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Alabama

Tell supervisors: It’s OK to criticize–even if employee has filed EEOC complaint

08/08/2011

Some employees think filing an EEOC complaint insulates them from any kind of negative action at work. They’re wrong. Employers are free to treat an employee who has complained just as they would any other employee. You can continue to invoke your usual management practices, including pointing out errors and criticizing work if the facts warrant it.

Are your employees equal-opportunity offenders? Be sure your discipline is just as colorblind

08/08/2011
Employers must make sure they hand out similar punishment for similar misconduct, regardless of the race of the employee—or any publicity that might surround the case.

Beware! Single age comment might mean lawsuit

08/08/2011
Prevention is usually better than the cure, especially when litigation is concerned. Having to defend a lawsuit is expensive and disruptive, even if a judge tosses it out fairly quickly.

Key to beating lawsuit: Belief worker broke rule

07/13/2011
Employers that can show they fired an employee for violating a company policy will generally win any subsequent lawsuit—if they can show they reasonably believed that’s what happened. It doesn’t matter if later it turns out the employer was wrong.

Employee feels slighted by promotion process? That’s not enough to win retaliation lawsuit

07/13/2011

Some employees believe that anything the least bit negative that happens to them after they file a lawsuit is grounds for a second lawsuit alleging retaliation. That’s not true. To constitute retaliation, an employer has to do something that would dissuade a reasonable employee from filing a lawsuit in the first place.

Appeals court: No second chance to appeal lower court’s decision on retaliation damages

07/13/2011
An employee who won a discrimination case after he filed an appeal has lost his second appeal. He had claimed it wasn’t enough that a lower court had ordered almost one million dollars in back pay. He said he should have been promoted, too.

Court: Veterans can’t sue for bias under Title VII or Florida Civil Rights Act

07/13/2011
The 11th Cir­cuit Court of Appeals has refused to recognize veterans as a protected class under either Title VII of the federal Civil Rights Act or under the Florida Civil Rights Act. That means claims based on military service must generally be brought under the Uniformed Serv­ices Em­ployment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA).

OK to cut position of worker on FMLA leave–if you can prove FMLA status didn’t affect decision

07/13/2011

Employees who take FMLA leave are usually eligible for reinstatement, but not always. If you were going to eliminate the position anyway, the employee may be out of luck. Before you deny reinstatement, be sure you can clearly show that the position was cut for reasons completely unrelated to the employee’s FMLA leave.

Feel free to deny employees’ FMLA leave requests that aren’t legitimate under the law

06/15/2011

Some employees think they’re entitled to FMLA leave for every family emergency. They’re wrong. You should only grant leave requests based on legitimate reasons and reject clearly frivolous ones. You should also require employees to follow your rules and provide adequate notice.

Allow FMLA leave before terminating employee

06/15/2011

Are you thinking about terminating an employee for good business reasons, but know he needs to take FMLA leave? While you can legally discharge him, he could challenge the termination as interference with the right to FMLA. But what if you allowed him to take FMLA leave and told him not to return?