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Employment Law

Harassment: How to stop it before–and after–it starts

11/30/2011
Protect your organization from harassment lawsuits by focusing your attention on both preventive and corrective measures. Give every employee a copy of your anti-harassment policy. Train everyone to ensure they understand their rights and responsibilities.

Supervisor harassment? You can force arbitration

11/30/2011
Employers can use an arbitration clause to compel arbitration of al­­most all employment-related problems, including supervisor sexual harassment. That can limit the chance of a huge jury award.

Only one bite at the apple when it comes to bias cases

11/30/2011
A Texas court has headed off an employee’s attempt to sue twice for the same discrimination claim—once in federal court and again in Texas.

Court: Punishment for helping outsider file harassment complaint isn’t retaliation

11/30/2011
The U.S. Supreme Court’s Thompson v. North American Stain­­less decision said that it was illegal retaliation to punish the fiancé of someone who had complained about sexual harassment. But what about punishing an em­­­­­­ployee because an outsider has filed sexual harassment charges? Accord­­ing to a recent decision, that isn’t illegal under Title VII.

Don’t let FMLA request stop discipline that was already in the works

11/30/2011

Employees may think that by making a request for FMLA leave, they can stop their employer’s legitimate disciplinary actions. That’s not true. Employers that can clearly establish an independent reason for discipline seldom lose an FMLA retaliation case.

Before starting ADA accommodations process, ask basic question: Is this employee disabled?

11/30/2011
Finding a reasonable accommodation is a two-way street. Both the employer and the disabled employee are supposed to engage in the ADA’s interactive accommodations process. But part of that interactive process includes determining whether the employee is, in fact, disabled. If he’s not, the process need go no further.

You–not worker–choose ADA accommodation

11/30/2011
Employers, not disabled employees, have the right to decide which reasonable accommodation will be used. As long as the accommodation works and the employee is able to perform her job with it, no additional help is due.

Don’t tolerate insubordination, rudeness

11/30/2011

You know her—the abrasive em­­ployee who’s just plain hard to work with. Employers sometimes fear disciplining such employees, thinking that any legitimate criticism will be perceived as some sort of discrimination. Stop living in fear.

New rules for commissioned sales employees?

11/29/2011
Q. What are the new developments regarding overtime exemption for commissioned sales employees?

Disabled worker? It may pay to offer commuting accommodations

11/29/2011
While many district courts have found that commuting to work falls outside of the realm of an employer’s obligation to provide reasonable accommodations for disabled employees, some courts have opted to expand upon the ADA by ruling otherwise.