• The HR Specialist - Print Newsletter
  • HR Specialist: Employment Law
  • The HR Weekly

Discrimination / Harassment

Stay mum on lawsuits, complaints to cut retaliation risk

05/07/2008
Retaliation can turn a relative molehill of a discrimination complaint into a mountain of legal trouble. And the retaliation doesn’t have to take the form of something dramatic, such as a firing or demotion. Little things supervisors do can add up to retaliation. But supervisors can’t retaliate if they don’t know about earlier discrimination complaints or pending lawsuits …

Listen to this: Smith Barney to pay $33 million for sex bias

05/07/2008
A class of more than 2,500 female former brokers, who sued financial services giant Smith Barney for sex discrimination, will receive a $33 million settlement …

Woman awarded $500,000 for sexual harassment, alleged rape

05/07/2008
A woman who was sexually harassed and allegedly raped by a boss at a Quiznos restaurant in Norwich was awarded $500,000 by the state Division of Human Rights …

Albany police clerk seeks $35 million

05/07/2008
Shirley Morton, a clerical worker for the Albany Police Department, has filed a $35 million lawsuit against the department and the city, claiming Sgt. Kevin McKenna subjected her to sexual harassment, unwanted physical contact and verbal abuse for 12 years …

Election ’08: What you need to know about what workers think

05/06/2008
Election year politics has a strange way of focusing employers and employees on the larger issues—such as jobs, wages and the economy. HR pros should pay attention to election year buzz. Knowing what’s on employees’ minds as they go to the polls can help savvy employers get a glimpse of the future workplace.

Worker quit voluntarily? Don’t rule out discrimination suit

05/06/2008
Employees who quit generally can’t sue for discrimination—unless they can show that they were essentially forced out because conditions were intolerable. But don’t think simply accepting an employee’s resignation note lets the company entirely off the hook …

Punitive damages based on staff size at time of discrimination

05/06/2008
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act caps how much employers have to pay for everything except back wages in discrimination cases. The limits on punitive damages depend on how many employees the company has. Now a federal court has clarified a fine point—the employee number that counts is how many employees the company had in the year the discrimination took place …

Déjà vu: Fresh act of discrimination may revive old complaints

05/06/2008
Generally, employees have to file discrimination lawsuits soon after an adverse employment decision or act of harassment. But sometimes employees can go far back in time if they can tie a recent event to past events. If that happens, a jury may get to hear a litany of complaints, each adding weight to the other …

HR decision doesn’t have to be perfect—Just honest

05/06/2008
Sometimes, even the best HR professionals may feel paralyzed when faced with a major employee discipline decision, such as whether an employee should be fired. They hedge and keep asking supervisors questions, or keep an investigation open to get more information. If this sounds like your HR office when dealing with a discrimination complaint, relax …

Sometimes an apology is all it takes

05/06/2008
Jack Burghardt, an administrative support assistant in the Denver Clerk and Recorder’s Office, said he meant no offense when he asked two Hispanic co-workers how much it costs their “people to get across the border these days.” His boss felt the comment had racial overtones and suspended Burghardt for four days …