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

Discrimination / Harassment

Eagle Wings Industries settles sex harassment case

03/12/2010

Automotive supplier Eagle Wings Industries has agreed to pay a class of female employees $428,500 to settle sexual harassment charges stemming from illegal practices at its Rantoul location near Champaign.

Waiter serves suit implicating female boss; courts are digesting it

03/12/2010

In Turner v. The Saloon Ltd. the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit recently ruled that in a sexual harassment claim based on a hostile work environment, if at least one act of alleged harassment occurred within 180 days of an EEOC filing, courts can consider the entire time period of the hostile environment in determining an employer’s liability.

Face age discrimination claims head on

03/11/2010

Here’s a twist, courtesy of the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2009 Gross v. FBL Financial Services age discrimination decision. The court ruled that employees have to show that “but for” their age, their employer wouldn’t have fired them.

Employee who’s suing filed for bankruptcy? You may have a ‘get out of jail free’ card!

03/11/2010

Employees who are declaring bankruptcy are supposed to let the bankruptcy court know about any lawsuits they’re involved in. If they’ve sued you for discrimination and don’t tell the court, their lawsuits may be dismissed. That’s because bankruptcy courts are supposed to look at all possible assets. A pending lawsuit is one such asset because it could result in a monetary award. Concealing that asset is akin to fraud.

11th Circuit opens door for wide discretion when trial courts set remedies in bias cases

03/11/2010

In a decision that could encourage trial courts to aggressively fix discrimination, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld a lower court’s wide-ranging remedy for a proven case of discrimination.

Choose words carefully when challenging unemployment

03/11/2010

When you challenge an unemployment claim, what you say can come back to haunt you.

You can discipline worker whose griping boils over

03/11/2010

Some employees who believe they’ve been mistreated get so angry that they begin airing their grievances to co-workers. That can be a firing offense. Although you can’t ban employees from talking about wages or other conditions of employment, you can prohibit harassing conduct.

Know difference between employee, contractor

03/11/2010

Here’s some good news if you use truly independent contractors to perform work. If you have done it right, you don’t have to worry about losing an age discrimination lawsuit. But there’s a caveat: You must make sure you can easily prove your contractor wasn’t really an employee.

OK to fire for absenteeism before FMLA eligibility

03/11/2010

Employers are often confused about how much absenteeism they must allow for employees who haven’t worked long enough to be covered by the FMLA, and who aren’t otherwise entitled to miss work as a reasonable accommodation for a disability. The bottom line is that if you treat everyone equally, you can set high attendance expectations—and fire those who don’t meet them.

Put your attendance and tardiness policies in writing

03/11/2010

You naturally expect people to show up for work on time. But you could get into trouble if you don’t have a written policy saying so. Having written rules makes it more likely employees will understand your expectations.