• The HR Specialist - Print Newsletter
  • HR Specialist: Employment Law
  • The HR Weekly

Discrimination / Harassment

Beware schedule changes that lower pay! They could trigger discrimination lawsuits

12/13/2011
When an employee’s workload is reduced and her pay declines because she’s working fewer hours, she may be able to sue. The pay reduction qualifies as an adverse action, which can trigger litigation.

The easy way to stop most bias lawsuits: Enforce all rules evenhandedly

12/13/2011
It’s impossible to know if a termination will lead a former employee to sue for discrimination. That’s why it’s crucial to enforce all your rules equitably. You don’t want an employee to be able to say that someone else broke the same rule without receiving harsh punishment.

Use formal application processes to ward off failure-to-hire/promote lawsuits

12/13/2011
You might assume that, before suing for failure to hire, job seekers and employees going for promotions would have to actually apply for the jobs they didn’t get. Unless your company has a robust, easy-to-use posting and application process, you could be wrong.

Keep full records on length of try-out stints

12/13/2011
Some employers prefer to offer employees a trial run before making a new promotion official. There’s a danger, though: If you end up keeping the employee on “training” status longer than you did others who don’t share his protected class, he may claim discrimination.

AT&T settles ADEA suit

12/07/2011

AT&T has settled a suit filed by former workers who took early retirement offers from the company and then asked to be rehired. AT&T claimed early retirement packages made the workers ineligible to return to work.

Hope arbitration can halt EEOC action? It won’t

12/07/2011

Employers may hope they can keep out of the EEOC’s crosshairs by having employees sign arbitration agreements. It usually doesn’t work. The EEOC is free to pursue litigation, even if you end up arbitrating employee claims at the same time.

Sometimes, even harsh judges take pity on employers

12/07/2011
When a jury concluded that a supervisor got a subordinate fired for complaining about race discrimination, it zapped the employer with huge punitive damages in addition to back pay. However, it will only have to pay a fraction of that amount.

Conscientious objector vs. his military employer

12/07/2011
A company whose business is maintaining and repairing U.S. Navy equipment has agreed to settle with an employee who said his religious convictions prevented him from working on “weapons of war.”

When co-workers clash, offer transfer option

12/07/2011
Personality clashes almost always affect work, and inevitably one of the combatants will file a formal complaint. Defuse that tension by suggesting that one or both co-workers transfer to other positions. Offering the transfer option to warring co-workers isn’t an ad­­verse action as long as neither is forced to accept the offer.

The pregnant pause: How to respond to baby news

12/06/2011
“I’m pregnant!” … Two words that can make an employer cringe on the inside but smile on the outside. And even though the baby might not be kicking yet, you can be assured that pregnancy anti-discrimination laws have kicked in …