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Employment Law

Don’t stop at religious accommodation; end harassment, too

04/23/2008
Many organizations pride themselves on offering religious accommodations. But some may be a little too quick to pat themselves on the back. It’s not enough to simply offer religious accommodations such as flexible schedules or shift swapping to allow worship or even prayer breaks …

Make sure job descriptions, handbook include reasonable work expectations

04/23/2008
To win a discrimination lawsuit, employees must be able to show they met their employers’ reasonable expectations. If they weren’t doing their jobs, then it’s difficult to blame any adverse employment action on discrimination. That’s one reason job descriptions and employee handbooks should include examples of reasonable expectations …

Employee who’s suing files for bankruptcy? It just got easier to settle your case

04/23/2008
Employees who sue their employers for discrimination often find themselves in dire financial straits. Many file for bankruptcy in an effort to stop bill collections, repossessions and foreclosures. When they do, there’s a bonus for employers that want to settle the lawsuit and move on …

Appeals court dumps whistle-Blower’s claim

04/23/2008
A three-judge panel of the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals rejected a whistle-blower claim by Mark Livingston, former training director at the Sanford vaccine plant of pharmaceuticals giant Wyeth Inc. The company fired Livingston in December 2002 …

Justice Department settles harassment suit with N.C. A&T

04/23/2008
The U.S. Department of Justice has settled a sexual harassment lawsuit with North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University for $57,000. The university will pay $29,000 to Tasha Murray and $26,000 to Mattie Smith for sexual harassment they endured while working in the university’s Department of Police and Public Safety …

Wachovia sued for back wages

04/23/2008
Carrie Williams, an employee at a Wachovia call center in Alabama, has filed a lawsuit alleging the company failed to pay employees for time spent logging onto computers before taking calls …

When a former employee steals customers

04/23/2008
Q. One of our employees left and is stealing our customers. Can we sue him for breach of the duty of loyalty? …

When weighing soft skills, document decisions

04/22/2008
Employers can ask questions about candidates’ subjective qualities, especially when many applicants are objectively qualified. But don’t risk a discrimination lawsuit by carelessly documenting how you arrived at ways to distinguish applicants … 

Good faith is the key to litigation-Proof employment decisions

04/22/2008
Employment decisions don’t have to be perfect—they just have to be based on good faith. That’s good news, because it’s a fact that supervisors and managers will make mistakes. What that means: Just because an employee can prove management did something wrong doesn’t guarantee she will win a lawsuit …

Tell supervisors to zip it! Little digs can add up to retaliation

04/22/2008
When supervisors have to work with an employee they view as a troublemaker, they sometimes look for subtle ways to exact punishment. If the so-called troublemaker got that title because he constantly complains that his co-workers are being discriminated against, supervisors should lay off …