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Employment Law

Must we offer the same position to a temp worker returning from FMLA leave?

05/09/2008
Q. We lease some of our workers from an agency. The agency handles all personnel needs of its employees, but our supervisors provide day-to-day direction to the workers. One of our agency employees, Jane, informed the agency that she was taking FMLA leave for her pregnancy. While Jane was out on leave, the agency supplied us with a replacement, Mary. Jane’s FMLA leave is over, and the agency wants to send her back. We would prefer to keep Mary. Does the FMLA oblige us to let Mary go and bring Jane back? …

Base reinstatement on job held at time leave began

05/07/2008
For determining reinstatement rights under the FMLA, it’s the job the employee was in at the time she began her FMLA leave that counts. As long as the job she returns to is substantially equivalent, it does not matter that the job may be below her capacities and educational background …

Beware: ‘Association discrimination’ is new HR worry

05/07/2008
You know it’s illegal to retaliate against an employee who has engaged in so-called “protected activity,” such as filing a discrimination complaint. Now the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals has taken the concept one step further …

Denying transfer—Even a lateral one—Can be discrimination

05/07/2008
Denying someone a transfer she wants may be an adverse employment action—and may trigger a discrimination or retaliation lawsuit. That’s true even if the transfer wouldn’t have meant more pay or other tangible benefits …

Don’t think ‘Contractor’ status shields you from retaliation

05/07/2008
Beware: When it comes to judging Title VII and retaliation claims, courts may treat as employees many of the individuals you consider independent contractors. That’s true even if they are licensed professionals—such as physicians—working at your facility …

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 …