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Firing

React quickly to employee threats; don’t be wedded to discipline policy

12/01/2001
The Illinois toll authority settled Robert Merheb’s discrimination charge by giving him a new job. The agreement also said that if Merheb committed any infraction, the employer would follow its progressive …

Don’t pull punches; fire when necessary

11/01/2001
The Cook County, Ill., Sheriff’s Department fired Harriet Rizzo when it discovered that she didn’t have a high school diploma as required, and she had lied about it on her job …

Notify staff how you count FMLA year

10/01/2001
Managers at America West warned Penny Bachelder that her attendance was a problem. She had taken lots of time off in the previous two years under the Family and Medical Leave …

Doc’s opinion alone isn’t enough

10/01/2001
Larry Jackson’s doctor cleared him to return to work without restrictions following his triple bypass surgery. His employer, DBM Technologies, initially assigned him …

Close ties with arbitrator can unbind decision

10/01/2001
Prudential fired Alex Montez four months into his job as a senior vice president after it found he had misrepresented something on his job application. But one issue prevented a clean …

Heterosexuals also protected.

10/01/2001
A secretary for the Metropolitan Opera’s stage director filed a discrimination suit, saying her boss subjected her to a hostile environment and fired her because she isn’t a homosexual. The New …

Raise Doesn’t Prove Employee Was Succeeding

10/01/2001

Q. About three months ago, we gave a marginal employee who is pregnant a pay raise in hopes that it would improve her job performance by boosting her morale. Unfortunately, her performance has gone from bad to worse. If we fire her for poor performance, can she successfully argue that the recent raise indicates that she was performing well and that our reason for terminating her was discriminatory? —H.K., Illinois

Put ‘unwritten rules’ in writing

09/01/2001
Interstate Brands Corp. had an unwritten policy that required a doctor’s note to confirm all absences caused by a work-related injury. When Cynthia Bausman didn’t produce …

Once you accommodate disabled, proving ‘hardship’ gets tougher

09/01/2001
When Larry Skerski began working as a cable technician, about half his job involved climbing ladders, poles and towers. But a decade into his job, he developed a panic disorder when …

Small, but vital, function of a job may make it ‘essential’ under ADA

09/01/2001
Job descriptions at Northern States Power Co. make it an “essential function” for customer service reps to handle emergency calls like gas leaks and downed power lines. Loretta Emerson handled …