• The HR Specialist - Print Newsletter
  • HR Specialist: Employment Law
  • The HR Weekly

Discrimination / Harassment

Supreme Court outlook: Key employment issues at stake

09/01/2001
Look for the U.S. Supreme Court to tackle several important business issues this fall, including what constitutes a disability and when a claim is officially filed. The court will open its …

Uneven Comp-Time Policy Can Cause Trouble

09/01/2001

Q. Our company manual doesn’t address compensatory time off, but we have offered certain exempt managers an hour of comp time for every hour of overtime worked. Do we have to pay them for accrued comp time when we terminate them? In the past, we’ve paid comp time to some and not to others. Can we negotiate our own terms with each employee? —E.B., Oregon

Splitting hairs: When is a no-beard policy illegal?

08/01/2001
Two recent court cases help draw the boundaries on how far you can go with a razor. Federal Express recently settled a lawsuit involving its no-beard policy and a Muslim …

Employees in ‘unique’ jobs can use broad comparisons to show pay bias

08/01/2001
Nancy Kroh successfully sued for gender discrimination, claiming her male colleagues were treated more favorably. But on appeal, the court tossed the award out. The com-pany convinced the appeals court that …

Simple hearsay about harassment doesn’t create hostile environment

08/01/2001
When Diane Leibovitz heard that two employees of the New York City Transit Authority had been harassed, she claimed that made her a victim of a hostile environment and filed …

Cost-sharing can cost you in arbitration agreements

08/01/2001
To get a job as an airport security agent, Damiana Perez had to agree to arbitrate all employment disputes. The agreement required her and the company to split the costs of …

Don’t ignore minority-on-minority harassment

08/01/2001
Steven Bell worked at a state prison with a co-worker who often hurled racial epithets at him, calling him “cracker” and “white boy.” Bell is Filipino and his harasser is …

Push for contraceptive coverage gets shove from federal court

08/01/2001
If you’re not already covering prescription contraceptives with your health plan, there’s new pressure to do so. For the first time, a federal court has ruled that excluding …

Brush up religious-bias policy; workplace getting more diverse

08/01/2001
More than a third of HR professionals say their work force includes more religions than just five years ago, according to a new survey from the Society for Human Resource …

Age-bias issues don’t stop at the border

08/01/2001
Even employees working outside the country are covered under age-bias laws. The federal Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) applies to U.S. citizens working in foreign …