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Discrimination / Harassment

EEOC discrimination letter? It’s not the final word

10/01/2007

The EEOC is the first stop in a Title VII discrimination case, but not the last. Often, the agency will say there’s no case. Sometimes, however, it will issue a letter stating “determination that discrimination took place.” But that decision is by no means final. When the case goes to federal court, judges are free to ignore the EEOC’s determination …

Georgia-Pacific’s literacy test fails to make the grade

10/01/2007

The U.S. Labor Department recently ruled that Georgia-Pacific’s use of a literacy test to screen applicants for jobs at its paper mills is discriminatory. The reason: Paper-mill workers don’t need to read well and black applicants are far more likely to fail a literacy test than whites, the department said …

Streaming Faith faces multimillion-Dollar lawsuit

10/01/2007

Rodney Sampson, co-founder and former CEO of Streaming Faith and its parent company, the Christian-media giant Multicast Media Technologies, has filed a multimillion-dollar lawsuit against the company alleging wrongful termination and race discrimination …

Creating an effective blog policy to limit employer liability

10/01/2007

Employment lawyers have been warning for some time that blogs will one day be a volatile issue in the workplace. Recent events show that day has arrived. For example, a member of the Cherokee County, GA, Planning Commission provoked a firestorm of controversy after an online post she made advocated dismantling Israel to achieve peace in the Middle East. The outcry forced her to resign …

Mandating New-Age spirituality at work can trigger an Old-School lawsuit

10/01/2007

While you can encourage employees to follow certain Judeo-Christian values at work, such as cooperation, honesty and kindness, it’s never appropriate to require adherence to a particular religion or religious practices. Even if your organization’s leaders have strong religious beliefs, it must accommodate workers who don’t agree with that stance. That may mean excusing workers from retreats, prayer groups or other religious-based activities …

Refusing to hire former criminals: Is it race discrimination?

10/01/2007

Does your organization have a blanket policy of refusing to hire any applicant with a criminal record? If so, make sure you can explain exactly why. A recent Pennsylvania court ruling shows that across-the-board “no ex-cons” policies can quickly run into legal trouble unless you can prove the restriction for a specific position was “job-related and consistent with business necessity” …

Train managers: Sexual-Orientation comments are off limits

10/01/2007

The California Fair Employment and Housing Act bars employment discrimination based on sexual orientation. In fact, the law clearly states, “Freedom from employment discrimination on account of sexual orientation is a civil right.” Make sure supervisors know: Comments about an employee’s sexual orientation simply aren’t appropriate in the workplace. They’ll lead to trouble …

Retirement math must comply with PDA, Title VII—For now

10/01/2007

Can employees sue for a company practice that was perfectly lawful when it was implemented but has since become illegal? Yes, according to a recent 9th Circuit Court of Appeals case in which employees complained that a company policy didn’t give them full-service credit toward their retirement benefits during their pregnancy leave …

Act fast to remedy slurs, threats, other outrageous behavior

10/01/2007

It may be the phone call you most dread getting—an employee says the workplace is riddled with hostile behavior, from offensive graffiti in the restroom to racial slurs and innuendo. What’s your first move? Ignoring complaints won’t make them go away. Instead, you need an action plan to deal immediately with the harassment …

Harassment victim doesn’t have to complain right away

10/01/2007

Under Title VII’s sexual harassment provisions, employers have few defenses if supervisors harass subordinates to the point that there’s a hostile work environment. But if the employer has an effective and well-designed complaint process that promises relief, it can reduce its liability—usually even if the harassed employee doesn’t take advantage of that process …