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Terminations

Don’t use nepotism policy as smoke screen for bias

04/01/2002
Paul Yancey Sr. began working for the railroad in the 1960s and rose to the position of general maintenance foreman. In 1993, his son, Paul Jr., started working there, too. But …

You don’t have to accommodate bogus religious beliefs

04/01/2002
David Cruz claimed that his religious belief as a Seventh-day Adventist prohibited him from joining a union. He complained to his employer about union practices and was fired at the union’s …

Assume that hostile work environment claims under ADEA will fly

04/01/2002
A collector for a financing firm, who was over 40, complained about age-related remarks made by her manager. Nothing was done and the collector was fired, even though she had received …

Job-bias complaints reach new high

04/01/2002
A rash of recession-induced layoffs in 2001 helped propel job discrimination complaints to their highest level in six years, according to new data from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). …

Health Plan Cancellation Ends Your COBRA Obligation

04/01/2002

Q. Our business recently was forced to implement layoffs—and most remaining employees walked off the job. All were given a COBRA notice, but only one chose to take the coverage. Since this was a group insurance policy and only one person will now be insured, the insurer is cancelling our policy. What’s our responsibility to that ex-employee? —G.B., Texas

Rehiring Is Your Call

04/01/2002

Q. We have a number of Hispanic employees who speak little or no English. One of these employees recently resigned through a Spanish-speaking co-worker acting as interpreter. She quit after we denied a raise because of problems with her timecard. Her mother called and demanded that we rehire her daughter. Are we under any legal obligation to rehire? —W.K., Maryland

A few brief incidents can create ‘pervasive’ harassment

03/01/2002
Three Hispanic men were hired as a house-painting crew for a contractor. Typically, the crew checked into the company’s office for only two minutes to 15 minutes a day, once in …

Ease strict noncompete pacts or risk wrongful discharge claim

03/01/2002
As part of a merger, Aetna U.S. Healthcare required employees to sign an agreement barring them from working for a competitor in the same state for two years or any competitor …

Enforcing Sales Quotas

03/01/2002

Q. As a large retail business, we employ several “demo staffers” who present products to shoppers in the hope they’ll buy them. Recently, given economic pressures, we’ve had to put increasing pressure on our demo staff to increase sales up to 200 percent. If a demo staffer doesn’t meet the new goal, can we terminate her? Do these workers have legal recourse should they be fired? —T.P., California

Gross misconduct gets tougher to prove

03/01/2002
After a Philadelphia school district fired a high-school math teacher for misusing money from the extracurricular activity account, the teacher sued. He claimed, among other things, that the school district refused …