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Discrimination / Harassment

Berkeley schools settle religious pilgrim’s bias suit

12/19/2011
Berkeley School District 87 in Chi­­cago’s western suburbs has settled a controversial religious discrimination complaint filed by a Muslim teacher who sought unpaid leave to make a pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia.

Have manager who hired also do the firing

12/19/2011
The same individual who hired an employee should also fire that em­­­ployee if necessary. Courts typically reason that no prejudiced person would hire someone and then later fire him because of discrimination, having known all along about the employee’s protected characteristics.

Equal opportunity for women trumps even outrageous reaction to resignation

12/19/2011
A boss’s secret preju­dice won’t support an employee’s sex-bias lawsuit if the employer provides equal opportunities to both men and women. That’s true even if the sexist boss reacts outrageously when the subordinate quits.

Team up for termination meetings; going solo could trigger lawsuit

12/19/2011
When terminating an employee, never meet one-on-one. Instead, make sure at least two company representatives are present at all times. The reason? If you meet alone, you give the employee an opportunity to put words in your mouth—words that may end up as evidence against you in court.

Defend against hidden bias: Follow policies

12/19/2011
HR can and should serve as a check on overzealous supervisors who want to mete out discipline to those they don’t like while ignoring problems with those they favor. Insist that no final termination or disciplinary actions go through without clear documentation that supervisors followed all the rules.

Two employees involved in same incident? Punishment can differ if it’s not discriminatory

12/19/2011

If two employees break the same workplace rule, they should receive the same punishment. But that doesn’t mean you can’t distinguish between degrees of culpability. It’s perfectly fine to terminate an employee who has a long history of rule breaking and retain another because it’s a first offense.

San Francisco janitors reach accord to end bias suit

12/16/2011

The EEOC recently entered into a consent decree resolving a race discrimination lawsuit with ABM Industries. The federal agency sued the company in 2009, claiming it discriminated against Hispanic janitors who worked in San Francisco office buildings.

Harassment among the orchids yields settlement in Oxnard

12/16/2011
One of the largest orchid farms in the United States—Cyma Orchids in Oxnard—will pay $240,000 after the EEOC moved to root out an infestation of sexual harassment.

Simply failing to find work doesn’t prove defamation

12/16/2011
When employees are fired, they may have a hard time getting another job. Sometimes, they suspect their former employer is providing a bad reference. And often, a defamation lawsuit will follow.

Budget cuts forcing layoffs or reorganization? Take care to spell out justification

12/16/2011
If you must eliminate jobs, make sure you create a clear paper trail explaining why and how you made the decision to terminate a particular individual. That’s especially important if the employee had discrimination charges pending—or a history of filing them.