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Discrimination / Harassment

Don’t hand out authority without giving training to match

02/01/2000
Promoting lower-level employees to supervisory roles, even if it’s on a temporary or “acting” basis, can backfire if you fail to educate them on their new legal responsibilities. That’s what happened …

Average evaluations and lateral transfers may not be discriminatory

02/01/2000
The Export-Import Bank reassigned several employees in the early 1990s, and Regina Brown wasn’t happy about it. The 50-year-old black senior loan officer filed suit, claiming her transfer to what …

Two key January rulings

02/01/2000
You must protect contractors from hostile environments. A Mexican-American owner of a company hired to clean parking lots at Wal-Mart claimed that …

Beware new legal threat of accepting ‘walk-in’ applicants

02/01/2000
Employment attorneys are increasingly warning companies to avoid relying too heavily on walk-in job applicants. While there’s no legal requirement to advertise a job opening, …

Climb over the hill of age discrimination claims

02/01/2000
An increase in age discrimination claims may be as inevitable as the graying of baby boomers. But some smart planning and good policy follow-through on your part can keep you …

Don’t assume you can’t accommodate workers’ religious objections

01/01/2000
When a manager checked Hillel Hellinger’s references for a pharmacy job, a former supervisor told the manager that Hellinger, an Orthodox Jew, refused to sell condoms in his previous job.
…

Don’t rush into affirmative action hiring

01/01/2000
When the Resorts International Hotel in Atlantic City needed a full-time light and sound technician, the choice appeared simple. The two top candidates were equally qualified but, knowing that the casino …

Let managers know they may be held personally liable for bias

01/01/2000
Wendy Vivian didn’t just sue her employer for racial and sexual discrimination. She went after her supervisor to hold him personally liable and the state Supreme Court gave her the green …

Don’t let religious employees badger other workers

01/01/2000
As a born-again Christian, Kenneth Weiss says he is required to share his religious beliefs with others, including co-workers. But for some, working with him was hell.
He condemned co-workers, …

Protect job applicants’ answer sheets from written tests

01/01/2000
Applicants had to pass three tests to be considered for a quality helper position at a Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Co. (3M) plant. Mary Austin failed all three.
She claims …