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Discrimination / Harassment

Recovered addict not automatically disabled

09/14/2009

Employees who have successfully dealt with drug addiction but don’t have any current or continuing drug problems are not disabled under the ADA , as the following case shows.

Age discrimination harder to prove following 7th Circuit ruling

09/14/2009

The 7th Circuit’s recent opinion in Martino v. MCI represents the first opportunity for that court to apply the U.S. Supreme Court’s recently clarified standard for determining liability in disparate-treatment cases brought under the ADEA. Together, the two decisions make it harder for employees to win some age discrimination lawsuits.

Offensive employee? Go ahead and fire him

09/14/2009

Isolated comments may not create a hostile work environment, but they can mushroom into a bigger problem. That’s especially true if you don’t discipline those who offend. What to do: Don’t wait until you have a full-blown hostile environment on your hands. You can terminate the offender before harm is done.

Track rationale for all salary increases

09/14/2009

Employees who discover their colleagues are making more money for doing the same work often conclude that there can be only one reason—discrimination. Next stop: the office of an attorney, who will try to confirm the pay bias by comparing the disgruntled employee’s protected class status to those earning more.

Rejecting applicants? Note why

09/14/2009

You no doubt get many applications for open positions—especially with unemployment running as high as it is. Some of those applicants will have past work-related problems—and a few might have long, checkered histories. When you reject such applicants, be ready to show why you hired someone with a better record instead.

Prevent harassment by customers, too

09/10/2009

Most employers have policies in place to prevent or stop sexual harassment by supervisors and co-workers. Today, that isn’t enough. The reality is that you must also protect employees from customer or client harassment. Unless your sexual harassment policy addresses such harassment, you may find yourself facing a jury trial.

If possible, have the manager who hired the employee also do the firing

09/10/2009

One good way to eliminate discrimination lawsuits is to have the same manager who hired an employee also handle the termination if you need to let the employee go.

When fists fly, make sure you get facts straight

09/10/2009

When employers discipline employees following an argument or other confrontation, getting the facts straight is crucial. Recent case: Kevin Phillips, who is black, was fired after he got into a fight with a white supervisor. Another supervisor witnessed the incident. However, Phillips was the only one involved who was punished …

Did White Way play dirty when it fired pregnant worker?

09/10/2009

According to the EEOC, White Way Cleaners discriminated against a female worker when it first moved her from the cleaning line to the front counter during her first pregnancy and then again when it terminated her after learning she was pregnant again.

U of M study: Female managers more likely to be harassed

09/10/2009

A University of Minnesota study of sexual harassment shows that female supervisors are more likely to be harassed than women with no supervisory duties. More than half of the female supervisors who responded to the survey reported having been sexually harassed on the job. But only 30% of women with no supervisory duties reported harassment.