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Terminations

Terminating without giving a specific reason? Document rationale for the record, regardless

04/06/2011

Many employers don’t like to provide specific reasons for firing someone. Instead, they simply tell the employee that he is being terminated from his at-will employment. Don’t take that as an excuse not to document the reason you are terminating the employee.

Jury awards $900,000 in age discrimination case

03/31/2011
A 30-year veteran at University Hospitals in Cleveland has won an age discrimination case in Cuyahoga County court. Gloria Parks argued that her supervisor blamed her for the mistakes of two younger co-workers because he favored young, female workers.

Ohio Supreme Court refuses to hear false ticket case

03/31/2011
Beth Rist, former Ironton police officer and current Ironton City Council member, appears to have exhausted her legal appeals in her battle to return to uniform. The Ohio Supreme Court has declined to hear her case.

Insubordinate worker? Fire away knowing court probably won’t second-guess

03/31/2011

Employees are expected to follow directions and treat their supervisors with respect. Employees who lose their tempers or refuse to follow legitimate directions are insubordinate. That means you can terminate them, a decision courts will rarely second-guess.

Overly sensitive employee or bully boss? Trust instincts to determine who’s right

03/31/2011

Sometimes, HR professionals have to make judgment calls about who is telling the truth. In fact, just about every workplace investigation requires assessing the credibility of employees, co-workers and managers who disagree about what happened. Take, for example, an employee who complains about a supervisor’s harassment or hostility.

Chestnut Hill College fires professor-priest for being gay

03/29/2011

It seems administrators at Philadelphia’s Chestnut Hill College didn’t know one of their employees as well as they thought they did. The Rev. James St. George had been teaching Bible studies, theology and justice courses at the Catholic college since 2009. When St. George wrote in a blog posting that he is gay, the college fired him.

Be sure documentation clearly shows rule breaking

03/29/2011
Employees who are terminated often look for some underlying, illegal reason and sue. Smart employers focus on documenting clear rule violations that justify termination decisions.

Remind bosses: No negative talk about working moms

03/29/2011
When a young mother begins missing work, a manager may think she isn’t taking her career seriously enough. Expressing that sentiment may provoke your employee to sue.

Document why you fired worker, even in cases where rationale seems crystal clear

03/29/2011

Often, you have to fire employees for reasons that seem painfully obvious. Don’t let that stop you from carefully documenting the decision. The fact is, you never know which employee will sue or what she will claim.

Be patient if worker alleges minor harassment

03/29/2011

Employers have an obligation to prevent sexual harassment and to end it when it does occur. But many times, what a thin-skinned employee considers harassment isn’t actually serious enough to rise to that level. When that happens, smart employers exercise patience. They understand the very real danger of winning a sexual harassment case but losing the retaliation case that follows.