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Discrimination / Harassment

You can mandate respectful behavior, discipline violators

11/01/2007

It’s a stressful world out there, and workplace tension can make matters worse. That’s one reason you may want to consider instituting a civility code at work. Then, if an employee is rude, overbearing or downright offensive, don’t hesitate to discipline her …

Keep track of termination notice date

11/01/2007

North Carolina employees have 180 days to file discrimination complaints with the EEOC. Those who don’t meet the deadline lose their rights to sue. But the date that really counts is not the actual termination date if the employer informed the employee earlier that she would lose her job …

Morehead City firm hit with age discrimination suit

11/01/2007

The EEOC has filed suit against Smithfield-based Guy C. Lee Building Materials, alleging the company refused to hire a boom truck operator because of his age. The plaintiff, 53-year-old Andrew Moore, applied to the company’s Morehead City facility …

UNC women’s soccer harassment suit heads to trial

11/01/2007

The sexual harassment lawsuit against Anson Dorrance, women’s soccer coach for the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, is headed to trial after the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear the case …

Hiring for the nonsmoking workplace

11/01/2007

Q. May I refuse to hire a smoker? …

Keeping pay info mum may give employees more time to sue

11/01/2007

When the U.S. Supreme Court decided the Ledbetter case in the spring of 2007, employers breathed a collective sigh of relief. It appeared that employees whose current paychecks were smaller because of sex discrimination years ago were barred from suing and instead would have had to file their lawsuits within months of the original discriminatory pay decision. Now it turns out that Ledbetter may not be as simple a decision as it first appeared …

Circuit City sued for male-on-Male sexual harassment

11/01/2007

 Two male employees at a Circuit City store in Delaware County have filed a suit alleging their male manager engaged in a campaign of sexual harassment. It started with the manager tickling their palms with his middle finger, then escalated to unwanted shoulder massages, comments about oral sex and groping …

 

Philadelphia law firm faces sex discrimination suit

11/01/2007

Patricia Biswanger, a former partner in the Philadelphia law firm Cozen O’Connor, has sued the firm, alleging she was not given the same privileges as male associates. Biswanger was fired from her position as a nonequity partner one month after she complained about discrimination …

Groups rally to end marital profiling in hiring process

11/01/2007

In Pennsylvania, it’s still legal to ask job applicants about their marital status and family plans. The Pennsylvania Commission for Women rallied at the state Capitol on Oct. 2 in favor of legislation that would change that practice …

More employers try to regulate employees’ off-Duty behavior

11/01/2007

To help control significant health care cost increases, many employers are trying to regulate employees’ off-duty behavior when they believe that it creates health risks. Although motivated by legitimate economic concerns, are these employers overstepping the boundaries of individual privacy? …