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Discrimination / Harassment

Does your organization need insurance against employee lawsuits?

07/01/2008

No matter how careful employers are, they still can be sued. Recognizing the risk, more employers are choosing to protect themselves with employment practices liability insurance (EPLI), which covers your organization if it’s hit with an employment lawsuit. But it’s important to know which coverage is right for you …

Flex schedules: Do we have to offer to everyone?

07/01/2008

Q. Two of our employees are struggling with serious family issues that make it hard for them to get to work on time. We’ve let them adjust their schedules. Now we have others who want to adjust their schedules … Do we have to give schedule flexibility to all employees?

Ensure employees know how to complain about retaliation

07/01/2008
You know that employees who complain about harassment or discrimination shouldn’t suffer retaliation. But do you have a mechanism in place that prevents such retaliation? If not, it’s time to come up with one. Nipping retaliation in the bud is far cheaper than defending it in court …

Can we replace a worker who is out on pregnancy disability leave?

07/01/2008

Q. One of our employees is on pregnancy disability leave. We are a small company and it will be difficult for us to keep her position open. May we hire another worker to replace her based on this hardship? …

Make sure bosses tell employees how to report harassment

07/01/2008
Have your supervisors and managers kept up with the changes by regularly reminding all employees—new and old—how they can report alleged sexual harassment? If not, you need to set up a training schedule. It’s the best way to ensure no employee will come out of left field with a sexual harassment complaint, take it to court—and win …

Be nice to that ex-Employee who sued! He might come back

07/01/2008
When an employee who was fired or didn’t get a promotion sues, it’s easy to get angry—especially if you don’t believe you or your organization’s supervisors did anything wrong. But that’s a mistake. The better approach is to remain cordial and civil. Here’s why …

You may not even see EEOC complaint until lawsuit hits

07/01/2008
In a new twist on an already complicated HR world, an employer now may find itself served with a federal discrimination lawsuit without any inkling that a case was even brewing. Ordinarily, the employer gets a copy of the employee’s EEOC complaint before anything else happens. But what happens if the EEOC doesn’t let you know about the complaint and the employee goes to court? …

Former worker never should have been hired? You’re not off the hook for discrimination

07/01/2008
Let’s say you learn that a former employee misled you during the hiring process, failing to reveal something so serious that—had you known—would have prevented you from making a job offer in the first place. Now your former employee is suing you for discrimination. Does the new information that came your way kill the lawsuit? …

Bad behavior was the kiss of death for Passaic employee

07/01/2008
Janice Keels joined the Passaic municipal payroll as a judiciary clerk in 1999. Almost immediately, her supervisor noted that she had poor interpersonal skills. For example, Keels complained in May 2000 about a co-worker, saying she would hit her if she had to, and repeating, “I’ll hit her” …

Read EEOC complaint carefully: Employees can’t later expand lawsuit

07/01/2008
Typically, an employment discrimination lawsuit starts with an EEOC complaint. That document is often an employer’s first notice that an employee plans to take an employment dispute to court. Review it thoroughly to determine the scope of the problem. If the employee later tries to add additional discrimination claims, you’ll be prepared to point out that they didn’t appear in the original EEOC allegations …