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Discrimination / Harassment

Remind bosses: Don’t tolerate rude acts for fear of lawsuits

01/01/2007

When employees behave rudely or in an insubordinate fashion, supervisors shouldn’t back off discipline because they fear a legal complaint. Your organization can, and should, enforce civility standards …

Dole out even the small perks equally

01/01/2007

Employee benefits involve more than just health care and life insurance. Less-noticeable perks—like prime office locations and trips to out-of-town conferences—can also count, and they can become the grounds for discrimination …

NYC chef accused of sexually harassing waitress

01/01/2007

Employers should never look the other way if they know about a supervisor’s harassing behavior. Investigate every complaint and promptly discipline harassers …

Hip-Hop editor wins millions in sex discrimination trial

01/01/2007

A New York jury has awarded the former editor-in-chief of The Source, a hip-hop magazine, $15.5 million in damages from her sex discrimination lawsuit …

Beware age discrimination risk when offering promotions

01/01/2007

If you don’t ensure that clearly qualified, post age-40 employees aren’t seriously considered for promotions, you could be risking an expensive lawsuit under the federal Age Discrimination in Employment Act …

College degree doesn’t automatically make applicant the better qualified candidate

01/01/2007

In many cases, better-educated applicants are better qualified. But don’t be intimidated into thinking that more education always equals a more qualified candidate …

Even lost opportunity for overtime may be considered illegal retaliation

01/01/2007

After last year’s blockbuster U.S. Supreme Court decision that made it easier for employees to sue for workplace retaliation (Burlington Northern v. White), courts have been trying to figure out how to apply that ruling in real-life situations …

Pregnancy shouldn’t affect employees’ discipline

01/01/2007

Q. If an employee is already on probation when she becomes pregnant, how does an employer continue with progressive discipline measures, including possible discharge? —P.A.

Minor annoyances at work don’t add up to retaliation

01/01/2007

Last summer, the U.S. Supreme Court drafted a broad new legal standard for judging whether a company retaliated against an employee for complaining about discrimination. Now, the lower courts are starting to define what that standard means …

Consensus Decisions Can Deflect Firing-Bias Claims

01/01/2007

One of the best ways to make sure a termination decision sticks is to adopt a consensus approach to the decision-making …