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Discrimination / Harassment

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.

Statesville Compare Foods settles bias claim with EEOC

06/26/2009

For the second time in a year, a North Carolina Compare Foods store has settled discrimination charges with the EEOC. As in the earlier case, this one—involving a store in Statesville—involved accusations that workers had been fired because they weren’t Hispanic.

Talbert Builders settles race discrimination suit

06/26/2009

Durham-based lumber and hardware retailer Talbert Builders has agreed to settle a race discrimination suit with the EEOC for $80,000. The original complaint was filed by employee James McCombs …

How to terminate employees who have been out on workers’ comp

06/26/2009

Terminating an employee who has been out on workers’ compensation leave is a high-stakes process. How well you handle it can affect your ongoing workers’ compensation liability—and could also subject you to claims of wrongful discharge or retaliation. It’s made all the more complex by the fact that your workers’ comp carrier’s goals may conflict with yours.

OK to punish complainer if you find wrongdoing

06/26/2009

Workplace investigations sometimes open a can of worms. What if, for example, you find out that an employee complaining about sexual harassment had engaged in wrongdoing, too? Even if the wrongdoing is related to the underlying sexual harassment complaint, you can and should punish the employee for that.

Watch your mouth: Obscure terms could trigger lawsuit

06/26/2009

Occasionally, an employee correctly uses an obscure word that someone else mistakes for an offensive one. When that happens, suggest using another term even if the term they are using is technically appropriate.

General Assembly weighs anti-gay discrimination law

06/26/2009

Are Pennsylvania employers ready for yet another category of protected employees? Another bill has been introduced in the General Assembly that would protect all Pennsylvanians from employment discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity or expression.

Meenan Oil settles age discrimination lawsuit

06/26/2009

Tullytown-based Meenan Oil has settled an age discrimination suit filed by 72-year-old Louis Ceccoli, who was fired and then replaced by a substantially younger worker. Ceccoli built his case on derogatory comments his sales manager made about older workers.