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Terminations

Head-Office decision won’t insulate company from liability

08/01/2006

Don’t think that leaving the final firing decision to someone in company headquarters will shield your organization from a discrimination lawsuit. Even if the ultimate decision-maker doesn’t know the race, sex or age of the employee in question, the fired employee can still file a discrimination claim if he or she can point to lower-level bias that tainted the decision …

Be on guard for often-Overlooked ‘Associated with’ claims

08/01/2006

A frequently disregarded ADA provision often catches employers by surprise. The ADA, which prohibits discrimination of disabled people at work, also bans discrimination against employees because they "associate with" someone who is disabled …

Handling ‘No-Match’ letters: Heed new DHS guidance

08/01/2006

Under the Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA), employers must verify the employment eligibility of all new hires within three days of the date of employment. Both employer and employee must sign an I-9 form that lists the identifying documents the employee presented to verify his or her eligibility. The law is now enforced by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) …

Consider access to personnel file even if not required

08/01/2006

Q. We fired an employee based on an eyewitness account of theft. We documented that report and put it in the ex-employee’s personnel file. That person has now hired an attorney and asked to see the file. We feel that we have no obligation to respond. Do we have to turn it over without a subpoena? —E. I.  

Layoffs: Walk a fine line to avoid age-Bias laws

08/01/2006

Q. We’re a small business (just eight employees) and haven’t laid anyone off. But business is slow and we need to restructure. We have an employee who has worked here part time (12 hours per week) for 25 years. She is 65 years old. We have one other part-timer (10 hours per week) who has worked here just one year. We’d like to lay off both part-time employees and keep the full-time employees. Can we do that? —P.U., Georgia

Subjective fear of discipline no reason to quit

08/01/2006

To make a "constructive discharge" claim, employees must show that their working conditions were so intolerable that they had no choice but to quit and that those conditions amounted to discrimination based on age, race, sex or some other protected characteristic. But, as a new ruling shows, an employee’s subjective "fear of future discipline" isn’t grounds for a lawsuit under this constructive-discharge theory …

Have an Affirmative Action Plan? Protect Against Reverse-Bias Claims

07/01/2006

In the HR world, your actions sometimes fall into the “damned if you do, damned if you don’t” category. This is one of those cases …

Placing Employee on ‘Involuntary’ FMLA Leave Is Perfectly Legal

07/01/2006

When an employee calls in sick with an apparently serious ailment, you can place that employee on FMLA leave, even if he or she never asks. f you reasonably believe she has a serious health condition, you can start the 12-week FMLA-leave clock ticking …

Equal treatment is absolutely essential after employee’s complaint

07/01/2006

It may seem patently obvious, but judging from the number of lawsuits alleging retaliation these days, many employers still don’t understand the importance of equal treatment following a complaint …

THREE CHAMPAGNE BOTTLES … TWO DIFFERENT PENALTIES

07/01/2006

Q. Two employees went to breakfast and drank three bottles of champagne to celebrate one’s birthday. One employee is an exempt employee who has been with us for seven years. The other is an hourly employee with the company for one month. I’d like to treat them differently: terminate the hourly employee and suspend the exempt employee for a week. Is that possible? —D.M., California