• The HR Specialist - Print Newsletter
  • HR Specialist: Employment Law
  • The HR Weekly
Connection failed: SQLSTATE[HY000] [2002] No such file or directory

Louisiana

Avoid preconceptions about what disabled employees can and cannot do

04/16/2019
Stick to the tasks you’ve identified as essential. Don’t change the list of essential job functions based on what you think you know about the disability.

Reasonable accommodation offered and refused? You have met your ADA obligations

04/16/2019
If it’s clear there’s no reasonable accommodation that will allow the worker to perform his present job, then the employer is free to offer another position he can perform, even if it pays less. If the worker refuses the offer, then he has ended the interactive process.

Warning letter doesn’t count as retaliation

04/15/2019
Retaliation must include an adverse employment action such as termination, demotion or some other substantial and negative action like transfer to an undesirable shift. A mere letter of warning doesn’t rise to the required level of adversity.

Respect the results of outside investigations into complaints

03/26/2019
Be prepared to honor the findings of outside investigators you hire to get to the bottom of internal complaints. Accept the results and act immediately to remedy the situation.

Workers’ comp: What happens in Texas stays in Texas

03/06/2019
Employees claiming retaliation for making a workers’ compensation claim in Texas can’t make a federal case out of it. Such claims must be heard in state courts.

Is that hate speech … or merely offensive?

03/06/2019
When it comes to offensive speech at work, context matters. Simply put, some terms have a history as expressions of racial hatred and bigotry. Therefore, they’re always inappropriate. However, other terms are not so fraught with hatred; they are just offensive.

Light duty for pregnant employees? Not if you don’t offer it to other disabled workers

03/06/2019
Pregnant employees are entitled to light-duty assignments if the employer allows other disabled employees to be assigned to temporary light-duty positions. But what if no such work is available?

Watch 180-day deadline for complaints under Texas Commission on Human Rights Act

02/12/2019
Employees alleging discrimination under the Texas Commission on Human Rights Act have 180 days from the date of the last discriminatory act to file complaints with either the Texas Commission on Human Rights or the EEOC.

Prepare to show you would have disciplined even if employee wasn’t a whistleblower

01/22/2019
Sometimes, an employee may decide to take revenge if she perceives she has been unfairly disciplined. If she does so by becoming a whistleblower, she may believe that protects her from eventual termination. That’s not true if the employer can persuade a court it would have disciplined or fired her whether she reported alleged wrongdoing or not.

Court discovers deception, tosses out previous decision

12/04/2018
Here’s a rare case in which a court reversed a ruling that favored an employee because he had deceived his former employer.