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Discrimination / Harassment

Merrill Lynch hit with age discrimination lawsuit

08/01/2008
Lou Telerico, a former stockbroker for Merrill Lynch & Co. in Cleveland, has filed a lawsuit claiming the company forced him out after 30 years of service because of his age …

Dancer says he was frozen out after asking how to turn down sex

08/01/2008
David Mann, a 54-year-old dancer for Naughty Bodies in Batavia, is suing the company, claiming it stopped giving him work after he complained that customers were sexually harassing him …

Why can’t we just go ahead and fire an unpleasant employee?

08/01/2008
Q. About six months ago, we hired a new employee for our accounting department. Although he successfully completed his probationary period and has no formal disciplinary actions issued against him, he simply has an unpleasant personality and does not mesh well with the other employees in the department. Can we simply terminate him? After all, Ohio is an “at will” state. …

Can you legally fire a woman who has an abortion?

07/29/2008
When graphic artist Jane Doe became pregnant, she told her boss. Then she learned that the child was severely deformed. She decided to terminate the pregnancy. She took a week off for the procedure, recovery and to bury the child. Then her employer then fired her.

There’s protected activity, then there’s harassment

07/28/2008
When employees think they are working in a hostile environment, emotions often run high. If an employee believes he is working under intolerable conditions, he may strike back with a harassment campaign of his own. Anonymous letters, e-mails and other unconventional forms of communication may amount to reverse harassment—and you don’t have to tolerate it …

EMS workers lose jobs for racist hazing incident

07/28/2008
The University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ), which operates University Hospital in Newark, fired three paramedics for subjecting emergency medical technician (EMT) trainees to racist hazing …

N.J. Transit Authority police chief stuck in legal traffic jam

07/28/2008
Joseph Bober, police chief for the New Jersey Transit Authority, is at the center of a five-lawsuit pile-up over everything from discrimination to punching an employee in the gut. Lt. Theresa Frizalone filed the first suit—charging sex discrimination—in March 2007 …

Third-Party harassment: The next frontier for New Jersey courts?

07/28/2008
New Jersey courts have long been in the forefront of employment discrimination law. The question is: How far will they go next? One likely path is to expand liability for sexual harassment committed by a nonemployee …

Workers’ comp disability doesn’t mean automatic ADA coverage

07/25/2008
Employees receiving partial workers’ compensation benefits based on job-related injuries might think they are automatically entitled to reasonable accommodations under the ADA, too. But that’s simply not true. In fact, the ADA requires an individualized assessment. Receiving workers’ compensation isn’t enough …

Track discrimination claims to head off post-Firing suits

07/25/2008
Workers who have lost their jobs often look for some ulterior motive to explain their terminations. Here’s what to do if a former employee claiming he was targeted because of a discrimination complaint sues you: Check when the complaint first came to light. Any complaints should have been logged and time-stamped, even if the complaint wasn’t written …