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Employment Law

Don’t fall into post-complaint retaliation trap

10/07/2008

Employees who file discrimination complaints are protected from retaliation. That doesn’t mean they’re immune from being punished if they break rules. Employers can and should take appropriate disciplinary action against them. The key is a careful and deliberate approach, devoid of emotion …

Rely on doctor’s orders when making ADA call

10/07/2008

Under the ADA, employees who aren’t actually disabled can nonetheless sue employers if the employers erroneously perceive them to be disabled. But there’s good news on this arcane ADA front …

Muslim workers at JBS Swift walk out over prayer breaks

10/07/2008

More than 200 Muslim workers walked out of the Greeley plant of meat processor JBS Swift & Co. in September to protest the company’s refusal to allow prayer breaks at sunset, a required ritual during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. More than 100 were fired for walking off the job and not returning …

Track discipline to avoid retaliation against worker who charged discrimination

10/07/2008

It sometimes feels ominous when an employee accuses the company or a supervisor of discrimination and takes a complaint to the EEOC or some other agency. But those cases often reach settlement before they get out of hand. Then everyone has to get along, especially if the settlement includes reinstating the employee. HR should take the lead in making sure a potentially awkward situation works smoothly.

Alcoholism isn’t always an ADA disability

10/07/2008

Employers sometimes forget that just because a condition has a name and can be serious, it doesn’t always mean it’s a disability. In one recent case, an admitted alcoholic who had undergone inpatient treatment was deemed not to be disabled under the ADA and therefore not entitled to reasonable accommodations …

Federal court: Government employees can’t go it alone when making due process claims

10/07/2008

Government employees who want to sue because they believe their right to due process has been denied must prove they belong to an identifiable class, such as one based on race or sex. The 10th Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled they cannot simply claim they were singled out by their government employer for poor treatment …

Use blind process to decide who loses during RIF

10/07/2008

No one likes a layoff, especially the affected employees—who may look for a reason to sue. Smart employers can stop many baseless lawsuits by using objective, neutral criteria to select which workers will lose their jobs. That’s what happened in the following case …

Undermining employee: An adverse employment action?

10/07/2008

To sue for discrimination, employees must prove the employer did something that amounted to an adverse employment action—a firing, demotion or some other act that substantially affected the terms and conditions of employment. Do sexist comments that undermine a female employee’s authority constitute an adverse employment action? …

New twist on ‘in-kind’ gifts

10/07/2008

A report released in September by U.S. Inspector General Earl Devaney revealed a “culture of substance abuse and promiscuity” at the Royalty in Kind (RIK) division of the federal Minerals Management Service in Lakewood …

Cyclone settles same-sex drilling rig harassment case

10/07/2008

Cyclone Drilling Company of Gillette has agreed to pay $45,000 to Mark Lujan for sexual harassment he said he endured while working at a drilling rig on the Western Slope. The EEOC filed the lawsuit, claiming Lujan’s supervisor, Jim Stout, subjected him to inappropriate sexual remarks …