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

Retaliation

Former Minn. health department official claims retaliation

08/08/2018
A former director of the Minnesota health department’s health regulation division has filed a lawsuit claiming she was fired in retaliation for complaining internally about a culture of bullying and intimidation at the department.

Reorganization can justify termination decision

08/06/2018
Courts are naturally suspicious when employees who have filed lawsuits end up getting fired. But when an employer can explain that someone lost her job because of a valid business reason, courts seldom second-guess that decision.

Reasonable accommodation could be called retaliation

08/02/2018
If you accommodate a disabled employee, but the accommodation winds up adversely affecting the employee instead, you could get sued for retaliation.

Five women leave Harrisburg, Pa. TV station in four months

08/01/2018
Harrisburg television station WHTM ABC27 is the target of a Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission complaint that alleges Robert Bee, the station’s general manager, created a hostile work environment for women.

Regular safety complaints could spell legal trouble

08/01/2018
Be careful if a worker files a steady stream of safety complaints. If those complaints are followed by an accident or incident and the worker is disciplined for something seemingly unrelated, he may still be able to make a whistleblower complaint.

Long gap between complaint and discharge kills case

07/30/2018
Employees who engage in protected activity such as complaining about alleged discrimination are protected from retaliation for doing so. But that protection doesn’t last forever.

Prepare to turn over disciplinary records if employee files a discrimination lawsuit

07/18/2018
When an employee sues for alleged discrimination, he or she is generally entitled to access all relevant employer documents. If you disciplined the employee, chances are you will have to turn over disciplinary records concerning other staff. Don’t expect to keep those records confidential.

Appeals court upholds state agency’s award

07/13/2018
A New York appeals court has upheld a damage award the New York State Division of Human Rights granted to three women who complained that their employer had allowed sexual harassment and retaliation for their complaints.

Not all unwanted touching is harassment

07/12/2018
Workers who sue for harassment must still provide evidence that the motivation for the touching was somehow related to sex and not just part of a pattern of nonsexual touching meted out to everyone, male, female, heterosexual or gay.

Public-policy exception means at-will status doesn’t always apply

07/10/2018
A federal court interpreting Pennsylvania law has concluded that firing a worker for calling in a complaint to OSHA provides protection under the public-policy exception.