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Discrimination / Harassment

Township of Monroe will stand trial for racial discrimination

05/27/2008
A jury will decide whether a black senior employee of the Township of Monroe in Gloucester County lost his job because of racial bias. Elvis Gooden was appointed the town’s chief financial officer and director of finance in 2001 …

Open-Door policy is good insurance against harassment claims

05/23/2008
You need an open-door policy encouraging employees to come forward with sexual harassment claims. If you show you mean business—by appropriately responding to harassment charges—chances are employees will lose lawsuits if they decline to use the open door and instead suffer sexual harassment in silence …

Track HR decisions to show discipline wasn’t harassment

05/23/2008
The best way to prevent lawsuits or to get a quick dismissal of unfounded charges is to document every employment decision carefully. You and your staff should be able to show exactly when a decision was made, who made it and what the basis for the decision was …

Promotion complaints? Consider firewall for future promotions

05/23/2008
Sometimes, employees who fail to get promoted get it into their heads that they are being discriminated against when that’s simply not the case. Make sure the manager or supervisor who handles such an employee’s next promotion request doesn’t know about the previous complaints—and therefore won’t be in a position to retaliate …

When promotions favor similar employees, prepare to justify

05/23/2008
Have many of your recent promotions gone to members of one sex or some other protected category? If so, take some time now to figure out how that happened. It’s entirely possible that what at first looks like a suspicious “coincidence” that could be misconstrued as discrimination is actually completely innocent …

Appearances do count: Check for hidden bias in terminations

05/23/2008
Before making a final decision on a reorganization or series of RIF terminations, take a close look at any characteristics the employees losing their jobs might share. A set of terminations that affects only members of a protected class is sure to attract attention …

Racial harassment costs contractors $1.65 million

05/23/2008
Four construction workers will share a $1.65 million settlement for racial harassment they endured while building a Conectiv power plant on the old Beth Steel site in Bethlehem. The men said they had never been on a job site that didn’t feature racial harassment, but the harassment on this site was worse than usual …

Muslims object to bias in state police training

05/23/2008
The Pennsylvania chapter of the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR-PA) has asked the Pennsylvania State Police to change its mandatory officer training class, “Radical Islam: A Law Enforcement Primer” to offer a more balanced view of Islam …

Threatening, but not hostile

05/23/2008
Keith Harris and Dennis Alexander, who are black, sued Joseph Orlando, owner of Cobra Construction, for constructive discharge and racial discrimination, saying they were forced to quit out of fear for their lives …

Stable job history is a legitimate hiring criterion

05/22/2008
It’s OK to favor applicants who’ve proven they can stick with a job for a while. That’s not discrimination, as a recent court ruling shows. The key: Allow employees to explain job gaps. Then ignore those that could lead to a discrimination lawsuit …