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Alabama

It’s sometimes OK to ask about expunged records

11/08/2010
Florida’s criminal court dockets are so overloaded that some relatively minor offenses are never tried. And courts often expunge arrest records so people who were charged but never convicted can move on without the shadow of a criminal record hanging over them, affecting their ability to work. However, in Florida, some employers can still ask about expunged criminal records.

Don’t fear retaliation claim if job changes are minor

10/13/2010

Employees who sue claiming discrimination have to show they endured some sort of adverse employment action, such as a demotion or termination. But what about changes in assignments, such as a new sales territory?

Casual question about bias isn’t protected activity

10/12/2010
Can a simple inquiry about discrimination become the basis for a lawsuit? No, according to the 11th Circuit.

Employee lied during internal investigation? That’s a firing offense you can act on

10/04/2010

Employers know they must conduct prompt and thorough investigations once an employee complains about discrimination or harassment. The integrity of the investigative process depends on the honesty of all participants. You don’t have to tolerate employees who lie during an investigation, even if the lie is a minor one.

When petty office squabbles boil over, take solace in one thing: It’s probably not a federal case

09/21/2010
No workplaces are perfect. Co-workers, supervisors and subordinates don’t always have others’ best interests at heart. When it comes to interoffice feuds, employees won’t find much help in federal anti-discrimination laws. Those laws don’t guarantee a workplace free of friction and ambition—just one that’s free of illegal bias.

‘Fairness’ audit prevents surprise liability

09/21/2010

It’s hard to control what low-level supervisors are doing—especially when it comes to distributing work in a commissioned sales environment. Your best protection is to conduct a self-audit of all leads. Make sure everyone is getting a fair cross-section of leads based on easy-to-understand metrics.

You can insist on investigation confidentiality

09/10/2010

Make it a policy to keep it confidential when conducting internal investigations into discrimination or harassment. That way, rumors and exaggerated claims won’t influence other employees who haven’t yet told investigators their side of the story. Employers that terminate employees for violating that confidentiality needn’t worry that doing so is retaliation, at least according to a recent 11th Circuit decision.

Not all action after complaint is retaliation

08/06/2010
Employees are protected from retaliation for complaining about alleged discrimination. That doesn’t mean, however, that everything negative that happens after a complaint is filed is grounds for a retaliation lawsuit.

Balance need for racial diversity against threat of reverse discrimination lawsuit

08/06/2010
Here’s a problem that isn’t going away anytime soon: Courts often look at the available labor pool when figuring out whether an employer’s hiring practices have a disparate impact on a protected class. If the employer is caught filling informal quotas to create a balanced workforce, members of other protected classes may sue for discrimination.

Bias charges false? Discipline isn’t retaliation

08/06/2010

Not every discrimination claim turns out to be true. Some may be exaggerated, others just downright false. If you investigate a complaint and conclude that it was untrue, you can and should discipline the employee.