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Terminations

Progressive discipline: How to apply a fair, firm policy

01/01/2007

While no federal or state law requires you to create and follow a progressive discipline policy, courts often come down hard on employers that promise progressive discipline but fail to deliver it …

Use unemployment comp decision to defend a bias lawsuit

01/01/2007

Here’s another good reason to aggressively contest unemployment compensation claims when you have strong evidence that the company fired the employee for a good cause (such as lying or stealing): You can use an unemployment compensation ruling to prove, in a later discrimination lawsuit, that you fired an employee for a valid, nondiscriminatory reason …

You Needn’t Accommodate Some ‘Serious’ Ailments

01/01/2007

While the ADA says organizations must provide reasonable accommodations to people with qualifying disabilities, be aware that many apparently serious conditions aren’t limiting enough to be considered disabilities …

EEOC sues modeling school over firing of pregnant director

01/01/2007

The EEOC recently filed a lawsuit against Barbizon School of Modeling of Atlanta for firing a director five days after she gave birth. The former director, who worked at its Macon location, claims Barbizon terminated her because of her pregnancy …

‘Sexist attitude’ isn’t direct evidence of discrimination

01/01/2007

To support sex discrimination lawsuits, employees must do more than claim their supervisor had a “sexist attitude.” Without more proof of job-related impact, complaints about supervisors with attitude aren’t enough direct evidence …

Homeland Security’s Miami office to pay $2.5 million in bias lawsuit

01/01/2007

When it comes to discrimination laws, you’d think the federal government would know the rules. Yet a jury recently ordered the U.S. Homeland Security Department to pay $2.5 million to a former employee in a bias lawsuit …

Florida Workers’ Comp Law: What Is ‘Maximum Medical Improvement’?

01/01/2007

Even though Florida’s workers’ compensation (WC) system includes many safeguards to protect against abuse, you must still stay on top of cases to ensure that you pay only legitimate benefits …

Davis Vision loses NY contract; unions concerned about job cuts

01/01/2007

After 23 years, New York-based Davis Vision has lost its contract to provide vision benefits to state employees …

In layoffs, keep FMLA leave out of performance rankings

01/01/2007

Employees are not immune from layoffs simply because they’ve taken FMLA leave in the past (or are currently out on FMLA leave). But when analyzing performance to determine which employees to lay off, keep FMLA leave days out of the decision …

Review your severance packages; EEOC tightening scrutiny

12/01/2006

When employers offer severance packages, they often ask employees to waive their rights to sue the employer. That’s a smart strategy, but small discrepancies in the agreement’s wording can make the difference between a successful severance package and a call from the EEOC …