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Employment Law

Paying exempt employees extra? Be sure to clarify status

09/01/2007

Do you pay exempt employees extra for working extra hours? If you do, make sure you clearly indicate that you still consider the employees as exempt. That way, should you stop making the payments, you haven’t created unreasonable expectations …

Warn supervisors: Don’t comment needlessly on race

09/01/2007

The selection process is over, and the newly promoted employee has begun work. Now is not the time for those involved in the hiring process to pontificate on racial balance in the workplace. That’s especially true if the applicants were all qualified for the position and a member of a majority class was selected over minority candidates …

Making light of complaints adds dollars to damages

09/01/2007

If an employee says he or she is being sexually harassed, it’s management’s job to take the complaint seriously. Those who don’t may have to pay dearly—because a jury may order that the victim receive punitive damages, too. The quickest way to earn those punitive damages is to make light of complaints. As the following case shows, that can mean an extra payment of three times the actual damages—or even more …

Strippers at golf fundraiser land Dem Party boss in the rough

09/01/2007

Lucas County Democratic Party Chairman John Irish is in hot water after holding a golf fundraiser that featured female strippers. Employees of Scarlett’s Cabaret in Toledo and Club Diamonds in Oregon staffed the drink carts, and at least one woman raised her top and dropped her shorts for a group of golfers …

Cleveland Clinic hit with sex assault whistle-Blower suit

09/01/2007

Scott Graham, a surgical assistant in the heart unit of the renowned Cleveland Clinic, filed suit against the clinic—plus affiliated Lakewood and Fairview hospitals—for retaliating against him after he reported alleged sexual assaults by head surgeon Dr. Baldev Sekhon …

State agency to learn whether ‘Preselection’ is discrimination

09/01/2007

An energy specialist with the Ohio Department of Development filed a race-discrimination complaint with
the Civil Rights Division, arguing the department passed him over for promotions to two positions because he is black. The department acknowledged it had created the positions specifically with two other men in mind to keep them from leaving …

Employee swaps RVs for jail cell after embezzlement scheme

09/01/2007

An office manager of Campers Choice Inc., an RV dealer in Swanton Township, received 17 months in prison for stealing almost $100,000 over a four-year period, steadily ruining the company’s finances. The manager fraudulently collected $80,000 in cash and checks written to herself and padded her hours for another $16,000 …

Religious objection to union dues not limited to a few

09/01/2007

An Ohio public employee collective-bargaining law exemption that allows workers to forgo paying union dues because of religious beliefs has been applied too narrowly, the U.S. District Court, Southern District, has decided …

Deferred-Comp plans must comply with new rules starting Jan. 1

09/01/2007

The government hasn’t required much in the way of compliance when it comes to special executive retirement perks and bonuses. That changed in April, when Congress enacted a slew of IRS-enforced regulations known as 409A. Bring your deferred-comp plans into compliance now, or your executives could face stiff tax penalties.

Labor Dept. draws battle lines in the great FMLA fight

09/01/2007

Chances are your employees are happier with the 14-year-old FMLA than you are.  A new U.S. Labor Department report says employees would like to expand the law to create longer leaves and paid leaves. But employers argue that the law’s vague wording (and employees’ ability to play games with FMLA) create legal and productivity nightmares. Here are the main problems employers have with the FMLA, according to Labor’s report …