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Employment Law

Stay mum on lawsuits, complaints to cut retaliation risk

05/07/2008
Retaliation can turn a relative molehill of a discrimination complaint into a mountain of legal trouble. And the retaliation doesn’t have to take the form of something dramatic, such as a firing or demotion. Little things supervisors do can add up to retaliation. But supervisors can’t retaliate if they don’t know about earlier discrimination complaints or pending lawsuits …

ADA alert: Managers and supervisors can’t force workers to disclose illnesses

05/07/2008
In safety-conscious environments—such as in the medical and food industries—employees who become ill often face questions about their health from co-workers and associates. That’s only natural. But sometimes, inquiries about an employee’s illness are simply off-limits …

Lease doesn’t protect building owners from liability in case of accident

05/07/2008
Does your company own its facility but lease out part of the building or grounds to a third party? If so, remind management that the company may still be liable for injuries to a worker who is doing repairs or construction on the building without the owner’s knowledge …

Listen to this: Smith Barney to pay $33 million for sex bias

05/07/2008
A class of more than 2,500 female former brokers, who sued financial services giant Smith Barney for sex discrimination, will receive a $33 million settlement …

Woman awarded $500,000 for sexual harassment, alleged rape

05/07/2008
A woman who was sexually harassed and allegedly raped by a boss at a Quiznos restaurant in Norwich was awarded $500,000 by the state Division of Human Rights …

Albany police clerk seeks $35 million

05/07/2008
Shirley Morton, a clerical worker for the Albany Police Department, has filed a $35 million lawsuit against the department and the city, claiming Sgt. Kevin McKenna subjected her to sexual harassment, unwanted physical contact and verbal abuse for 12 years …

Election ’08: What you need to know about what workers think

05/06/2008
Election year politics has a strange way of focusing employers and employees on the larger issues—such as jobs, wages and the economy. HR pros should pay attention to election year buzz. Knowing what’s on employees’ minds as they go to the polls can help savvy employers get a glimpse of the future workplace.

Ensure FLSA exemption is for actual job—Not theoretical one

05/06/2008
When it comes to the Fair Labor Standards Act, employers can’t afford to make classification mistakes. Only exempt employees lose out on overtime when they work more than 40 hours per week. The U.S. Department of Labor—and courts—strictly interpret what constitutes exempt work and what does not …

Worker quit voluntarily? Don’t rule out discrimination suit

05/06/2008
Employees who quit generally can’t sue for discrimination—unless they can show that they were essentially forced out because conditions were intolerable. But don’t think simply accepting an employee’s resignation note lets the company entirely off the hook …

Punitive damages based on staff size at time of discrimination

05/06/2008
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act caps how much employers have to pay for everything except back wages in discrimination cases. The limits on punitive damages depend on how many employees the company has. Now a federal court has clarified a fine point—the employee number that counts is how many employees the company had in the year the discrimination took place …