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Discrimination / Harassment

Don’t tolerate insubordination, rudeness

11/30/2011

You know her—the abrasive em­­ployee who’s just plain hard to work with. Employers sometimes fear disciplining such employees, thinking that any legitimate criticism will be perceived as some sort of discrimination. Stop living in fear.

Small harassment settlement, hold the money in coffee case

11/29/2011
The owner of a coffee shop next door to Camden’s City Hall has flat-out refused to pay a $75,000 settlement intended to resolve six sexual harassment complaints filed by women who once worked there. City Coffee owner Robert Ford says he never signed a settlement agreement—and doesn’t plan to.

Fayetteville Goodyear plant sued over woman’s firing

11/28/2011
Goodyear Tire & Rubber faces charges of disability discrimination at its Fayetteville plant after it terminated a woman because she suffers from a menstrual bleeding disorder, menorrhagia.

Employers must watch for same-sex harassment, too

11/28/2011
A Huntersville seafood restaurant will pay $86,000 to four male em­­ployees who were harassed on the job by another male worker.

Employee represents herself? Take lawsuit seriously, anyway

11/28/2011
Employees who lose their jobs these days often have a tough time finding new positions. That’s leading to more discharge lawsuits, simply be­­cause former employees have so few options. Many of those lawsuits are filed pro se. No matter how flimsy such a case seems, never ignore it.

Minor malady could hinder performance? Always look for easy accommodations

11/28/2011
Be careful before revoking a job offer based on a physical exam. Consider reasonable accommodations instead.

When making promotion decisions, discrimination prohibited, fairness optional

11/28/2011
Here’s something to think about when you agonize over internal staffing moves: As long as you don’t use discrimination as an excuse to deny someone a promotion, your decision doesn’t have to pass some vague fairness test.

Cupid in the workplace: You can terminate supervisor for lying about personal relationship

11/28/2011
What if you suspect a supervisor/subordinate relationship, but the two people deny it? You probably can’t do anything more than reiterate your workplace rule against it. If it turns out the supervisor lied, you can certainly terminate him or her—both for breaking the rule and then lying about it.

Delete cryptic notes lurking in your HR files

11/28/2011
Before you toss that handwritten note into the employee’s file today, stop for a second and read it. Years from now, will you remember what that chicken-scratch meant? Many lawsuits have turned on one or two words scrawled by a manager or HR pro after employee meetings and conversations.

New hire running into trouble right away? Document problems early and often

11/25/2011

Once in a while, the honeymoon is barely over before a new em­­ployee starts to struggle. Since every job has a learning curve, you may hesitate to terminate right away. But you can’t ignore the problems, either.