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Terminations

Make sure documentation tells complete story of terminated worker’s conduct

01/28/2011

Employees who are fired don’t have much to lose by suing their former employer. And once they start talking to a lawyer, they often suddenly “remember” all kinds of terrible things their co-workers and supervisors did. Counter revisionist employee hindsight with good documentation of every interaction leading up to the termination.

New hire’s skills and pay top ex-employee’s? Justify based on business needs

01/28/2011

Judges see a lot. It’s usually pretty easy for them to figure out when an employer is trying to use “the lousy economy” as a pretext to discriminate against an employee. But judges are also good at recognizing when discrimination hasn’t been a factor in an employment decision.

If fear is a factor, fire threatening employee

01/28/2011

It’s a legitimate workplace fear: Someone with emotional or mental problems will act out against co-workers. Sometimes, the consequences are deadly. Most of the time, threats of violence are just words. But words are enough to justify firing an employee who expresses intent to do harm, because of the fear that it instills in others.

No litigating related claims in separate venues

01/28/2011
The Court of Appeal of California has ruled that employees can’t pursue related claims in different forums at the same time.

When new employee quits, know the legal way to recoup your training costs

01/28/2011

It’s expensive to train employees, especially if the job is highly specialized. Smart employers protect their investments by having new employees sign an agreement to repay training costs if they leave soon after receiving the valuable benefit. Here’s how to recoup those costs.

Do we owe STD benefits to employee who has been terminated after FMLA leave expires?

01/26/2011
Q. Our policy is to run FMLA leave and short-term disability (STD) concurrently. The FMLA is for 12 weeks of job-protected leave. STD is for 26 weeks, with proper medical documentation. Can we terminate an employee at the end of 12 weeks, when FMLA leave is exhausted? And, if so, do we end STD payments, since the employee has been terminated?

Is there a ‘cooling off’ period for layoffs?

01/26/2011
Q. Is there a law that says we must abide by a 45-day waiting period between the time employees are told they’ll be laid off until they receive the severance payment? My supervisor said it’s called a cooling-off period. Is this a federal law?

Crothall Healthcare settles pregnancy discrimination claim

01/26/2011
Wayne-based Crothall Healthcare will pay more than $88,000 to settle a pregnancy discrimination claim brought on behalf of an employee working in Arkansas.

PHA head is gone, but trail of lawsuits lingers on

01/26/2011
When the Philadelphia Housing Authority’s board of directors fired Executive Director Carl Greene, board members probably thought the move would end the serial litigation that marked his tenure. Wrong. Press reports last year linked Greene to a series of sexual harassment cases that—along with allegations of mismanagement—led to his firing last year …

Sick employee riffed? Beware ERISA lawsuit

01/26/2011
Employees fired because they might drive up health care costs can probably sue under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), which governs many employee benefits.