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Terminations

Former USF football coach sues university over firing

05/11/2010
Former University of South Florida football coach Jim Leavitt has sued the university and its foundation, claiming his contract was improperly terminated. Leavitt lost his job last January after allegedly grabbing a football player by the throat and hitting him.

Firing after delivery can still be pregnancy discrimination

05/11/2010
Here’s an employer argument that didn’t work: It couldn’t have been pregnancy discrimination when we fired her because she wasn’t pregnant anymore.

Feel free to discipline or fire if it’s warranted — regardless of employee’s FMLA status

05/11/2010

Thanks to a recent 11th Circuit Court of Appeals decision, it’s now clear that Florida employers can terminate employees who have FMLA leave coming—if they can prove they would have terminated the employee anyway. To prove that, you must be able to produce solid documentation showing that you were indeed going to terminate the employee whether or not she asked for FMLA leave.

When competition might come from within, keep employees honest

05/11/2010
It’s a situation that happens more often than you might think: An employer finds out that one of its employees is preparing to leave and set up her own shop. But is the employer handcuffed, unable to do anything about the upstart competitor because this employee didn’t sign a noncompetition agreement?

Choose one when suing: bias or wrongful termination

05/11/2010
Good news for employers: When an Ohio employee sues for alleged discrimination under state, federal or local anti-discrimination laws, he can’t also add claims that he was wrongly terminated in violation of public policy. The other laws are his sole remedy.

Words no supervisors should ever utter: ‘troublemaker’ and ‘get rid of’

05/11/2010
There is no good reason for any manager or executive to ever use the term “troublemaker” or the phrase “get rid of” in the workplace. No matter whom the comments are directed at, they can easily be interpreted as an excuse for some form of discrimination.

Proposed Ohio law would be tougher than WARN

05/11/2010
A bill before the Ohio Legislature would require employers to provide more notice of mass layoffs than required by current state law or the federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act. The new proposal, H.R. 434, would require employers laying off 25 or more employees to give 90 days’ notice.

Former exec says Goldman Sachs put her on the ‘mommy track’

05/11/2010

Goldman Sachs is getting sued a lot these days … and not just by the SEC. Charlotte Hanna claims the embattled investment bank marginalized her after she had two children, effectively barring her from returning to full-time work as a vice president. In a lawsuit charging violations of the Pregnancy Discrimination Act and the FMLA, Hanna says taking the bank’s offer of an “off ramp” for executives who wanted to have children derailed her career.

Bias unlikely if new worker is same race as former employee

05/11/2010
Employees who allege they were terminated because they belong to a protected class will have a tough time winning the lawsuit if their replacement belongs to the same class—at least when the new hire comes on board before the terminated employee files her EEOC complaint or lawsuit.

12 manager mistakes that spark lawsuits

05/11/2010

Most lawsuits against employers don’t start with some outrageous injustice. More often, a simple management mistake or a perceived slight starts the snowball of discontent rolling downhill toward the courtroom. Here are 12 of the biggest mistakes managers make. They can all lead to litigation—and kill your credibility in court.