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Discrimination / Harassment

When employee complains about bias, always investigate before taking any adverse action

01/07/2019
Nothing will doom an employer’s case quite as fast as firing a worker right after she has filed an internal discrimination complaint that was ignored. That virtually guarantees the court will believe there might be some connection between the employee’s complaint and her firing.

No, Title VII doesn’t mention marital status, but it can be the basis of a bias claim

01/07/2019
Title VII does not specifically list marital status as the grounds for a sex discrimination lawsuit. But that doesn’t mean marriage cannot play a role in Title VII sex discrimination cases.

Lawsuit against Fort Worth alleges systemic racism

01/04/2019
The former water director for the city of Fort Worth, who is black, has filed a race discrimination suit seeking $1 million in damages.

Never ignore lawsuits, even ridiculous ones

01/04/2019
Every now and then, an applicant or employee will file a lawsuit that makes no sense. Whatever you do, don’t just ignore it.

Feel free to change job qualifications; courts won’t second-guess legit, new criteria

01/04/2019
If a previous job-holder applies for the newly constituted job after leaving it, he’s not automatically qualified because he did the job before.

Teens may have more time to sue for bias

01/04/2019
That means employers won’t get the case quickly dismissed if the Texas Commission on Human Rights Act 180-day deadline has passed.

Evangelical groups’ lawsuits seek to overturn LGBT rights

01/04/2019
Two Texas evangelical groups have filed lawsuits in federal and state court arguing that Christian-owned businesses have the right to fire or refuse to hire lesbian, gay, transgender and bisexual applicants or employees.

Track each supervisor’s disciplinary patterns

01/03/2019
Discrimination is often manifested by individual acts, not a systemic, organization-wide problem. That makes it important to track discipline by supervisor.

UPS delivers $4.9 million for religious bias

01/03/2019
Package delivery giant UPS has agreed to settle a long-running religious discrimination suit filed by the EEOC that alleged the company’s grooming rules discriminated against applicants and employees who wear beards to conform with their religious beliefs.

Tell bosses: No comments about health costs

01/03/2019
Make sure supervisors understand that it is never appropriate to question how much an employee’s health problems might cost the organization.