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Terminations

Can you pass the constructive discharge test? Beware lawsuits from employees who quit

10/26/2010
Some supervisors wrongly assume that employees who quit can’t sue because they weren’t fired. That’s not true. An employee who finds conditions so intolerable that he or she has no choice but to quit can sue and allege termination. Fortunately, courts expect employees to have relatively thick skins. Workplaces will never be perfect and courts don’t expect them to be.

New employee a dud? Boss who hired should fire

10/26/2010

Someone who harbors animosity against a protected class isn’t likely to hire someone he knows belongs to that protected class. If a manager picks a black man as his preferred candidate for an opening and offers the job, he probably isn’t a racist. If that same manager finds out the new employee isn’t as qualified as he sounded or looked on his résumé, he should be the one to make the termination decision.

Employee became disabled? Adjust expectations

10/15/2010

If a good employee has a sudden medical emergency and returns to work with lingering physical challenges, take his reintegration slowly and with compassion. Now is not the time to push him to perform exactly as he did before he became disabled. Otherwise, you may end up with a disability discrimination lawsuit on your hands.

Know when to settle! Even small jury awards can lead to huge attorneys’ fees

10/15/2010
Need a way to sell a possible lawsuit settlement to managers? Try explaining that even a small jury award can mean having to pay huge attorneys’ fees on the employee’s side, in addition to the company’s own legal costs.

Layoffs looming? OK to consider training participation when deciding who goes

10/15/2010

Like other employers, your organization probably is trying to use employees as efficiently as possible. That may include eliminating some jobs and training employees to pick up additional tasks. You may want to consider creating a cross-training program before deciding which employees to terminate. Those who show a willingness to learn new skills and the ability to perform them well are probably the “keepers” on your staff. Just make sure you offer everyone the same opportunity to learn.

Collect ample evidence of wrongdoing before firing military vet covered by USERRA

10/15/2010

USERRA provides returning soldiers, sailors and other service personnel with additional employment rights that other employees don’t always enjoy. One of those is the right to remain employed unless fired for just cause. In effect, USERRA temporarily turns what were once at-will employees into employees with job protection.

Fitness-for-duty exams: When can they be used?

10/15/2010
We’ve all tussled with sending employees to fitness-for-duty exams when returning from an injury or illness. When are they the right decision? When do they create liability? As this case shows, it’s best to let the doctor make the right call …

Pinellas uniform company to try on age-bias suit

10/13/2010

Fifteen former employees of a Pinellas uniform company have filed suit against the company, claiming its latest rounds of job cuts violated the Age Discrimination in Employment Act. In a combination of outsourcing and downsizing, Superior Uniform shipped some jobs to El Salvador and eliminated positions at its plant in Seminole.

Good-faith treatment for all is good policy, and good protection against lawsuits, too

10/12/2010

Employees who claim they have been discriminated against typically have to show that their employers singled them out for poor treatment because of a protected characteristic. It’s easy for employers to counter that if they can show they always act in good faith. The best way to do that is to apply the rules equally to every employee.

Handle firing with care if employee has complained about alleged corporate wrongdoing

10/12/2010

Employers that want to terminate employees who have complained about pressure to engage in criminal activity must make sure the termination process is flawless. It’s especially important to be able to articulate in very concrete terms an underlying, legitimate reason for the firing—one that can’t be mistaken as a pretext for getting rid of a troublemaker.