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Discrimination / Harassment

Equal Pay Act: Erase the sex from your pay grades

11/01/2002
THE LAW. The Equal Pay Act (EPA) of 1963 prohibits employers from dishing out different wages or bene-fits on the basis of gender for “equal work on jobs (requiring) equal skill, …

Worker can’t sue for job switch if you have legitimate reasons

10/01/2002
Barbara Policastro was a Northwest Airlines’ sales rep whose territory covered Cincinnati, where she lived. She also had to spend about five days a month servicing cities in northern Kentucky about …

Employee/contractor question hinges on employer control

10/01/2002
Katherine Kerr, a television stage manager, worked on a free-lance basis for a production company, which provided broadcast personnel to TV stations. After a few years on the job, the production …

Go on offense to establish defense: Train staff in anti-harassment rules

10/01/2002
Maria Gaines, a corrections officer at a New Jersey county jail, claimed that one evening her supervisor grabbed her and kissed her. Then he allegedly joked about it with other high-ranking …

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 …