that policy and explain where harassment victims can go for help. Then you have to follow through and promptly investigate harassment claims. Finally, you must make sure your response is good enough to end the harassment.

PDA: No special treatment for pregnant workers

05/10/2010
As the name clearly implies, the federal Pregnancy Discrimination Act (PDA) makes it illegal to discriminate against women who are pregnant. But it doesn’t mean pregnant employees are entitled to special privileges. In fact, the PDA merely makes clear that employers must treat pregnant employees the same way they treat every other employee.

Employee is pregnant? You can still discipline or fire if she violates your policies

05/07/2010
Federal courts don’t have much patience for faulty logic. A U.S. District Court in New York recently issued a particularly stinging rebuke to a nurse whose pregnancy discrimination case hinged on the “fallacious syllogism” that “I was fired; I was pregnant when I was fired; therefore, I was fired because I was pregnant.”

Labor on the rise: Review your solicitation & distribution rules

05/06/2010

Unions are stepping up their organizing activity, and smart employers are preparing by making sure their rules on solicitation, distribution and access to private property meet legal requirements. If you don’t have a “no solicitation/no distribution” policy, adopt one now. It can help regulate two types of conduct that unions depend on when trying to organize a workplace.

Former county employees accuse judge of harassment

05/06/2010

Former employees of Brazoria County have filed an EEOC lawsuit claiming that a former judge sexually harassed them and that the county ignored the presence of sexual harassment in the workplace. The two women, previously employed in the county’s juvenile probation department, claim that Judge James Blackstock, who resigned last year over the scandal, has been harassing female county employees since 1993.