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Discrimination / Harassment

Know the limits of employee free speech—no need to tolerate out-of-line protests

06/26/2009

Employees have the right to voice concerns and complaints about perceived workplace discrimination. But employers have rights, too. Employees don’t have the right to communicate their concerns in ways that are disruptive, insubordinate or that otherwise violate reasonable company policies. You can punish employees who don’t play by the rules.

Easy come, easy go: Political appointees have little room to blame firings on bias

06/26/2009

In a pair of 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals cases, the court has made it clear that it has little tolerance for political appointees who clearly understand they serve at the pleasure of their elected officials and still sue when they are terminated, alleging some form of discrimination.

Emotional distress claims are workers’ comp issues

06/26/2009

A court has ruled that employees who file harassment and discrimination lawsuits can’t tack on charges of negligent infliction of emotional distress. Instead, the court said emotional damage claims allegedly caused by negligence are the sole province of the New Jersey workers’ compensation system.

Duane Reade settles sex harassment lawsuit

06/26/2009

Duane Reade, the New York/New Jersey drug store chain, has agreed to settle an EEOC lawsuit alleging that it allowed the work environment at one of its New York stores to become hostile by subjecting several female employees to sex and pregnancy discrimination.

Court finds NJLAD age discrimination loophole

06/26/2009

The New Jersey Law Against Discrimination makes age discrimination illegal, but it also says “nothing herein shall be construed to bar an employer from refusing to accept for employment or to promote any person over 70 years of age.” Now a court has decided that exception doesn’t apply to continuing employment.

Use ‘fresh-start’ policy to cut retaliation risk

06/26/2009

It often makes sense to give a fresh start to a poorly performing employee who has been complaining about discrimination. Place her in another position with a new supervisor, new co-workers and a clean disciplinary record. Then if her workplace problems persist, you can terminate her without worrying about retaliation claims.

Remind managers: Keep stereotypes to yourself

06/26/2009

Here’s a simple rule of thumb: Managers and supervisors should never comment on any aspect of an employee’s sexuality, the ability of men and women to get along or be managed by the other sex, or the relative age of employees. It’s too easy for employees to misinterpret those comments—leading to an expensive lawsuit.

When dealing with sexual harassment, fix the problem once and for all

06/26/2009

When an alleged sexual harasser is a supervisor, employers aren’t liable if there was no tangible employment action taken—the harassed employee wasn’t fired, demoted or otherwise punished—and the harassment was stopped promptly. But it doesn’t always work out so neatly in larger organizations.

Rest easier: Harassment won’t lead to lawsuit for negligence and harassment

06/26/2009

Here’s a bit of good news: Employees who believe that their co-workers have discriminated against them or harassed them on account of their protected characteristics can’t sue under both Title VII and state tort laws. That takes away one potentially expensive avenue for recovering damages.

Treating everyone equally makes good business sense

06/26/2009

An employee who belongs to a protected class can win a discrimination lawsuit if she shows that a similarly situated co-worker who doesn’t belong to the same protected class got more lenient treatment than she did for the same rule violation or behavior. Therefore, be prepared to show in every case that you treated all employees equally.