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Retaliation

Best Buy settles age bias suit claiming it favors younger workers

09/19/2008

Best Buy recently agreed to settle an age discrimination lawsuit with the EEOC that accused the company of failing to hire a 68-year-old applicant because of his age. Under the terms of the agreement, Best Buy will pay $17,500 to Reinhold Schouweiler on whose behalf the EEOC filed suit in 2007 …

Take responsibility for preventing harassment, discrimination

09/18/2008

It isn’t enough to fix discrimination and end harassment when you find out about it. Under California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) your organization has a duty to prevent it …

Another worry when complaints get to court: Retaliation may be criminal conspiracy

09/15/2008
Here’s another thing to worry about when an employee testifies on behalf of someone suing the company: Retaliating against that employee by punishing him with additional or new work requirements or a poor evaluation may lead to federal criminal conspiracy charges …

Independent review can catch retaliation

09/15/2008
Cynthia Morrison, who had worked for 17 years as an emergency room registrar, sued for age discrimination and retaliation. A lower court dismissed her discrimination claim, but sent the retaliation claim to the jury, which awarded Morrison $115,000. But the hospital appealed and won …

Did old rap sheet lead to firing and another appearance in court?

09/12/2008
Sometimes it takes awhile for a company to find out how well an employee is going to work out. For example, it took Guardian Alarm Company of Michigan 21 years to figure out that Ronald Schocker wasn’t a good fit. Now a judge has said, “Wait a minute!”

Employ commercial drivers? They have special protection

09/10/2008
Commercial drivers are protected from retaliation if they refuse to operate their vehicles in violation of U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) safety rules that restrict the number of hours they may drive without resting. Firing or demoting someone for refusing to break those rules may be retaliation …

Title VII doesn’t protect employees who complain about discrimination against customers

09/10/2008
Employees who complain about co-worker or management discrimination against employees are protected from retaliation under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. But what about employees who complain to management that their co-workers may be discriminating against customers? Are they protected from retaliation, too? Not in Illinois …

Must we turn over personnel records that might compromise an investigation?

09/10/2008

Q. A former supervisor is the subject of an ongoing sexual harassment and retaliation investigation. He is asking to view his personnel records. The records contain the details of the retaliation complaint. Does he have the right to review his own personnel file? …

Focus on facts when promoting; avoid subjective ‘Better qualified’ justification

09/09/2008
Internal promotions are tricky. Supervisors usually try to choose between two or three known candidates—subordinates with whom they have worked with day in and day out. It’s tempting, then, to choose the employee who seems the most cooperative and the best team player. Resist that temptation …

Investigate before disciplining harassment victim

09/08/2008

Sometimes, an HR internal investigation reveals that, although harassment occurred, it didn’t rise to the level of illegal harassment. Don’t let that finding lull you into ignoring the complaint—and certainly don’t allow anyone to punish the person who complained …