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Employment Law

Doggedly stubborn law firm sued over access for service animal

12/07/2011
You would think that a personal-injury law firm would be sensitive to a client’s need for a service dog, but apparently attorneys at the firm of Larkin, Axelrod, Ingrassia & Tetenbaum are unfamiliar with Title III of the ADA.

Hope arbitration can halt EEOC action? It won’t

12/07/2011

Employers may hope they can keep out of the EEOC’s crosshairs by having employees sign arbitration agreements. It usually doesn’t work. The EEOC is free to pursue litigation, even if you end up arbitrating employee claims at the same time.

Sometimes, even harsh judges take pity on employers

12/07/2011
When a jury concluded that a supervisor got a subordinate fired for complaining about race discrimination, it zapped the employer with huge punitive damages in addition to back pay. However, it will only have to pay a fraction of that amount.

When employee complains about bias, take control ASAP to prevent retaliation

12/07/2011

When an employee complains about perceived discrimination, how you treat the worker can greatly affect the outcome if the case reaches court. The best approach: Handle the case professionally, at the HR function level.

Conscientious objector vs. his military employer

12/07/2011
A company whose business is maintaining and repairing U.S. Navy equipment has agreed to settle with an employee who said his religious convictions prevented him from working on “weapons of war.”

When co-workers clash, offer transfer option

12/07/2011
Personality clashes almost always affect work, and inevitably one of the combatants will file a formal complaint. Defuse that tension by suggesting that one or both co-workers transfer to other positions. Offering the transfer option to warring co-workers isn’t an ad­­verse action as long as neither is forced to accept the offer.

Counting paid time off as FMLA leave? Tell worker you’re running them concurrently

12/07/2011
The FMLA says employers can run out the FMLA clock by counting paid time off against an employee’s 12-week leave entitlement. Make sure employees understand how that works. That way, employees won’t run out of leave and lose their jobs because they didn’t realize the FMLA clock was ticking.

The pregnant pause: How to respond to baby news

12/06/2011
“I’m pregnant!” … Two words that can make an employer cringe on the inside but smile on the outside. And even though the baby might not be kicking yet, you can be assured that pregnancy anti-discrimination laws have kicked in …

Required: Investigating all harassment complaints Not required: Providing a perfect workplace

12/05/2011
Sometimes an employee may feel uncomfortable with the close proximity and may even interpret another employee’s innocent behavior as sexual harassment. While you must respond to every sexual harassment complaint and investigate, that doesn’t mean each incident warrants corrective action. Use common sense.

Passage of time can kill retaliation claim

12/05/2011

There’s some good news for em­­ployers concerned about retaliation after an employee participates in protected activity such as testifying in another employee’s discrimination lawsuit. If a substantial amount of time has passed since the employee’s testimony, any disciplinary action you take probably won’t be enough to form the basis of a retaliation claim.