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New York

Set objective criteria for who loses job in layoff

08/05/2021

Use objective standards to decide who will stay or go during a reduction in force. That helps eliminate the chance that bias will taint the RIF process and trigger an employee lawsuit.

Advice to ‘put on big girl panties’ backfires

06/24/2021

When fielding a workplace harassment complaint, it may be tempting to suggest the alleged victim try to resolve the matter herself instead of filing a full-blown complaint with HR. That’s a terrible idea.

Stamp out supervisors’ racist behavior, racist slurs

12/03/2020

Make sure every supervisor understands that you do not tolerate any form of racism on the job, including use of racial slurs. Employers often pay dearly when bigotry rears its ugly head at work.

Class-action claims bias in coronavirus response

11/25/2020

As the coronavirus continues to wreak havoc in workplaces, a trickle of lawsuits that began in the spring has turned into a raging torrent. Lawyers are finding novel ways to litigate safety decisions employers made months ago, before the impact of the virus was as well understood as it is now.

Discover harassment by boss? Act ASAP

10/15/2020

There is almost no way for an employer to defend against an employee’s claim that she was the victim of quid pro quo sexual harassment by a supervisor. The threat of discipline or termination unless a subordinate agrees to have sex with the boss is usually a slam-dunk win for an employee who sues.

EEOC amending lawsuits to add LGBT bias

09/10/2020

Since the U.S. Supreme Court’s Bostock v. Clayton County ruling, employers are discovering that pending EEOC lawsuits involving lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender employees have suddenly been expanded. Here’s how that played out for one employer that ultimately decided to settle.

Religion must be accommodated, not trivialized

07/28/2020

Remind all supervisors that unless a religious need unduly burdens business operations, they must accommodate employee beliefs.

Beware suits from staff who know your shortcomings

06/25/2020

Widespread protests calling for an end to systemic racism have caught the attention of corporate America.

Be alert for persistent racist threat: nooses

06/18/2020

The EEOC and plaintiff’s lawyers routinely sue employers that ignore racially hostile work environments. Those suits are almost impossible to beat if harassment takes the form of racist epithets and symbols such as nooses.

Ditch existing accommodation at your peril

04/02/2020

If a disabled employee has successfully used a simple, informal accommodation for years, don’t summarily make him stop without discussing the decision. In fact, before removing any accommodation, you must engage in the ADA’s interactive reasonable accommodation process.