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Discrimination / Harassment

‘Free speech’ no protection to workers

08/01/2003
The next time an employee argues that he has a First Amendment right to say whatever he wants at work, wear a T-shirt with a controversial message or display …

Never assume a pregnant employee is unable to work; ask questions

08/01/2003
Under the Pregnancy Discrimination Act (PDA), you can’t fire a pregnant worker simply because of her condition. Nor can you force her to take leave as long as she’s physically …

Fact: Employers win large majority of ADA cases

08/01/2003
The American Bar Association’s latest survey of ADA employment discrimination cases says companies prevail 94.5 percent of the time in court and 78.1 percent of the time in administrative complaints …

Encouraging diversity: Lessons from Supreme Court’s affirmative-action rulings

08/01/2003
The U.S. Supreme Court’s pivotal rulings in the University of Michigan affirmative action cases this summer provide some direction on how far employers can go …

Pre-employment testing: Know the legal limits

08/01/2003
THE LAW. Pre-employment tests are an effective tool to discover applicant’s skills or abilities that can’t be gleaned from an application or interview. And …

Different vacation policies are legal if done fairly

08/01/2003

Q. We are rewriting our vacation pay policy. Currently, we have two categories of hourly employees. Can we offer 10 vacation days after two years to some employees and five days for the same period to other employees? Can we offer different benefits to salaried and hourly employees? —S.P., Washington

Take extra anti-harassment steps with younger workers

08/01/2003
Issue: Courts may hold your harassment-prevention efforts to a higher standard when young workers are involved.
Risk: Big court judgments, ugly PR and damaged morale …

If workers’ ‘free speech’ threatens others, you can ban it

08/01/2003
Issue: Employees wrongly believe the First Amendment protects their comments at work.
Risk: You don’t need to put up with employees who claim their harassment or bias is just “free …

Mentioning worker’s body odor isn’t discriminatory

08/01/2003
A Muslim IT manager sued for national-origin discrimination, claiming that he was fired for what his supervisor considered poor personal hygiene, not poor performance. His evidence: The supervisor had confronted him …

Pursue harassment claims, even if complaining worker backs off

07/01/2003
You know to investigate harassment complaints when they land on your desk. But what if the complaining employee shows a lack of interest in her initial complaint, …