Don’t bar former employees who have sued the company from applying and being hired for new jobs. Doing so almost certainly invites a retaliation lawsuit—one that courts are likely to find in favor of the former employee.

Supervisors may subject their employers to hostile-environment liability if they make snide comments that can be interpreted as anti-female and then deny even minor opportunities for a woman to do the job she was hired to perform. It’s a case of many small indignities adding up to sex discrimination ...

The manager and two employees of a Bay City Lone Star Steakhouse & Saloon were fired after allegedly hanging a noose in view of a black cook. The employees reportedly let the noose hang for four days before taking it down ...

You know it’s illegal to retaliate against an employee who has engaged in so-called “protected activity,” such as filing a discrimination complaint. Now the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals has taken the concept one step further ...

Denying someone a transfer she wants may be an adverse employment action—and may trigger a discrimination or retaliation lawsuit. That’s true even if the transfer wouldn’t have meant more pay or other tangible benefits ...

Beware: When it comes to judging Title VII and retaliation claims, courts may treat as employees many of the individuals you consider independent contractors. That’s true even if they are licensed professionals—such as physicians—working at your facility ...

Retaliation can turn a relative molehill of a discrimination complaint into a mountain of legal trouble. And the retaliation doesn’t have to take the form of something dramatic, such as a firing or demotion. Little things supervisors do can add up to retaliation. But supervisors can’t retaliate if they don’t know about earlier discrimination complaints or pending lawsuits ...

A class of more than 2,500 female former brokers, who sued financial services giant Smith Barney for sex discrimination, will receive a $33 million settlement ...

A woman who was sexually harassed and allegedly raped by a boss at a Quiznos restaurant in Norwich was awarded $500,000 by the state Division of Human Rights ...

Shirley Morton, a clerical worker for the Albany Police Department, has filed a $35 million lawsuit against the department and the city, claiming Sgt. Kevin McKenna subjected her to sexual harassment, unwanted physical contact and verbal abuse for 12 years ...

Election year politics has a strange way of focusing employers and employees on the larger issues—such as jobs, wages and the economy. HR pros should pay attention to election year buzz. Knowing what’s on employees’ minds as they go to the polls can help savvy employers get a glimpse of the future workplace.

Employees who quit generally can’t sue for discrimination—unless they can show that they were essentially forced out because conditions were intolerable. But don’t think simply accepting an employee’s resignation note lets the company entirely off the hook ...

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act caps how much employers have to pay for everything except back wages in discrimination cases. The limits on punitive damages depend on how many employees the company has. Now a federal court has clarified a fine point—the employee number that counts is how many employees the company had in the year the discrimination took place ...

Generally, employees have to file discrimination lawsuits soon after an adverse employment decision or act of harassment. But sometimes employees can go far back in time if they can tie a recent event to past events. If that happens, a jury may get to hear a litany of complaints, each adding weight to the other ...

Sometimes, even the best HR professionals may feel paralyzed when faced with a major employee discipline decision, such as whether an employee should be fired. They hedge and keep asking supervisors questions, or keep an investigation open to get more information. If this sounds like your HR office when dealing with a discrimination complaint, relax ...