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

Employment Law

Eagle Wings Industries settles sex harassment case

03/12/2010

Automotive supplier Eagle Wings Industries has agreed to pay a class of female employees $428,500 to settle sexual harassment charges stemming from illegal practices at its Rantoul location near Champaign.

Waiter serves suit implicating female boss; courts are digesting it

03/12/2010

In Turner v. The Saloon Ltd. the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit recently ruled that in a sexual harassment claim based on a hostile work environment, if at least one act of alleged harassment occurred within 180 days of an EEOC filing, courts can consider the entire time period of the hostile environment in determining an employer’s liability.

After military leave, does employee get across-the-board raise instituted while he was gone?

03/12/2010

Q. Last month we reinstated an employee who was on military leave for six months. It’s the same position, with the same pay he received before he went on military leave. Effective Jan. 1, 2010, all employees in his department received a 4% pay raise in recognition for their hard work in 2009. Does the law require us to pay him at this increased rate?

Face age discrimination claims head on

03/11/2010

Here’s a twist, courtesy of the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2009 Gross v. FBL Financial Services age discrimination decision. The court ruled that employees have to show that “but for” their age, their employer wouldn’t have fired them.

11th Circuit topples hurricane-proof crane standards

03/11/2010

The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that Miami-Dade County’s ordinance requiring construction cranes to be able to withstand 140 mph winds is invalid. Construction firms had challenged the law, arguing that it would cost jobs, hinder workplace safety and was beyond the county’s (or the state’s) ability to regulate compliance.

Keep track of all time off! Authorized leave counts toward employees’ FMLA eligibility

03/11/2010

If you grant time off to employees who aren’t yet eligible for FMLA leave, take note: If they’re on your payroll, their time off counts toward FMLA eligibility. That means that once they hit the one-year mark, they become entitled to those 12 unpaid FMLA weeks—and terminating them could launch an FMLA lawsuit. That wasn’t always the case …

Employee who’s suing filed for bankruptcy? You may have a ‘get out of jail free’ card!

03/11/2010

Employees who are declaring bankruptcy are supposed to let the bankruptcy court know about any lawsuits they’re involved in. If they’ve sued you for discrimination and don’t tell the court, their lawsuits may be dismissed. That’s because bankruptcy courts are supposed to look at all possible assets. A pending lawsuit is one such asset because it could result in a monetary award. Concealing that asset is akin to fraud.

11th Circuit opens door for wide discretion when trial courts set remedies in bias cases

03/11/2010

In a decision that could encourage trial courts to aggressively fix discrimination, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld a lower court’s wide-ranging remedy for a proven case of discrimination.

Choose words carefully when challenging unemployment

03/11/2010

When you challenge an unemployment claim, what you say can come back to haunt you.

You can discipline worker whose griping boils over

03/11/2010

Some employees who believe they’ve been mistreated get so angry that they begin airing their grievances to co-workers. That can be a firing offense. Although you can’t ban employees from talking about wages or other conditions of employment, you can prohibit harassing conduct.