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Discrimination / Harassment

Track, respond to every hostile incident report

04/09/2012

Here’s a tip that may prove in­­valuable if a former employee decides to sue over an alleged hostile work environment: Track and respond to every reported incident. That way, should a lawsuit later allege additional, more severe incidents, you are in a good position to argue they never happened.

Employee sounds threatening during hearing? OK to suspend while you investigate

04/05/2012
Generally, employers shouldn’t react to anything an employee says during an EEOC hearing. That’s because you don’t want to face a retaliation complaint for participating in the hearing. However, there are practical limits to what employers have to tolerate.

EEOC offers best practices to prevent caregiver discrimination

04/03/2012
Record numbers of working adults now care for elderly parents. In 2007, the EEOC issued its Employer Best Prac­­tices for Workers with Caregiving Re­­sponsibilities. Best practices fall into three groups: (1) general, (2) recruiting hiring and promotion and (3) employment terms, conditions and privileges.

FDNY’s discrimination tab could reach $65M

04/03/2012
A federal judge has called for lawyers to serve as “special masters” to decide how to allocate money for minority job applicants who were unfairly denied jobs with the Fire Department of the City of New York. The DOJ filed suit on behalf of minorities who complained they were not hired because of their race.

Disability harassment costs Buffalo store $70,000

04/03/2012

A Family Video store in Buffalo has agreed to settle a disability discrimination suit filed by a former employee who suffers from depression and social anxiety disorder. He claims store management har­assed him because of his condition and then fired him when he complained.

Salon cuts losses, agrees to pay for pregnancy bias

04/03/2012
Warren Tricomi Salons, with locations on New York’s Upper East Side, will pay $30,000 to settle a pregnancy discrimination suit filed by the EEOC on behalf of an assistant who claims the company re­­scinded an offer to promote her and then fired her after her boss learned she was pregnant.

Guilty plea may end officer’s discrimination case

04/03/2012
A police officer who betrays the public’s trust by committing a crime may automatically lose his job. And if he pleads guilty to a covered offense, a court has ruled, any complaint he had that the employer treated him unfairly by suspending him will be dismissed.

Disabled employee sues under NYHRL? HR managers may be held personally liable

04/03/2012
Here’s a new worry for New York HR managers: Mess up too badly and you could be held personally liable for damages under the state’s New York Human Rights Law. Something as simple as refusing to approve what turns out to have been a reasonable accommodation may leave you on the hook for thousands of dollars or more in damages.

Outrageous claims? Let legal process play out

04/03/2012

Employees and their lawyers can make some outrageous allegations in lawsuits. It may be part of an effort to get publicity, or maybe it just re­­flects the employee’s subjective per­­ception of what happened instead of objective reality. Either way, don’t panic. Chances are, the case will be tossed out when the judge sees there’s no substance to the allegations.

Manager recommends discipline or firing? Investigate before agreeing to go along

04/02/2012

Here’s something to consider the next time you authorize discipline or discharge: It pays to independently investigate management’s underlying reasons for the action. Do that even if the employee in question doesn’t belong to a traditional protected class.