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Employment Law

Texas Roadhouse beats religious bias lawsuit

09/06/2011
When an employee’s religious needs clash with an employer’s scheduling demands, courts often take the worker’s side. But a Nueces County jury recently turned the tables, deciding that the Texas Roadhouse restaurant chain had acted appropriately to accommodate an employee’s request for time off to practice his religion.

Feds find fault with ‘no fault’ attendance policies

09/06/2011

Verizon’s recent $20 million settlement of a class-action lawsuit—the largest disability settlement in EEOC history—is shining a spotlight on the legal risks of no-fault attendance policies. The lawsuit claimed the company violated the ADA by refusing to make exceptions to its no-fault attendance policy to accommodate employees with disabilities.

OSHA claims Niles dentist muzzled whistle-blowers

09/05/2011
Dr. A. Scott Santucci, a dentist in Niles, faces charges he harassed employees who refused to clean up two separate mercury spills at the practice’s office in 2010.

How noncompete agreements can legally protect your interests

09/02/2011
Employers often insist that key employees sign noncompete agreements to ensure the employee will not use information or customer contacts gained during the course of employment to benefit a competitor. Several states have recently changed their laws governing noncompetes. In other states, courts have responded to unusual sets of facts to render surprising decisions.

$100K in OSHA fines for Salem air filter factory

09/02/2011
OSHA has cited MM Industries’ factory in Salem for 38 serious safety and health violations. The company manufactures air filtration products at the plant. Safety violations ran the gamut, from not knowing how much weight a floor could bear to failing to install emergency lighting.

Butler County contemplates settling bias claims

09/02/2011
Butler County may have to pony up more than $100,000 to settle claims it discriminated against a small group of female county employees, all over age 40, who were forced to take pay cuts last year.

DOL building pay database to spot discrimination

09/02/2011
The DOL has requested public comment on its proposed pay-and-benefit database for federal contractors. The database would show what pay and benefits federal contractors offered to employees with an eye toward spotting potential pay disparities that may discriminate against women and minority employees.

Warn bosses: Don’t ask about caregivers’ responsibilities

09/02/2011
Employees can sue for discrimination based on being associated with a disabled individual. Employers must make sure they don’t use such associations as factors in job decisions. More employees are claiming that supervisors are discriminating against them because of fear that caring for a disabled individual will affect job performance.

Beware Sec. 1981 lawsuits, which target race bias

09/02/2011

After the end of the Civil War, Con­­gress enacted Section 1981, outlawing bias based on race in contracts. But “race” is a general term that also includes clas­­sifications based on qualities like being identified as Ger­­man, Russian or Arab.

When racially charged symbols appear, remove them ASAP and punish culprits

09/02/2011
Here’s an incentive to keep ra­­cially hostile symbols out of the workplace: In a case that resulted in no other damages, five black em­­ployees received $50,000 each for spotting a noose at work.