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Employment Law

Make sure managers understand: They may be personally liable for racial slurs

03/04/2011
Here’s some food for thought you may want to pass along to supervisors, managers and your colleagues in HR who deal directly with employees. If they are actively involved in any activity that creates a hostile work environment, they may find themselves personally liable as an aider and abettor.

Employees’ pockets picked while being frisked?

03/04/2011
Employees at Century 21 Department Stores in New York City and Long Island undergo searches every time they leave the store for breaks and at the end of the day. They say the process sometimes takes 15 minutes or longer. The problem: Century 21 makes them clock out first. Employees say that violates the FLSA.

Personality clash or gay bias? Courts decide

03/04/2011
In New York, employees are protected from discrimination based on their sexual orientation. Just as in other discrimination cases, when the conflict is between supervisor and subordinate, courts try to sort out whether the problem is a case of personality conflict or sexual orientation discrimination.

Warn bosses: No retaliation for complaining

03/04/2011

Some supervisors can’t or won’t refrain from finding ways to punish employees who complain about alleged harassment or discrimination. That’s why it’s important for someone in HR to follow up on every complaint—even if it turns out to be unfounded—and ask whether there’s been any retaliation.

What can employers opting out of workers’ comp do to minimize the threat of lawsuits?

03/04/2011
Q. My company is a nonsubscriber under the Texas Workers’ Compensation Act and has its own on-the-job employee injury benefit plan. Is there any way to decrease the likelihood of employees who receive benefits under the plan later suing the company and recovering damages related to their injuries?

Will bonuses affect employees’ ‘regular rate’ when calculating overtime pay under the FLSA?

03/04/2011
Q. We want to offer incentive bonuses to hourly workers in order to increase business and productivity. Will these bonuses affect the employees’ “regular rate” under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) for purposes of overtime calculation?

Supreme Court rules on third-party retaliation: Relatives protected

03/04/2011

The U.S. Supreme Court has held that an employee who was fired shortly after his fiancée filed a bias charge against their employer may sue for third-party retaliation under Title VII. According to the court, the employee could be considered an “aggrieved person” because he was “well within the zone of interests sought to be protected by Title VII.” What’s the practical impact for employers?

East Texas inspector files reverse discrimination suit

03/04/2011
A former employee of Signal International has filed a reverse discrimination lawsuit against the oil rig construction company, claiming that he was fired because he is white.

Was she just foul-mouthed–or a victim of bias?

03/04/2011
Westward Trails Rehabilitation and Healthcare Center says it fired Evelyn Jones because she cursed at a patient at the Nacogdoches nursing home. The 67-year-old Jones says she lost her job because of her age and race.

EEOC: Houston Fire Department hostile to female firefighter

03/04/2011

The EEOC has determined that the Houston Fire Department subjected firefighter Jane Draycott to a hostile work environment when it failed to address her complaints of sex discrimination and retaliation. That finding could prove costly to the city of Houston, since Draycott is suing the department.