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Discrimination / Harassment

Follow up on complaints to ensure mistreatment stops along with harassment

12/24/2008

California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act protects employees from sexual harassment by co-workers. But what happens if management stops the harassment but the co-workers find other ways to make life miserable for their victims? It’s HR’s responsibility to make sure a victim of sexual harassment isn’t targeted for other mistreatment …

Morgan Stanley will pay $16M to settle race bias suit

12/24/2008

A federal judge has given final approval to the settlement of a race discrimination lawsuit brought by financial advisors against Morgan Stanley & Co. Inc. The settlement establishes a $16 million fund, of which $14 million will be divided among class members who submitted claims.

EEOC reaches settlement in racial harassment case

12/24/2008

The EEOC has settled a lawsuit it filed against Texas-based Cadit Co., which was doing work for the San Francisco Municipal Railway. The agency said Cadit allowed a foreman to harass a Chinese-American welder.

Track whom you discipline to avoid litigation

12/24/2008

Employees who are fired after breaking work rules often allege that they were targeted because of some protected characteristic like gender, age, race or ethnicity. The best way to counter such claims is to know beforehand whether your organization is being tougher on some employees who belong to a protected class while letting others slide.

No free attorneys for employees who sue

12/24/2008

If anything would add to the avalanche of employment suits already burying employers in litigation, it would be providing free legal counsel to employees who sue. Fortunately, at least one federal court hearing a New Jersey case has nixed the idea.

NJLAD allows personal liability for aiding and abetting

12/24/2008

Supervisors and managers, take note: You may be personally liable for aiding and abetting discrimination that is illegal under the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination.

Wipe out harassment or face state and federal lawsuits

12/24/2008

A recent federal trial court decision has given new ammo to employees who want to sue their employers for sexual harassment—especially if the alleged harassment involves any kind of touching.

Fired for tape recording, woman gets day in court

12/24/2008

A woman who was fired for allegedly secretly recording a conversation she had with a supervisor about harassment can still sue for sexual harassment, a federal court has ruled. It did not matter that secretly recording conversations may be a crime in Pennsylvania.

That hot-headed chef routine only flies on TV

12/24/2008

In the real world, hurling insults at workers is a recipe for disaster, as the catering company that provides food service at the Comcast Center in Philadelphia recently learned …

Theater company to pay $162,000 for sexual harassment

12/24/2008

The Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission has ordered Plum Entertainment, a New Hope theater production company, to pay $162,000 to Sharon Sheridan, a former personal assistant who claimed she was fired for complaining about sexual harassment.