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Employment Law

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 …

Mall management interfering with union drive, workers say

10/07/2008

A group of contract janitors at Park Meadows Mall in Littleton walked off the job in September to protest unfair labor practices by the Millard Group, which provides cleaning services to malls owned by General Growth Properties (GGP) …

Nov. 4 ballot initiatives may change Colorado employment law

10/07/2008

November’s election has special implications for Colorado employers because a number of ballot issues involve employment law. The ballot features dueling initiatives: four measures brought by organized labor in response to three measures sponsored by business interests …

Can I fire employees who may soon become competitors?

10/07/2008

Q. I just learned from a reliable source that two employees are going to start a similar business. Apparently, they have submitted paperwork that is based on the forms I used to create my own business. Is this grounds for termination? …

What should I do when fraud allegations surface?

10/07/2008

Q. A former employee is circulating a rumor that there has been some kind of fraud taking place at my business. What should I do? …

Can an employer deduct hours for employee meal breaks?

10/07/2008

Q. My company deducts 30 minutes from each day’s recorded time for employees’ meal periods. Is this proper? …