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

Firing

Make firing decisions locally so possible lawsuit can’t morph into something larger

06/11/2009

Here’s added incentive to handle terminations and other employment actions at the local level. When employees sue, their attorneys often look to expand the lawsuit beyond one person. They’re trying to find larger patterns of discrimination. This strategy can sometimes succeed if higher-ups in the company made the decision and based it on a common policy or framework.

Good news: Courts open to attorneys’ fees for employers

06/11/2009

Since employees get attorneys’ fees when a court determines employers violated their rights, it seems reasonable that employers should get attorneys’ fees when they have to waste time and money on frivolous litigation. It turns out some courts are beginning to entertain such requests.

Should we contest? Fired for poor work, former employee now wants unemployment

06/11/2009

Q. After repeatedly warning an employee about her poor performance, we recently terminated her. At the termination meeting, she complained for the first time that she felt she’d been held to higher standards based on her gender. She has now filed for unemployment benefits. While we don’t think she’s entitled to the benefits, we wonder whether it makes sense to fight her claim. What do you think?

How to handle habitually late workers

06/09/2009

Employers expect employees to get to work on time. Occasional problems with traffic or family issues sometimes make employees late. But chronic tardiness is another thing altogether. While most employers track tardiness occurrences, they should do more. How?

Asked to enforce civility, court demurs

06/08/2009

Courts don’t want to become micromanagers. Employers still get to decide how supervisors should treat subordinates, as long as they’re not biased and their behavior doesn’t cross the line into harassment.

Tell bosses: Sexist comments can come back to haunt you

06/08/2009

If you haven’t recently reminded supervisors to keep anti-female comments to themselves, here’s a recent case
you can cite. Such comments will be viewed as direct evidence of discrimination. That practically guarantees a lawsuit if the employee is ever fired.

When can a Florida state agency terminate an employee for ‘disloyalty’?

06/08/2009

Q. Our state agency’s board is considering terminating a legal secretary who seems to have been a supporter of one of our attorneys who was discharged for both performance problems and being disloyal to our board. We understand that, under the patronage dismissal doctrine, we can terminate employees who supported the political opponent of our agency’s elective head. Can the board likewise discharge the legal secretary for her seeming disloyalty?

OK to fire a bankrupt financial manager? We fear his ineptitude will chase customers away

06/08/2009

Q. One of our financial managers has filed for bankruptcy, and our directors now want to terminate him because they doubt his financial judgment. They’re also worried that customers will react negatively to the news that one of our finance people is going bankrupt. Can we lawfully discharge him?

Always investigate harassment before firing

06/05/2009

If you have ever been tempted to fire an alleged harasser just because you suspected the alleged victim might sue, consider this: The 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals has concluded that fear of being sued is no excuse for firing a suspected harasser without investigating.

State pays $300,000 to the photographer Paterson fired

06/05/2009

When Gov. David Paterson was Senate minority leader in 2003, he fired a white photographer and replaced him with a less qualified black one. Now the state has agreed to settle the original photographer’s lawsuit for $300,000 while admitting no wrongdoing.