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Discrimination / Harassment

Provide training when promoting into management ranks

09/01/2007

When promoting someone from the rank-and-file to first-level management, be sure to provide harassment and discrimination training. Here’s why: If the employee you have selected as a supervisor has a hidden history of discriminatory behavior, you’ll want to make sure that’s all in the past …

Complaint process no defense against discrimination claim?

09/01/2007

It’s well-established that employees who claim they have been subjected to a hostile work environment but don’t take advantage of their employer’s complaint process won’t get a chance to take their cases to court. Ever since the landmark U.S. Supreme Court decisions in the Faragher and Burlington Industries cases, employers can use their complaint processes as a defense against co-worker harassment. But what about under state laws, such as the New York State Human Rights Law? …

No unemployment compensation for co-Worker’s offensive comments

09/01/2007

Employees who quit their jobs because they can’t get along with a co-worker usually aren’t entitled to unemployment compensation payments. But what if the difficult co-worker is actually making offensive and possibly discriminatory comments? …

Merrill Lynch faces suit over trading-Floor access

09/01/2007

The EEOC has filed suit against Merrill Lynch, claiming the brokerage firm discriminated against Majid Borumand, a former employee who is an Iranian Muslim. So far, the two can’t agree even on Borumand’s job title …

Celeb French chef Boulud cooks up discrimination daube

09/01/2007

Ingredients: The Manhattan restaurant scene’s need for beautiful faces out front; an immigrant back-of-the-house work force; one superstar chef. Mix well and stand back. The dish: A discrimination stew too good for the EEOC to resist …

Morgan Stanley gains yet more bad publicity over sexual harassment

09/01/2007

A lawsuit filed in Manhattan Supreme Court in July describes a lurid and hostile scene at Morgan Stanley. A former client-services associate in the Melville, Long Island, office alleges her boss, a broker, stuck his hand up her skirt, stole underwear from her gym bag, sent her offensive notes and suggested they have sex. The lawsuit is the latest in a string of sex-bias suits that have already cost the firm $100 million …

Queens business owner must testify about religious beliefs

09/01/2007

Ted Doudak, president of Riva Jewelry Manufacturing in Long Island, was forced to testify in court whether he believes homosexuality is a sin against God, and gays and lesbians are doomed to eternal damnation. The former employee who brought the lawsuit claims he was fired a day after telling Doudak that the employee’s daughter is a lesbian and the employee is gay …

Pants suit doesn’t look too becoming on MTA

09/01/2007

A Pentecostal bus driver fired by the Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) for refusing to wear pants because it violated her religious beliefs has sued and is receiving legal aid from an Orthodox Jewish organization. Agudath Israel of America came to her aid because Orthodox Jewish women, like Pentecostals, can wear only skirts …

OK to punish worker acting alone to end alleged harassment

09/01/2007

When it comes to sexual harassment, employers need a clear policy and a process that allows employees to come forward with claims. That’s really the only way an organization can protect itself. But what if an employee who thinks he’s being harassed ignores your policy and acts alone to contact the alleged harasser anonymously? If this “self-help” seems to threaten the alleged harasser, you can punish the employee without worrying about liability …

Catch phrases can be code for discrimination

09/01/2007

Does your organization use phrases such as “fits our culture” or “understands our vision” as part of the hiring decision? If so, you may be setting yourself up for a discrimination lawsuit. Why? Because courts and juries sometimes view such subjective language as evidence that something else lies behind those phrases …