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Employment Law

Management bias not necessarily enough to justify quitting

06/03/2008
Employees who complain that other employees have been discriminated against can’t just walk off the job and sue, claiming their working conditions were intolerable. The workplace must be more than merely unpleasant to justify a claimed constructive discharge …

You fired worker on FMLA leave? Better have a good reason

06/03/2008
Employers can’t manipulate the FMLA to terminate employees for taking FMLA leave by trumping up charges. As the following case shows, courts grow very suspicious when employers come up with reasons to fire employees who are on FMLA leave. And they often send such cases to trial, leaving employers at the mercy of juries …

Tell supervisors: No stereotyping based on national origin

06/03/2008
It’s important to remind all supervisors to judge employees on their individual merits—and not to indulge stereotypes. As the following case shows, using stereotypes in any critique of job performance may be enough evidence of national origin discrimination to merit a possible jury trial …

Settlement can include clause that bans reapplying

06/03/2008
Not all discrimination claims are crystal clear. Sometimes, employees are treated unfairly, and those situations deserve to be fixed. In such cases, employers may be tempted to settle, offering a small payment along with an agreement that the employee who complained will get additional training or a fair shot at a promotion. But consider the possible aftermath …

Warn about personal liability when conducting discrimination training

06/03/2008
Are you trying to find ways to get employees to listen during your annual harassment and discrimination training session? Here’s something that should get their attention …

Don’t single out work force’s sole member of a protected class

06/03/2008
Sometimes, little digs and inconveniences that don’t individually amount to much can add up to big trouble—especially if a supervisor constantly singles out the sole member of a protected class. Taken together, they can add up to a hostile work environment and a successful discrimination lawsuit …

There’s pretext, and then there’s not even bothering

06/03/2008
It makes a judge’s job easier when a company just fires workers for complaining, rather than trying to concoct elaborate rationalizations. That’s the tack evidently taken by Pillow Kingdom of Denver …

Now hear this: You’ll pay for firing worker out on health leave

06/03/2008
Colorado Sports and Spine Centers has just agreed to pay $137,500 to settle a discrimination lawsuit brought by the EEOC on behalf of former employee Kristina Siebert. The CSSC fired Siebert after she took time off to be fitted for hearing aids …

Colorado voters may have chance to weigh in on ‘Right to work’

06/03/2008
Over objections from the governor’s office, the lobbying group “A Better Colorado” has apparently submitted enough valid signatures to put a referendum on the November ballot to ban all-union workplaces in Colorado …

Noose incident leads to citation at Frontier Airlines

06/03/2008
Denver-based Frontier Airlines says it disciplined two employees who harassed a black co-worker with a noose at Denver International Airport. Juan Sequeira, with help from a fellow employee, allegedly made the noose and showed it to the co-worker in the break room …