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Discrimination / Harassment

Document all personality conflicts–your records could disprove discrimination in court

04/28/2010

Employees don’t always get along with their bosses. Personality conflicts can destroy morale and create tension that kills productivity. Plus, when a subordinate belongs to a different protected class than his supervisor, the subordinate may suspect some form of discrimination. That’s why you should document personality conflicts—even if you’re sure bias isn’t the cause.

Don’t marginalize harassing behavior–you could trigger constructive discharge suit

04/28/2010

If you haven’t already done so, now is a good time to remind everyone in HR to avoid playing down or dismissing the impact of supervisor harassment on employees. It may be tempting to tell a complaining employee that she’s making a mountain out of a molehill. But understand that telling an employee she should get over it and return to work may prompt her to quit—and then sue you.

Ensure workers know how to report harassment

04/28/2010

One of the best ways to protect your organization from sexual harassment lawsuits is to make sure all employees know what sexual harassment is and what to do about it. The more you publicize the policy, the harder it will be for an employee to argue she didn’t lodge a complaint because she didn’t know she should.

Change company culture to stop sex bias suits

04/28/2010

When it comes to sex-based stereotyping, some industries are more resistant to change than others. The “company culture” may be a bastion of outdated beliefs about what women can and cannot do. Decision-makers may not even fully understand that their preferences for hiring employees of one gender can create liability. If that’s the case where you work, you may want to use the following case to explore that corporate culture—and then push to change it.

How a boss’s Kwik-E-Mart trip cost $100K

04/27/2010

Employment law risks don’t disappear the minute your managers leave the building at the day’s end. Those risks follow managers around constantly. That’s why you should make clear to supervisors that they should never discuss personnel matters outside the workplace—even at the corner Kwik-E-Mart.

Firing a boss who’s racially insensitive? You can cite ‘poor performance’ as reason

04/23/2010
It often becomes apparent that managers who were supposed to prevent discrimination weren’t doing an effective job. For the good of the company, it’s sometimes necessary to fire those bosses for tolerating discrimination or harassment. And those managers will probably sue, too. Good news: You can cite their attitudes to show they weren’t performing their jobs to your reasonable expectations.

OK to punish employees for disruptive acts–even if done in the context of protesting bias

04/23/2010
Employees are protected from retaliation for opposing discriminatory employer practices. But that doesn’t mean they can voice that opposition in a disruptive or discourteous way.

‘Cold shoulder’ isn’t a hostile environment

04/22/2010
One of the reasons employees can claim sex discrimination is if, according to the EEOC, “verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature … creates an intimidating, hostile, or offensive work environment.” Employees may believe that the slightest unkind word would constitute a hostile workplace, but courts often will set the bar much higher, as the following ruling shows.

No special treatment needed for pregnant staff

04/22/2010
The Pregnancy Discrimination Act doesn’t guarantee pregnant employees any special treatment in the workplace. It simply says you must treat them “the same as any other temporarily disabled employee.” If your organization doesn’t allow other employees to take leave or be placed in light-duty positions, then pregnant employees aren’t entitled to such privileges either.

¡Que chiste! Bilingual staffer fired for speaking Spanish

04/20/2010
When Ana Mateo was hired as a bilingual secretary for a school district, she never imagined her Spanish fluency would be her downfall. Now that the EEOC has taken up her case, somebody has some explaining to do — in federal court.