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Employment Law

Off-work months during grievance don’t count toward FMLA eligibility

11/01/2002
Plant worker John Plumley was off the job for six months while he dealt with a grievance filed under the collective bargaining agreement. Ultimately, an arbitrator reinstated Plumley and awarded him …

Managers: Don’t sit on harassment claim, notify designated person

11/01/2002
When does a company officially “know” of a harassment complaint? It’s not always when the complaint is lodged with the designated person in your reporting procedures. If your lower-level managers get …

Court opens door wider to sexual-orientation lawsuits

11/01/2002
In what gay-rights groups are calling a landmark decision, a federal appeals court has said that homosexuals can use federal civil rights laws to sue for alleged harassment. In the …

Not all vision impairments qualify as disabilities

11/01/2002
Several UPS employees who could only see out of one eye claimed their sight was a disability and that UPS’ policy of not allowing them to drive a truck was discriminatory …

Retaliation threat doesn’t erase time limit for filing lawsuit

11/01/2002
Wal-Mart employee Stephanie Beckel complained to a general manager that her supervisor was sexually harassing her. When the general manager told her not to discuss the matter with anyone but himself …

Tip-pooling with management violates FLSA

11/01/2002
A restaurant required waiters to pool their tips and share them with busboys and managers who worked the floor. The waiters sued under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The employer …

Less prestigious job leads to constructive discharge

11/01/2002
After a top-performing African-American server at Denny’s was transferred to a different location, the restaurant unexpectedly reassigned her to busing tables. She walked off the job and sued, alleging that she …

Religious protections don’t include veganism

11/01/2002
A California computer worker was denied a job in a pharmaceutical factory because he refused to take a required mumps shot. He refused because the vaccine included material from chicken embryos …

Reach out to staff: Workers more receptive to union appeals

11/01/2002
Now’s the time to improve your employee relations. Reason: Labor unions see opportunity in the current anti-corporate mood, and they’re hoping to ride this wave of public distrust to victories in …

Supreme Court tackles ADA case clarifying 15-employee definition

11/01/2002
Companies that have 15 or more employees are covered under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). But do the company partners or shareholders count toward that total? The Supreme Court has …