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Discrimination / Harassment

Don’t fear distress caused by proper investigations

03/01/2000
You don’t have to worry that the target of your harassment investigation will turn around and sue you for emotional distress. The 2nd Circuit said he …

Bias claims on the rise

03/01/2000
The number of employment discrimination cases filed in U.S. district courts nearly tripled in the last decade, to 23,735 in 1998, the Bureau of Justice Statistics says. But take heart: The …

Harassment: How to stop it before, and after, it starts

03/01/2000
Protect your organization from employee lawsuits for harassment by focusing your attention on both preventive and corrective measures. Provide every employee …

What not to ask job references

03/01/2000

Q. Are there any questions we cannot or should not ask a reference when screening applicants? —B.B., Louisiana

Even ‘indirect’ victims of bias can sue

02/01/2000
Women mailroom clerks at several New York newspapers sued their companies, claiming discrimination in hiring and promotions. The women said the firms manipulated their hiring priority lists by routinely stopping any …

No need to alter policy for employees who are expecting

02/01/2000
When she became pregnant, Michelle Spivey worried about lifting a nearly 250-pound patient in her job as a certified nurse’s assistant. She asked the rehabilitation center where she worked for assistance …

Don’t hand out authority without giving training to match

02/01/2000
Promoting lower-level employees to supervisory roles, even if it’s on a temporary or “acting” basis, can backfire if you fail to educate them on their new legal responsibilities. That’s what happened …

Average evaluations and lateral transfers may not be discriminatory

02/01/2000
The Export-Import Bank reassigned several employees in the early 1990s, and Regina Brown wasn’t happy about it. The 50-year-old black senior loan officer filed suit, claiming her transfer to what …

Two key January rulings

02/01/2000
You must protect contractors from hostile environments. A Mexican-American owner of a company hired to clean parking lots at Wal-Mart claimed that …

Beware new legal threat of accepting ‘walk-in’ applicants

02/01/2000
Employment attorneys are increasingly warning companies to avoid relying too heavily on walk-in job applicants. While there’s no legal requirement to advertise a job opening, …