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Terminations

Employees convicted of crimes? You can treat them differently

06/30/2011

Employers have a tough call to make if an employee lands a short jail sentence. Discharging the worker may be the best option. But leniency may be more appropriate in other situations. If you can explain why you treated convicted employees differently, you should be legally OK.

OK to fire worker who has taken FMLA leave–but you had better be prepared to explain why

06/30/2011
Courts are suspicious when em­ployees who have recently returned from FMLA leave are suddenly fired. Yet, chances are you will at some point have to terminate an employee following FMLA leave. Just make sure you can explain why, backed up by solid and contemporaneous documentation.

Ohio Supreme Court fills gap for those fired after injury, but before filing for workers’ comp

06/30/2011
The Supreme Court of Ohio has just created a new avenue for at-will employees who are discharged and want to claim their firing violates public policy. In the following case, the court ruled that employees who are fired after reporting an on-the-job injury but before they have a chance to file a workers’ compensation claim can sue for wrongful discharge in violation of public policy.

Truck driver files race suit against Alice energy company

06/30/2011
A former employee of Texas Energy Service is suing the company under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, alleging it fired him because he is black.

‘Pops’ sues for discrimination after firing

06/30/2011
An East Texas sales manager who claims he was fired while lower-performing, younger employees kept their jobs has filed an age discrimination suit against his former employer, Sagemcom Communications USA. He also accuses his boss of calling him “pops,” “old timer” and other derogatory names.

How to avoid ‘at-will’ legal limbo: Have attorney prepare employment contracts

06/30/2011

Here’s a case that shows you can’t have it both ways. A Texas appeals court has concluded that an employer can’t enforce an employment contract against an employee when that contract specifies that the employee remains an at-will employee.

Think twice before setting ‘English-only’ rule; courts view complaints as protected activity

06/30/2011
Don’t try to prevent employees from speaking languages other than Eng­lish at work, especially when they’re chatting among themselves. Unless you have a good business reason for banning other languages, courts will likely see the practice as discriminatory.

Voodoo a religion? Texas HHS about to find out

06/30/2011
A former employee of the Texas Health and Human Services Com­mis­sion has accused the state agency of retaliation and discrimination on the basis of her religion—voodoo.

Layoff OK after FMLA leave–with justification

06/30/2011
Employees who take FMLA leave don’t get greater protection from layoffs than employees who don’t take leave. As long as you can show that you would have eliminated a job even if the employee had not taken FMLA leave, the termination is fine.

Whistle-blowers win big in New Jersey Supreme Court

06/28/2011
The New Jersey Supreme Court has delivered a powerful blow to New Jersey employers that find themselves in the crosshairs of a Conscientious Employee Protection Act lawsuit. It ruled in June that whistle-blowers who suffer retaliation that causes psychological damage can collect lost wages—even if they weren’t fired, but quit instead.