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Terminations

When worried about religious accommodation, keep lines of communication open

12/22/2010
Employers are supposed to accommodate all religions and their practices when reasonable. If you don’t train managers to handle accommodation requests with dignity, you may find yourself facing a religious discrimination lawsuit.

Remind bosses: Reference check calls go to HR

12/22/2010
If your managers and supervisors respond to reference calls by offering negative information, a lawsuit is probably coming. That’s why the best practice is to refer all calls for reference checks to HR. Then, only provide the most basic information.

Bergen hospital nurse claims retaliation after reporting abuse

12/21/2010
Mary Louise Doyle, a nurse fired from the Bergen Regional Medical Center, has filed suit against her former employer, claiming she lost her job in retaliation for exposing improper practices at the hospital.

N.J. Supreme Court backs former HR exec who copied documents

12/21/2010

The New Jersey Supreme Court has handed disgruntled employees a big weapon to use against their employers. The court ruled that Joyce Quinlan was within her rights to photocopy company documents—some of which were confidential—to use in a lawsuit against Curtiss-Wright, the aerospace company where she once served as executive director of human resources.

Worker back from FMLA? Beware making job changes

12/21/2010
After an employee returns from FMLA leave, seemingly minor changes to his job can spell trouble. That’s especially true if the employee can show that a supervisor’s attitude toward him changed at that time.

With good reason, it’s OK to fire upon return from FMLA

12/21/2010
Don’t be afraid to terminate employees who have just returned from FMLA leave—as long as you have good reasons that are unrelated to the FMLA.

Temp better than employee? Terminate with care

12/21/2010
Sometimes, work actually goes better when a temp replaces an employee who’s out on leave. You might even think about keeping the temp and dumping the incumbent. Watch out!

Feel free to punish boorish misconduct, even if employee blames it on disability

12/21/2010

Disabled employees sometimes think they can use their medical conditions to get away with misbehavior. That’s not true. Employers can and should punish behavior that is disruptive, wrong or breaks company rules, even if that behavior may be tangentially related to a disability of some sort.

Terminated employees staging protest? Consider suing to force them to stop

12/21/2010
Here’s a bit of good news for employers that must terminate some of their employees because the IRS says their Social Security numbers are invalid. If they stage an unfair protest against their firings, you can sue them to stop.

Cooperation, patience can stop ADA claims

12/21/2010

Sometimes, supposedly disabled employees try to play their employers by piling on new, incessant demands for reasonable ADA accommodations. For better or worse, it’s often best to just go along, especially if the accommodation won’t cost much. It could keep you out of court.