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

Retaliation

Stick to the facts when firing employee who complained of discrimination

04/01/2008
Employers say the darnedest things at the wrong time. Take, for example, a termination meeting. This is not the time to be defensive and anticipate the employee’s discrimination charges. Instead, stick with the hard facts: why the company has decided that termination is necessary …

All by itself, a lower evaluation score isn’t retaliation

04/01/2008
Nowadays, many employees who file discrimination complaints follow up later with retaliation claims. That doesn’t mean employers have no power to manage the workplace after an employee files a discrimination complaint. The key is to be levelheaded, reasonable and fair, especially at evaluation time. You aren’t required to reward discrimination complaints with inflated evaluations …

Double-Check discharge rationale if employee participated in FLSA action

04/01/2008
Employees who file or participate in an FLSA lawsuit are protected from retaliation. That’s why it’s important to carefully consider any disciplinary action and make certain that the decision is fair, consistent and based on solid business reasons …

FGCU settles age discrimination case

04/01/2008
Florida Gulf Coast University may pay as much as $650,000 to settle an age and gender discrimination lawsuit with Johnny McGaha, former dean of the college of professional studies. When he was demoted to a professorship in 2005, McGaha, 64, said the move was retaliation …

Document timing of employee complaints

04/01/2008
When it comes to retaliation, timing is everything. It’s impossible for an employer to retaliate against an employee for complaining about alleged harassment or discrimination before the employer knows about it. That’s why it’s so important to note for the record the date and the exact time HR or a supervisor got a harassment or discrimination complaint …

Making a frivolous complaint is not protected activity

04/01/2008
When employees file frivolous complaints, it doesn’t count as a protected activity. That means an employee can’t set up his employer by filing a nonsensical discrimination claim and then waiting for some perceived punishment or imagined slight to create a retaliation lawsuit. Courts seem to be catching on to that common practice …

Whistle-Blower protection requires employee’s intent to expose illegality

04/01/2008
Minnesota’s whistle-blower law protects health care workers from retaliation. It is illegal to take adverse employment action against employees who report situations in which the quality of health care services violates a clinical or ethical standard or places the public at risk. But whistle-blowers must intend to expose illegality; it can’t just be in the context of doing their jobs …

Drywall company faces class action suit

04/01/2008
Eight Hispanic workers have filed a class action lawsuit against drywall company Mulcahy Inc., of Mahtomedi, alleging the company paid them less than minimum wage and denied them overtime pay, breaks and health benefits. Because they say they fear retaliation, the workers are suing under the pseudonym “John Doe” …

Springfield to pay officer $150,000 for ongoing discrimination

04/01/2008
The city of Springfield must pay $150,000 to former patrol officer Rickey Davis, who sued the city for discrimination and retaliation. The U.S. District Court, Central District, in Springfield, denied the city’s appeal for a new trial …

Disabled employee must be able to perform

04/01/2008
Chrysler hired Loretta Steward in 1997 as an hourly employee at its Viper plant in Detroit. In October 2004, Chrysler placed Steward on medical restrictions because of hand, shoulder and neck pain. The restrictions, which limited her lifting to 10 pounds or less, prevented Steward from performing her job …