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

Discrimination / Harassment

Any deviation from company rules may arouse suspicion

05/30/2008
When it comes to discrimination lawsuits, the earlier they are dismissed, the better. That’s one reason you don’t want to give a judge any incentive to send a case to a jury. Of course, deviating from your own company rules is one of those things that often leads judges to order a jury trial …

Razzoo’s money-Making plan runs into a $1 million snag

05/30/2008
Managers of the Razzoo’s Cajun Café chain of 11 restaurants in Texas and North Carolina thought they had hit on a surefire way to build bar business: Make sure 80% of their bartenders were women. One factor they failed to consider: The EEOC takes a dim view of such hiring quotas …

Hiring bias costs Dallas defense contractor $1.5 million

05/30/2008
Defense contractor Vought Aircraft recently agreed to pay $1.5 million to settle a discrimination lawsuit brought by more than 1,000 job applicants. The settlement comes as a result of charges brought by the DOL that the aircraft parts manufacturer discriminated against minorities and women in hiring …

Arlington hotel settles pregnancy discrimination suit

05/30/2008
Arlington Host Corp., which formerly owned and operated the BallPark Inn in Arlington, settled a pregnancy discrimination lawsuit for $20,000 brought by the EEOC on behalf of a front-desk clerk who was pregnant when she lost her job …

NLRB issues guidelines for investigating union ‘Salting’ claims

05/30/2008
In February 2008, the National Labor Relations Board’s Office of General Counsel issued two guideline memoranda outlining the board’s rationale in two recent decisions concerning “union salting.” Salting is a strategy in which union supporters apply for employment in a nonunion workplace. The goal is to unionize that company’s work force …

Be prepared to prove reorg or cost cutting as layoff reasons

05/28/2008

Gone are the days when employers didn’t have to justify reorganizations or layoffs. Now—given the prevalence of electronic communications—you can expect a court to ask you to produce just about every piece of information used to determine who lost their jobs and who kept them …

It’s absolutely essential to treat all employees equally

05/28/2008
A newly released North Carolina Court of Appeals opinion makes it clear that employers have to make absolutely sure they are treating all similarly situated employees alike …

Warn supervisors: No angry responses to employee complaints

05/28/2008
One of the best ways to sink a discrimination defense is to come off as defensive, angry and vengeful. That’s why you need to train all supervisors and managers on how to initially handle discrimination complaints. Tell them that no matter how outrageous the complaint, the only proper response is to explain exactly how the employee should report what happened …

Back up discipline with details from your investigation

05/28/2008
Like any responsible employer, your organization probably has a comprehensive employee handbook that details your internal policies and how you handle disciplinary decisions. But no handbook can cover every possible situation. So it’s not enough for supervisors and managers to simply cite a particular rule violation as the reason for firing or suspending an employee …

Does your organization use volunteers or interns? Know the employment law implications

05/28/2008

This is the time of year when college students start serving summer internships. Often, students offer to work without pay just to get the experience. But does this influx of possible free labor carry hidden risks? Perhaps …