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Retaliation

Transfer worker who needs a fresh start; it’s not retaliation if pay, benefits are equal

07/30/2010

Sometimes, an employee simply isn’t a good fit for a particular job assignment. But if you transfer such employees with a genuine intent to give the person a fresh start—and not a hidden motive of discrimination—you’ll likely survive a legal challenge. Just make sure the new job has similar responsibilities, pay, benefits and working conditions.

Between honesty and discretion, what’s the best approach to reference requests?

07/27/2010
Q. I have a question about providing honest feedback during reference requests. Is it better to defend the fact that I provided a truthful (negative) assessment, rather than trying to explain why I can’t give any reference at all? Aren’t we protected by negligent-referral and reference-immunity laws?

Reading couple sues city for age bias, harassment, retaliation

07/27/2010
Two former Reading Police Department employees who are married to each other have sued the city and several supervisors, claiming age discrimination and harassment and retaliation for complaining about municipal government labor practices.

Informal ERISA complaints aren’t protected

07/27/2010
Recently, the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals had a chance to declare that an informal internal complaint about ERISA-covered benefits might be enough to protect an employee from retaliation. Fortunately for employers, it declined to do so.

Unbiased investigation stops retaliation suits

07/23/2010

Complaining about things like pay disparities and other alleged acts of discrimination doesn’t make an employee immune from discipline. But if the timing between the complaint and the discipline is too close, watch out for a retaliation lawsuit. Make sure that doesn’t happen by setting up a process in which disciplinary recommendations are based on an independent investigation.

Boss threatens retaliation? You can still save the day

07/20/2010
Employers aren’t allowed to retaliate against employees for participating in another employee’s discrimination case. But sometimes supervisors get frustrated and may threaten some form of retaliation. If that happens and you find out about it, act fast. Make sure the threat is never carried out.

Before firing, make sure employee hasn’t made any recent safety complaints

07/15/2010

Minnesota employees who make good-faith reports about safety concerns are protected from retaliation. Before you approve a termination recommendation, make sure the employee hasn’t recently complained about safety issues. If he has, verify that the discharge reasons are genuine. Otherwise, prepare for a retaliation lawsuit.

Just quitting isn’t ‘constructive discharge’

07/13/2010

Some employees have heard through the legal grapevine that if the going gets tough at work, they can just get going. They believe they can up and quit—and then turn around and sue, claiming that they had no choice but to leave because they were suffering retaliation for taking some protected action. This is an example of “constructive discharge.” But conditions have to be pretty onerous before the tactic works.

Thorough investigation is key to defending firing

07/09/2010

If you carefully document wrongdoing, you have very little to fear from a lawsuit—even if you’re wrong. That’s because courts don’t demand perfection from employers—just that they act in good faith.

Use better treatment of class members to counter discrimination lawsuit

07/09/2010

Employees who charge discrimination often have to prove that others outside their protected class were treated more favorably than they were. But what if the employer can show that others belonging to the same protected class got better treatment than the employee who sued? That can often get the case dismissed.