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Discrimination / Harassment

N.J. supervisors can be held personally liable for job bias

11/01/2006

Want to scare your organization’s supervisors into complying with your employment policies? Point out that, under New Jersey law, they can be sued personally for their discriminatory actions. That means one on-the-job misstep can cost managers their homes, savings accounts and other personal assets to satisfy a court judgment …

You can fire managers who ignore harassment complaints

11/01/2006

The best harassment policy in the world isn’t worth the paper it’s written on if employees don’t take it seriously. To show your policy has teeth, you have to let it bite …

Check workers’ EEOC, PHRC claims for errors

11/01/2006

If you receive an EEOC or PHRC complaint, don’t jump the gun to answer the charges. Carefully inspect the documents. If you don’t question obvious problems now, such as lack of a verified signature, you lose the right to raise that issue later …

Lesson From Tiffany’s Lawsuit: Don’t Ban On-Site Breast-Feeding

11/01/2006

New Jersey employers can’t interfere with employees or customers who breast-feed their children in public, as Tiffany and Co. learned the hard way …

Ethnic name isn’t a ‘Head-Start’ to bias claim

11/01/2006

Employees whose names people associate with a particular religion, origin or ethnicity can’t automatically claim that their name led to discrimination. If that were the case, anyone with such a name would have a leg up on other employees in every discrimination case …

Race-Based assignment isn’t always discrimination

11/01/2006

It’s typically not wise to assign employees to working groups based on race, sex or any other protected characteristic. But you won’t always be liable for discrimination in such cases. Just make sure you have a valid business-based reason for doing so, and then apply that policy consistently to affected employees …

Don’t fear that settling a lawsuit will affect later case

11/01/2006

If you’re reluctant to settle an EEOC case out of fear that it will set a precedent for other claims made against your organization, here’s a piece of good news: An employee can’t base a discrimination claim on a settlement that you reached with another employee …

Reinstatement won’t erase your job-Bias liability

11/01/2006

Here’s more incentive to make correct employment decisions the first time around: A recent court ruling makes clear that employees can still sue under Title VII even if your organization quickly reverses a decision …

RIF justifications need only be ‘Reasonable’ to stand up

11/01/2006

If your organization plans a reduction in force, you can rest assured that you don’t have to prove that your method for selecting employees is the absolute best way to achieve your business goals …

Supreme Court: No Need to Investigate ‘Silent’ Victims

11/01/2006

When the U.S. Supreme Court began its new term, one of its first moves was to reject a case that could have created new responsibilities for employers in investigating sexual harassment …