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Employment Law

Objective promotion process makes retaliation claim harder

04/09/2008
Imagine how awkward it would be to have an employee sue her employer and then stay on the job. There’s a real danger that the worker will become supersensitive to workplace slights. She may think every comment is meant to punish her for the lawsuit—and that every thwarted promotion request is direct retaliation …

Don’t fear informal ADA accommodation: You can still challenge disability later

04/09/2008
Most employers start thinking about possible ADA accommodations right away, before they are sure that the affected employees are actually disabled. That’s fine and won’t mean the employers can’t require medical proof later. Agreeing to accommodate is not the same as admitting the employee is disabled …

Beware firing after worker calls hotline

04/09/2008
If an employee calls the company discrimination hotline to report alleged wrongdoing while you are in the process of disciplining her, think twice before you fire her. Make certain your underlying reasons are rock-solid. Otherwise, you risk an immediate retaliation lawsuit …

Man loses sexual harassment suit against DHS

04/09/2008
A federal jury rejected a sexual harassment lawsuit filed against the Illinois Department of Human Services (DHS) by Carlos Estes, a former employee who claimed he was fired for refusing his boss’s sexual advances …

Spa manager’s personal style rubbed staff the wrong way

04/09/2008
Lisa Cristia worked as a massage therapist and later as a department manager for Red Door Spa in Chicago. She was fired for breaching the company’s rules of conduct, including using her position as a manager to coerce and harass employees. Cristia sued, alleging disability discrimination …

$24M settlement ends Walgreens’ discrimination suit

04/09/2008
A federal judge has approved a settlement between Walgreens and a class of roughly 10,000 former and present employees who sued the retailer for race discrimination. The lawsuit alleged Deerfield-based Walgreens assigned black managers, management trainees and pharmacists to low-performing stores and denied them promotions based on their race …

Are noncompetes enforceable on employees who have been fired?

04/09/2008
Q. In Illinois, do noncompete agreements apply even when someone is terminated, as opposed to resigning? …

Rites of spring: The hidden dangers of hiring unpaid interns

04/08/2008

The calendar turns to spring, and you know what’s coming. It’s that time of year when employers are swamped with requests from college students for unpaid internships. The benefits of the symbiotic relationship are obvious. But the legal risks are not …

Clear, open promotion policies key to litigation-Free decisions

04/08/2008
The reality of the modern workplace is that at any given time, someone is going to be unhappy. Promotions may not come. Resentment may arise from working with employees from many racial, ethnic or religious backgrounds. Simply put, it’s next to impossible to prevent all discrimination claims. You can, however, minimize the risk of being sued by developing clear and open workplace and promotion policies …

Tell managers: Unless you have notes, you can’t terminate

04/08/2008
The quickest way for an employer to get into big trouble is to retaliate against an employee who files a discrimination charge. Any negative employment action after the charge is filed may mean an additional lawsuit. Instruct managers to document any alleged poor performance—and make sure they use only objective, concrete measures …