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Firing

Creating an effective blog policy to limit employer liability

10/01/2007

Employment lawyers have been warning for some time that blogs will one day be a volatile issue in the workplace. Recent events show that day has arrived. For example, a member of the Cherokee County, GA, Planning Commission provoked a firestorm of controversy after an online post she made advocated dismantling Israel to achieve peace in the Middle East. The outcry forced her to resign …

Mandating New-Age spirituality at work can trigger an Old-School lawsuit

10/01/2007

While you can encourage employees to follow certain Judeo-Christian values at work, such as cooperation, honesty and kindness, it’s never appropriate to require adherence to a particular religion or religious practices. Even if your organization’s leaders have strong religious beliefs, it must accommodate workers who don’t agree with that stance. That may mean excusing workers from retreats, prayer groups or other religious-based activities …

Act fast to remedy slurs, threats, other outrageous behavior

10/01/2007

It may be the phone call you most dread getting—an employee says the workplace is riddled with hostile behavior, from offensive graffiti in the restroom to racial slurs and innuendo. What’s your first move? Ignoring complaints won’t make them go away. Instead, you need an action plan to deal immediately with the harassment …

Employees have no unilateral right to pick shifts under FMLA

10/01/2007

You no doubt know how hard it is to juggle shifts and schedules to accommodate employees who need FMLA time off. You rely on those employees to tell you as far in advance as possible that they need time off, and then rearrange schedules and workloads to be as accommodating as possible. You can and should be a stickler for getting as much notice as possible. Don’t worry: FMLA doesn’t permit an employee to unilaterally demand you immediately assign him or her to a different schedule …

FMLA and PDA don’t preclude parents from travel

10/01/2007

When it comes to special consideration for parents, the FMLA and the Pregnancy Discrimination Act provide limited protection. Employees expecting a child or with child care responsibilities are entitled to unpaid FMLA leave, and pregnant women can’t be discriminated against because of pregnancy. That doesn’t mean, however, that you can’t require reasonable travel and punish those who refuse if they aren’t taking FMLA leave or don’t have any pregnancy complications that prevent travel …

Confusing work rules can become evidence in court

10/01/2007

When you fire or otherwise discipline an employee for breaking a work rule, can you show he knew about the rule? What about his co-workers and supervisors? Did they interpret the rule the same way? If not, you may have a hard time justifying disciplining one employee for breaking the rule …

NJLAD gives employees two years from discharge to sue for discrimination

10/01/2007

New Jersey law provides more time than federal law for employees to sue their employers for discrimination. The New Jersey Law Against Discrimination (NJLAD) allows employees to make discrimination claims up to two years following termination, longer than under the federal Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. That means employees who miss their EEOC filing deadline for federal claims still can sue under state law …

In New Jersey, even employee’s spouse can bring lawsuit—For indirect damages

10/01/2007

Need another reason to train supervisors and managers not to discriminate? Here’s one: In New Jersey, an employee’s spouse can join in a lawsuit alleging intentional infliction of emotional distress caused by an employer …

‘Association’ with disabled no automatic assurance of leave

10/01/2007

The ADA makes it illegal to discriminate against employees because of their “association” with disabled people. But what about disciplining an employee for taking time off to care for the disabled person? According to a recent Pennsylvania case, that’s perfectly OK—as long as FMLA leave is not involved …

It’s OK to Force Admin Leave Pending Fact-Finding

10/01/2007

Sometimes, serious allegations—possible theft, sexual or racial harassment or violence—surface against employees. How you respond can be crucial to limiting your organization’s liability. The best response may be calling a timeout in the form of administrative leave pending an investigation. You can safely do so without fear that the move will generate even more litigation from a suspected wrongdoer …