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Terminations

No free attorneys for employees who sue

12/24/2008

If anything would add to the avalanche of employment suits already burying employers in litigation, it would be providing free legal counsel to employees who sue. Fortunately, at least one federal court hearing a New Jersey case has nixed the idea.

NJLAD allows personal liability for aiding and abetting

12/24/2008

Supervisors and managers, take note: You may be personally liable for aiding and abetting discrimination that is illegal under the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination.

OK to suspend employee who has been arrested if alleged violation would compromise safety

12/24/2008

Being arrested for a crime is not the same as being convicted. After all, citizens are innocent until proven guilty, and many arrests never result in convictions. But the presumption of innocence doesn’t mean employers can’t suspend employees who have been charged with crimes—if those alleged crimes may affect their ability to do their jobs.

Fired for tape recording, woman gets day in court

12/24/2008

A woman who was fired for allegedly secretly recording a conversation she had with a supervisor about harassment can still sue for sexual harassment, a federal court has ruled. It did not matter that secretly recording conversations may be a crime in Pennsylvania.

Theater company to pay $162,000 for sexual harassment

12/24/2008

The Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission has ordered Plum Entertainment, a New Hope theater production company, to pay $162,000 to Sharon Sheridan, a former personal assistant who claimed she was fired for complaining about sexual harassment.

State requests worker aid, passes stimulus bills

12/24/2008

Gov. Jon Corzine joined the governors of Connecticut and New York to request a $48 million grant for displaced financial workers from U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao.

Business is booming lately—at state unemployment offices

12/24/2008

The financial meltdown has spelled job creation for one office: The Pennsylvania unemployment hotline recently hired 132 additional staffers.

Can employees plead the Fifth Amendment during an investigative interview?

12/18/2008

Q. Our company recently discovered some theft in our operation. We called an employee in for an investigative interview. He claimed to have consulted with an attorney and refused to answer our questions on the grounds that he could not be forced to incriminate himself under the Fifth Amendment. What are our choices?

When does ‘I quit’ mean ‘Help, I’m disabled’?

12/18/2008

If you know an employee is suffering from depression, don’t be so quick to accept his or her hasty resignation, a new court ruling shows. Instead, you may need to identify this person as “disabled” under the ADA and, therefore, engage in an interactive process to find a work accommodation.

No charges, but woman loses 2 jobs after bridge collapse

12/15/2008

Ramsey County prosecutors declined to file felony theft charges against Sonia Pitt, former director of homeland security and emergency management at the Minnesota Department of Transportation, finding her conduct in the wake of the deadly I-35W bridge collapse objectionable, but not criminal.