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Employment Law

When age seems obvious factor, expect lengthy legal process

07/13/2011
Here’s something to consider when terminating an older employee, while leaving younger ones in place: If your organization is sued, don’t expect the case to be tossed early on. Instead, brace for protracted litigation.

Employee feels slighted by promotion process? That’s not enough to win retaliation lawsuit

07/13/2011

Some employees believe that anything the least bit negative that happens to them after they file a lawsuit is grounds for a second lawsuit alleging retaliation. That’s not true. To constitute retaliation, an employer has to do something that would dissuade a reasonable employee from filing a lawsuit in the first place.

Appeals court: No second chance to appeal lower court’s decision on retaliation damages

07/13/2011
An employee who won a discrimination case after he filed an appeal has lost his second appeal. He had claimed it wasn’t enough that a lower court had ordered almost one million dollars in back pay. He said he should have been promoted, too.

Court: Veterans can’t sue for bias under Title VII or Florida Civil Rights Act

07/13/2011
The 11th Cir­cuit Court of Appeals has refused to recognize veterans as a protected class under either Title VII of the federal Civil Rights Act or under the Florida Civil Rights Act. That means claims based on military service must generally be brought under the Uniformed Serv­ices Em­ployment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA).

OK to cut position of worker on FMLA leave–if you can prove FMLA status didn’t affect decision

07/13/2011

Employees who take FMLA leave are usually eligible for reinstatement, but not always. If you were going to eliminate the position anyway, the employee may be out of luck. Before you deny reinstatement, be sure you can clearly show that the position was cut for reasons completely unrelated to the employee’s FMLA leave.

Beware denying ‘vacation’ request in disguise

07/13/2011

If there’s no use-it-or-lose-it policy in place, employees can easily stockpile weeks of vacation or personal leave. Should they become ill, they may try to use that time as a substitute for FMLA leave. If an employee asks you to approve an especially long vacation, and you suspect the underlying reason may be a covered condition under the FMLA, beware automatically rejecting the request.

Do oral complaints carry the same weight as written complaints in retaliation cases?

07/13/2011
Q. We have an employee who has made several complaints about his wages while talking to his manager during informal meetings. Are these oral complaints sufficient to trigger the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) anti-retaliation provision?

What’s this new technology designed to help employees track their hours worked?

07/13/2011
Q. I heard something about a new wage-and-hour smartphone app that the Department of Labor has announced. What does it mean for our company?

Check your web policies: NLRB looks at employee Facebook posts

07/13/2011
Facebook and other social net­working web sites are signifi­cantly changing the way people com­mu­ni­cate—and that communication isn’t always merely personal. Em­ployees sometimes post comments criticizing their jobs and employers. Tempting though it may be, think twice before punishing employees for online behavior that you think maligns your organization.

Chicago firefighter bias case: $30 million settlement on table

07/13/2011
The controversy over a 1995 Chicago firefighter hiring test may finally be headed toward closure now that a federal appeals court has ruled the city must hire 111 black applicants who passed the test. In addition to hiring the firefighters, the city has offered to pay approximately 6,000 applicants who passed the test a portion of an estimated $30 million.