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Discrimination / Harassment

No jury trials for disability retaliation—but you still must handle complaints properly

01/14/2010

Thanks to a recent 9th Circuit Court of Appeals decision, employers no longer face the prospect of jury trials to resolve ADA retaliation claims. That’s a big victory, since juries are notorious for returning large awards against employers. Plus, the decision makes it clear that punitive damages are not available for retaliation, either.

Franken kills arbitration for defense contractor employees

01/13/2010

Freshman Sen. Al Franken has scored his first legislative victory. Joining forces with Louisiana Democrat Mary Landrieu, Franken proposed an amendment to the recently enacted Defense Appropriations bill that bars defense contractors from requiring employees to use arbitration to resolve workplace discrimination complaints of sexual assault, harassment or other Title VII violations.

How to guarantee a lawsuit: Terminate only older workers during reduction in force

01/13/2010

Are you planning a reduction in force due to the poor economy? If so, double-check who is going to lose their jobs, paying particular attention to whether the burden falls predominantly on workers over age 40. If that is the case, make absolutely certain you have legitimate business reasons to back up your decision to fire them.

Offer reasonable religious accommodations—and then insist that workers follow them

01/13/2010

Employees whose sincerely held religious beliefs conflict with their employer’s workplace beliefs may be eligible for unemployment compensation benefits. But they can’t collect benefits if their beliefs aren’t sincere—or if their employer offered reasonable accommodations and they didn’t take advantage of those offers.

Employers can’t get restraining orders on clients’ behalf

01/13/2010

When employees quit, they often want to remain friends with their former colleagues and clients. Usually that’s fine, but sometimes it’s not in co-workers’ or clients’ best interests. That doesn’t mean, however, that the former employer can get a restraining order against the employee who quit.

Worker blows filing deadlines? Seek quick dismissal

01/13/2010

Minnesota employees who believe an employer has discriminated against them based on age or another protected classification can file complaints with both the federal EEOC and the Minnesota Department of Human Rights. Employees have 90 days to file a lawsuit after the EEOC dismisses their case, but just 45 days to do so after the MDHR does.

Settlement brings soft landing for Mesaba religious bias case

01/13/2010

Mesaba Airlines, which operates short-haul flights for Delta and Northwest Airlines, has reached an agreement with the EEOC on religious discrimination claims filed by several employees. The suit began when Mesaba fired customer service agent Linda Vellejos after she refused to work on the Jewish Sabbath.

Hennepin County driver files religious accommodation suit

01/13/2010

The tension between an employee’s right to religious accommodation and an employer’s need to get work done is at the heart of a case being heard in Hennepin County. A Seventh-day Adventist was fired after refusing to work between sundown on Friday and sundown on Saturday, the Adventists’ Sabbath.

Could we have refused to hire waitress who now refuses to sing ‘Happy Birthday’?

01/13/2010

Q. One of the waitresses working in our restaurant claims her religion forbids her from singing “Happy Birthday” to customers. If, during her interview, we had identified this requirement as an essential job function, and if she said she couldn’t sing the song for religious reasons, would we have been within our rights to refuse to hire her?

Do we need new record-retention rules now that the Ledbetter law has been enacted?

01/13/2010

Q. I keep hearing that the Ledbetter Act means we may need to hold onto documents about employees beyond our current retention policies. What do we need to do to make sure our document-retention policies comply with the law?