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Discrimination / Harassment

Law boosts pension portability as cash-Balance plans take off

09/01/2007

Dow Chemical Co., based in Midland, has announced it will adopt a cash-balance plan for new employees, making it the largest employer to do so since Congress passed legislation last year protecting new plans from age-discrimination lawsuits …

Use contractual limitations to protect company and managers

09/01/2007

Michigan courts have generally upheld as valid and enforceable provisions within an employment application or employment contract that place time limits on when employees can sue their employers. Thus, while the statute of limitations for filing a claim of discrimination under Michigan’s Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act is three years, a Michigan court has upheld contractual provisions providing for a shortened limitations period of six months …

Promotions and age discrimination

09/01/2007

Q. We are reviewing two employees for a promotion, one is 55 and the other is 45. We are concerned that if we select the younger employee, we will be charged with age discrimination. Are we safer selecting the older employee, assuming both candidates are qualified for the job? …

‘Keep it confidential’ may let employers off liability hook

09/01/2007

You have a robust sexual harassment  policy, and everyone from the lowest level employee to the company president knows how it works. But what happens if an employee tells a supervisor about possible harassment and then asks him or her not to take it up with HR? …

Supreme Court to hear Florida FedEx drivers’ discrimination case

09/01/2007

The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear an Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) case involving FedEx drivers. Employees in three states, including Florida, filed an ADEA suit against FedEx, citing policies designed to “drive out older workers” …

Frostproof gets chilled after harassment heats up

09/01/2007

The city of Frostproof has a hot-to-trot city manager, according to allegations made by a former assistant city manager. The manager apparently sexually harassed her on a business trip to Tampa. After she complained, the manager and the city gave her the cold shoulder by suspending her, cutting her pay, changing her title and even trying to have her arrested …

City settles meter reader’s race claim

09/01/2007

Port St. Lucie has settled a race discrimination claim filed by a demoted meter reader for $60,000 and a promotion. The black woman filing the suit was a meter reader supervisor when she was called away for duty in the Army Reserve. Upon returning, she found she had been demoted and a white male now held her position …

Gender-Bender Liability: More States, Cities Make It Illegal to Discriminate Based on ‘Gender Identity’

09/01/2007

Don’t fire an employee for cross-dressing or allow co-workers to harass a female worker who acts masculine until you understand your potential liability under the increasing number of “gender-identity discrimination” laws. Such laws typically prevent discrimination against workers or applicants because they don’t conform to the stereotypes of how a man or woman looks, lives or acts …

Porn at work: Don’t get into debate over what is ‘Too much’

09/01/2007

When an employee says no to the sexual images posted in co-workers’ workstations and to their sexually laced comments, your company had better listen … and act. It shouldn’t debate over “how much” porn is acceptable. As a recent lawsuit shows, even if an employee initially tolerates a sexually charged workplace, she can drop the lawsuit hammer at any time …

Don’t Ignore—or Make Light of—Harassment Complaints

09/01/2007

Remind supervisors, managers and HR staff: Don’t brush off or make light of sexual harassment complaints. Doing so can just add more fuel to the fire. When employees are ignored, they may begin to see every slight that comes their way—getting the cold shoulder at meetings or missing out on promotions—as retaliation for voicing their concerns about sexually hostile behavior. And that can make them much more likely to file lawsuits against your company …