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Discrimination / Harassment

Foreign workers count toward Title VII’s 15-employee minimum

10/01/2002
A worker was subjected to verbal and physical abuse at a Mexican plant of an American company. He sued for harassment. A district court tossed out the suit, saying the …

Supreme Court outlook: All quiet on employment-law front

10/01/2002
In its 2001-02 term, which ended in June, the U.S. Supreme Court handed down a whirlwind of employment-law decisions. But as the high court plans to open its 2002-03 term …

Investigating workplace harassment: 10 steps to success

10/01/2002
When complaints of workplace harassment arise, as they inevitably do, managers and HR directors are called upon to respond. Doing this right is a high-stakes venture. Here are 10 steps to …

Dole Out Stipends in a Nonbiased Way

10/01/2002

Q. Is it legal to offer some employees, but not others, stipends to help with education, rent or lodging? —N.G., California

No job application needed to sue for hiring bias

09/01/2002
When a University of Arkansas dean position was advertised on campus and statewide, Howard Lockridge, an African-American department chairman, told his supervisors he wasn’t planning to apply for the job. …

Be consistent in reasons for layoffs

09/01/2002
When a Wisconsin company restructured, it laid off a 44-year-old customer service rep. None of her direct supervisors or co-workers took part in deciding which employees would be laid off. But …

Challenge workers’ comp claim based on personal problems, gossip

09/01/2002
While working as a bus driver and instructor for a school district, Carrie Geredes had a not-so-private affair with a co-worker. After the affair ended, she heard that her former lover …

You don’t have to bargain with union formed by coercion

09/01/2002
During an organizing campaign at a clay processing plant, pro-union senior staffers routinely threatened production and maintenance employees, telling them to support the union or else they’d be “squeezed like a …

Bias claim goes nowhere unless minority status was clear

09/01/2002
When Steven Lubetsky applied for an analyst job, he aced the interview and several competence tests. The company offered him the job pending a credit check. Lubetsky explained that he was …

Keep political affiliation out of hiring decision

09/01/2002
Gary Goodman was an acting district manager with a spotless performance record over 18 years. He was turned down for a promotion to district manager of a state agency whose governing …