Some recently fired employees looking for reasons to sue their employers have started grasping at the gunwales of a “political correctness” lifeboat. Nice try but no dice was the verdict in a recent 9th Circuit Court of Appeals case.
What managers say during the hiring process can spell trouble later if anything they say sounds like a promise that induces a candidate to accept a job offer and the employer fails to follow through.
Under California’s pregnancy discrimination protection laws, new mothers returning from pregnancy leave are entitled to return to their previous jobs, much as they are under the federal FMLA. However, there are real and practical limits to that right to return.
If you are certain you can justify your action, don’t be afraid to discipline a worker who has filed a discrimination charge or otherwise opposed alleged discriminatory actions. Generally, courts give employers leeway to discipline as long as they believe they acted in good faith.
Good employers discipline everyone who violates work rules, without regard for protected characteristics. That may seem obvious, but sometimes supervisors get sloppy and decide that a particular employee should be punished for a violation another employee got away with.
Sexually offensive material appears all too often in some workplaces. When that happens, get rid of it! Immediately! That way, there is less chance that someone will later be able to successfully allege that the graffiti or scribblings created a hostile work environment.
