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Employment Law

Lack of female supervisors a red flag for discrimination

04/18/2008
Have you taken a good look at who fills supervisory roles at your workplace? If not, you should. Having very few female supervisors may spell trouble. Having none is like carrying a sign that reads, “Sue me now!” Employees suing for sex discrimination could point to the lack of female supervisors as evidence supporting their claims …

Warn managers: They may be personally liable for discrimination

04/18/2008
If you have trouble persuading managers that they cannot discriminate or harass, here’s ammunition. Tell them that if they participate in any form of discrimination or harassment, it’s their assets on the line. An employee can sue them directly, and they may have to pay damages out of their own bank accounts …

When the lawsuit is frivolous, employee may have to pay employer’s attorneys’ fees

04/18/2008
Here’s some good news from the litigation front. In some cases, employees who file frivolous discrimination lawsuits may actually end up reaching into their own wallets—to pay their employers’ legal fees …

Good ol’ boy network could cost you millions

04/18/2008
Is there’s a “good ol’ boy” network growing in your organization? If promotions and raises tend to go just to employees who win management’s favor—and not to those who perform, regardless of race or gender—you could easily find yourself on the losing end of a big lawsuit. How big? Try $24 million!

You can’t ignore state disability law

04/18/2008
UPS requires all its drivers to hold U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) commercial driver’s licenses to operate trucks weighing more than 10,001 pounds, even if they regularly drive only smaller trucks. Drivers diagnosed with epilepsy can’t qualify for the national licenses. That became a problem when UPS driver Paul Warren developed epilepsy …

Race, national origin aren’t synonymous

04/18/2008
Kyaw Nyunt, a U.S. citizen of Burmese origin, worked for the government agency that broadcasts Voice of America radio programming. After the agency failed to promote Nyunt several times, he filed a complaint alleging age and national origin discrimination. Then he filed a federal lawsuit alleging age, national origin and race discrimination …

Citigroup to pay $33 million in gender-Bias settlement

04/18/2008
Citigroup will pay $33 million to settle a class-action lawsuit filed by three female brokers who worked in the Santa Barbara office of Smith Barney, a Citigroup unit. As many as 2,500 former and current Smith Barney female brokers may end up sharing in the settlement pot …

Schwarzenegger vetoes child care worker negotiation bill

04/18/2008
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has vetoed S.B. 867, a state bill that would have allowed child care workers to organize for the purpose of negotiating with California agencies. Specifically, the bill would have allowed the workers to negotiate reimbursement rates and licensing issues with the state …

Court voids grocery worker retention ordinance

04/18/2008
A Superior Court judge recently voided a 2005 ordinance that required large supermarkets to retain workers following an ownership change …

Individuals cannot be held liable for retaliation claims

04/18/2008
The California Supreme Court held in 1998 that individual supervisors and managers are not personally liable for discrimination under the California Fair Employment and Housing Act. Now the court has also ruled that individual supervisors and managers may not be held financially responsible for retaliation claims …