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Employment Law

Employee can sue for legal fees after winning EEOC claim

06/18/2010
Don’t think your legal troubles are over after the EEOC decides a case and you decide not to appeal. The employee can still sue you in federal court to recover his attorneys’ fees for the work the lawyer did before the case went to the EEOC.

Make sure everyone in same job has shot at training

06/18/2010
Here’s an easy way to prevent a discrimination claim: Offer everyone holding the same position the same opportunity for training. Otherwise, supervisors may play favorites, and that can end in litigation if the better-trained employees end up getting the promotions.

Retaliation alert: Most public employees protected when reporting alleged wrongdoing

06/18/2010
Public employees have First Amendment free speech rights, including protection from reprisal for reporting alleged wrongdoing to superiors. They lose that protection only if reporting wrongdoing is part of their jobs.

Good news: Properly worded arbitration agreement valid in California

06/18/2010
A federal court has ruled that an arbitration agreement—even an admittedly oppressive one—can be enforced in California if it’s drafted broadly enough.

When determining fitness for duty, strictly limit medical inquiries to essential functions

06/18/2010

Employers aren’t allowed to delve into an employee’s disabilities or medical history when that employee wants to keep the information private—unless the employer can show a job-related reason for doing so. To qualify, the inquiry must be narrowly tailored to assess whether the employee is capable of performing the essential functions of his job. Broad questions often run afoul of the law.

California Supreme Court redefines ’employer’

06/18/2010
The California Supreme Court has ruled that California law on who is or is not an employee goes beyond the definition contained in the federal Fair Labor Standards Act and includes a broader measure of who is an employer.

How to write a tough, but legal, at-will statement

06/17/2010
Q. We want our employees to know that they don’t have guaranteed employment. Can you provide an example of a tough at-will statement that we can give them?

Commercial pilots claim FAA retirement plan violates state law

06/16/2010
When Congress raised commercial pilots’ mandatory retirement age from 60 to 65, not all pilots were pleased. Pilots who had previously been forced to retire at age 60 weren’t grandfathered into the new system. Now the pilots are seeking back pay and lost wages under state laws and the Federal Tort Claims Act.

Favoring clear accent might not be discrimination

06/16/2010

Students often complain about foreign professors whose accents they have trouble understanding. Those concerns can be a legitimate reason for a university to hire a candidate with better communications skills. That’s true even though accent discrimination can be construed as national-origin discrimination.

Independent review protects against hidden supervisor bias

06/16/2010

Despite your best efforts, a rogue supervisor occasionally slips through. He may harbor discriminatory attitudes that can color his termination and disciplinary decisions. But you can cut that chain by doing a little independent digging into what really happened. Then document your efforts to get both sides of the story.