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Terminations

When performance slips, don’t let past good reviews affect decision-making

01/01/2013

Some employees do well for years, only to have their performance slip. There may come a time when you have to let the employee go. But what about all those glowing evaluations from years past? If you can prove that the employee’s performance has genuinely declined, those earlier evaluations won’t cause any trouble in court.

Employee passed test? He’s probably ‘qualified’

12/30/2012

For an employee to win a dis­crimination lawsuit, he has to show that he was qualified for the job he held. Some employers assume that if they disciplined the employee for poor performance, that proves he wasn’t qualified. But a court might not see it that way if you trained and tested him before putting him to work.

SOX doesn’t protect safety whistle-blowers

12/19/2012
A federal court in North Carolina has refused to add another legal avenue disgruntled employees can use to sue. The court said even after recent amendments that expanded the scope of the law, the Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) Act doesn’t protect whistle-blowers who report what they believe are serious safety violations at work.

Is job-hunting a firing offense?

12/18/2012

Q. It has come to my attention that one of our managers has posted his résumé on an online job board. Is it legal to ask him if he is actively looking for another job? If he is, do we have grounds to terminate him?

Settlement soon? EEOC rules Wet Seal discriminated

12/18/2012
Clothing retailer Wet Seal appears headed for a settlement after the EEOC ruled against it in a race discrimination complaint that alleged a high-level effort to trim the number of black employees working at the teen fashion retailers’ stores.

Can we terminate worker to keep domestic violence from spilling over into our workplace?

12/12/2012
Q. We have learned that one of our employees has been subjected to domestic violence and has a restraining order against her boyfriend. We are concerned that the man might become violent in our workplace. We are considering terminating the employee to make sure that our other employees are safe. Does such a termination raise any legal issues?

Can’t stop employee from working off the clock? Fire him for willful misconduct

12/12/2012
What can employers do when em­­ployees insist on clocking out and continuing to work? Warn them—and then discipline them. If you terminate employees for refusing to listen, they won’t be eligible for un­­em­­ployment compensation and you will also protect your company from an overtime lawsuit.

Caregiver leave: Was this firing disability discrimination?

12/12/2012
A refusal to grant time off as an accommodation for the disability of an employee’s family member will only pass muster for employers too small to be covered by the FMLA or employees who did not work long enough to be eligible for FMLA leave.

North Canton trucking company faces DOL suit

12/12/2012
North Canton-based Star Air faces a DOL lawsuit that seeks more than $600,000 in fines and reinstatement for two drivers allegedly fired for re­­fusing to drive unsafe vehicles.

txtng@wrk can mean no unemployment benefits

12/12/2012

Employers don’t want distracted em­ployees, especially when their jobs require their undivided attention. That’s reason enough to tell workers to shut off their cellphones and other electronic devices. Ignoring such orders and engaging in distractions like reading text messages is misconduct.