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Employment Law

Judge makes it crystal clear: Question about accent not enough for a lawsuit

05/12/2015
Asking a simple question such as what type of accent an employee has or what country he grew up in won’t be enough to prove national-origin discrimination. Courts expect employees to talk to one another and without evidence that curiosity about an accent or a co-worker’s background is tied to some sort of discrimination, judges won’t hold employers liable for national-origin discrimination.

DOL: Beware turning employees into ‘owners’

05/11/2015
When it comes to circumventing the Fair Labor Standards Act, innovation may be born of hardship. The latest employer scheme to avoid paying overtime, workers’ comp premiums and payroll taxes comes out of Utah and Arizona, where several jointly owned construction firms have been requiring employees to become “member/owners” of the businesses.

Retaining younger workers but terminating older ones? Better have a good reason

05/08/2015
If you happen to fire an older worker but retain younger ones, you should expect a potential age discrimination lawsuit. If you’re prepared, you stand a dramatically better chance of winning.

EEOC conciliation process post-Mach Mining

05/07/2015
On April 29, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its unanimous decision in Mach Mining v. EEOC, a case that set new standards for challenging whether the EEOC engaged in a good-faith conciliation process before suing. In the wake of the decision, employers can expect more pre-litigation outreach from the EEOC.

Tossed: $10.5 million reverse bias suit against Ithaca PD

05/06/2015
A white police officer’s suit against the city of Ithaca has been dismissed. The officer alleged racial discrimination after he lost a promotion to a black officer.

NYPD settles sex harassment complaint for $110,000

05/06/2015
The New York Police Department will pay a female officer $110,000 to settle charges a superior officer harassed her and then retaliated when she refused his advances.

Viacom to pay $7.21M to settle intern pay dispute

05/06/2015

Apparently, TV personality Stephen Colbert wasn’t kidding about mistreating Jay the intern. Colbert’s former employer, Viacom, has agreed to settle claims by current and former interns at its Comedy Central, MTV and Nickelodeon properties.

What HR needs to know about tracking employee time

05/06/2015
Supervisors and HR pros need to understand what they can and cannot do with time records. Problems can lead to legal disputes under the Fair Labor Standards Act.

Second chances, patience make discharge decision stick

05/06/2015
Courts often reward employers for offering second chances to employees who might otherwise be fired.

Single comment doesn’t justify hostile environment case

05/06/2015
Rest easy: As long as you take appropriate action to stop racially charged comments, the first one won’t land you in court. The key is to take every complaint seriously and immediately investigate any complaints. Then discipline the person who made the comments and warn against further comments.