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Terminations

Draft bulletproof waiver deals with 6 court-approved benchmarks

05/01/2002
Courtney Melanson suffered two years of unwanted sexual advances by her supervisor at Browning-Ferris Industries (BFI). She took medical leave due to the stress and, when she returned, BFI assigned her …

Employee’s resignation stops your FMLA obligation

05/01/2002

Q. One of our managers resigned a month ago, but she applied for FMLA leave a day before her resignation. Are we under any obligation to return her to a position she resigned from? Are we obligated to offer her a job when FMLA expires? —T.K., Massachusetts

Don’t refuse to pay commission just because salesperson quits

04/01/2002
Timothy McCabe worked as a sales rep and was paid a salary plus commissions. He resigned after a year-and-a-half, but he didn’t collect some $32,000 in commissions owed him for sales …

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 …