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

Discrimination / Harassment

Shift swapping reasonably accommodates religious days off

12/11/2007

Employers can manage employees’ religious needs without simply exempting religious employees from weekend work. Here’s how: Simply design a system that rotates shifts so everyone gets a turn for weekend days off; then tell those seeking religious accommodations it’s up to them to arrange shift swaps …

Discharge due to downsizing? Document your RIF plan

12/01/2007

In a company downsizing, management may make what seem like capricious decisions on who stays and who goes. That can be a huge problem if an older employee suspects age discrimination and sues—especially if there are other smoking-gun signs of discrimination, such as a supervisor’s apparent antipathy for older workers …

Beware informal policy on returning after pregnancy

12/01/2007

Many employers try to simplify medical leave policies by adopting the same eligibility requirements set by the FMLA. But those same employers sometimes make exceptions for select employees, especially if they are seen as too valuable to lose to a short medical leave. Watch out if that’s your informal practice. Denying that flexibility to pregnant employees probably violates the federal Pregnancy Discrimination Act …

Collective bargaining terms mean no unemployment comp for pregnant employees

12/01/2007

Employees who must stop working at a certain point in their pregnancies because a union agreement compels the leave are not entitled to unemployment compensation in Ohio. That’s true even if the pregnant employee could physically work and would have done so if it were an option …

It’s not discrimination, it’s just part of the job

12/01/2007

For a decade, the Chagrin Falls post office allowed mail carrier Martin Tepper to take Saturdays off to observe the Sabbath. In 2002, under pressure from fellow carriers tired of working extra weekends, the U.S. Postal Service began scheduling him for Saturday duty. Tepper sued in federal court in 2004 claiming religious discrimination …

Looking for a court fight? Crack down after worker complains

12/01/2007

Timing is everything, especially when it comes to retaliation. That’s why it’s crucial for supervisors and managers to understand: Once an employee has filed a complaint, don’t suddenly start enforcing rules you let slide before. If you do, the likely result will be a retaliation lawsuit …

Long-Ago acts can show pattern of ongoing harassment

12/01/2007

Here’s another reason to tell managers and supervisors that any and all sexual harassment must stop: Even if it has been years since an egregious act of sexual harassment, recent subtler incidents can revive the claim. That’s why it is important to stop harassment in its tracks—and then monitor the situation. You can do that by checking back with the accuser on a regular basis …

E-mails and messages may come back to haunt managers

12/01/2007

Increasingly, courts hearing discrimination cases order employers to turn over e-mails and text messages. These communications may include correspondence employees may have sent or received from clients and customers. One reason is that federal court rules on electronic discovery now require employers to retain vast amounts of information for use in litigation …

Use rational business reasons to justify RIF choice

12/01/2007

When employees lose their jobs, they naturally wonder why they were chosen. Employees who recently have complained about discrimination—real or imagined—often do more than wonder. They often jump to the conclusion that they have been fired in retaliation for complaining. That conclusion can lead to a lawsuit. Be prepared with solid and rational reasons why you chose the employee who got the ax …

Judge says prison harassment could have been deadly

12/01/2007

A lesbian prison guard has been awarded $850,000 after an administrative judge found that she had endured a “relentless, daily regimen of mental and physical threats” by a co-worker at the Wende Correctional Facility in Alden …