Remind all managers and supervisors to keep any thoughts on insurance costs to themselves. If older employees end up being disproportionally affected by a reduction in force, any comments on insuring older employees may come back to haunt you.
When it comes to disciplining employees, one size almost never fits all. An individual approach—one that considers the very specific circumstances that led to the discipline—is usually best.
The Ohio Department of Transportation’s equal employment opportunity contracts coordinator, responsible for making sure agency vendors comply with state and federal anti-discrimination laws, has been punished for sending racist and sexist messages through the agency’s e-mail system.
Two women who filed lawsuits alleging they were sexually harassed while working for former Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann have settled their legal claims. Current Attorney General Richard Cordray announced that the agency had settled the women’s claims for $247,000 each, including attorneys’ fees.
Each year, new employment laws go on the books and courts write thousands upon thousands of decisions interpreting old laws. Yet, year after year, many HR professionals reach up onto a dusty shelf to hand new employees the same old employee handbook someone wrote years ago—too often without a second of consideration whether the contents still pass legal muster.
Q. Our company is being sued by an employee for discrimination. During the lawsuit proceedings, we discovered that he had been stealing from us. Do we have any recourse?
Employers are responsible if they know or have reason to know about a hostile work environment created by employees and do nothing to fix it. As a practical matter, what employers hear and see may be just the tip of the iceberg. Smart employers immediately attempt to get the whole picture and then correct the harassing behavior.
As an employer, you may be used to cases moving quickly through the EEOC and on to court. That’s because employees must file EEOC complaints within 300 days of the alleged discrimination. They then have 90 days after the EEOC dismisses the complaint to file a federal lawsuit. But black employees can also file a lawsuit under another section of the Civil Rights Act.
Impressions do matter, and employers are free to demand more of supervisors and managers than of those who sit lower on the company totem pole. All else being equal, you can treat it as a more serious violation when someone in authority breaks the same rule as an underling.