• The HR Specialist - Print Newsletter
  • HR Specialist: Employment Law
  • The HR Weekly

Employment Law

Document why you fired worker, even in cases where rationale seems crystal clear

03/29/2011

Often, you have to fire employees for reasons that seem painfully obvious. Don’t let that stop you from carefully documenting the decision. The fact is, you never know which employee will sue or what she will claim.

Be patient if worker alleges minor harassment

03/29/2011

Employers have an obligation to prevent sexual harassment and to end it when it does occur. But many times, what a thin-skinned employee considers harassment isn’t actually serious enough to rise to that level. When that happens, smart employers exercise patience. They understand the very real danger of winning a sexual harassment case but losing the retaliation case that follows.

Reprimand by itself isn’t an adverse action

03/29/2011

To sue for employment discrimination, employees have to show some sort of adverse action—e.g., discharge, demotion, a pay cut or a transfer to a less desirable or less prestigious position. Merely being criticized or having a reprimand placed in a personnel folder isn’t enough to support a lawsuit.

What’s wrong with this picture? Spot the HR problems in this vintage ad

03/29/2011
It was a different world in the 1860s. Work was dangerous. Pay was low. News spread slowly. Oh, and HR apparently didn’t have much say in the recruitment process. See how many employment law violations you can spot in this ad seeking riders for the Pony Express.

Employees can’t relitigate state case in federal court

03/29/2011
If an employee loses a case in state court and then doesn’t appeal, he can’t just march into federal court.

Limit access to information about litigation

03/29/2011

With the most recent U.S. Supreme Court pronouncement on retaliation, it’s now clearly impermissible to punish someone who is closely related to an employee who has filed an EEOC complaint or lawsuit. But you can protect yourself by limiting who within the company knows about litigation.

Electrical contractor to pay for fed labor law violations

03/29/2011
Fourteen employees of Quinco Electrical—a nationwide commercial electrical firm with a major office in Raleigh—will be getting something extra in their pay envelopes now that the company has settled a case alleging it violated federal contracting labor laws.

No personal supervisor liability under Title VII

03/29/2011

Some employees are so angry about perceived supervisor discrimination and harassment that they want the offending boss to suffer personally. They’ll often try to sue their supervisors directly. Fortunately, that doesn’t work for Title VII discrimination lawsuits.

Employee miffed about your decision? That’s no reason to tolerate insubordination

03/29/2011

Employees tend to get angry if management dismisses or turns a blind eye to some perceived injustice. That anger may manifest itself in many ways, including refusing to cooperate with reasonable requests. You don’t have to put up with that passive-aggressive behavior.

Pattern of strict enforcement helps win harassment cases

03/29/2011
A strictly enforced anti-harassment policy can counter an employee’s argument that she didn’t use the system because she believed it would not help.