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

Discrimination / Harassment

Don’t ask reference things you wouldn’t ask candidate

05/01/2000

Q. I know that it’s illegal to ask applicants certain questions, like whether they are married. Are there any questions I can’t ask a previous employer or reference? —F.T., Maine

Older replacement won’t erase age bias claim

04/01/2000
After a financially strapped hospital turned over its collection and registration duties to an outside vendor, four female workers over age 40 lost …

Firing can’t masquerade as a one-person rif

04/01/2000
Elizabeth Bellaver, a manager at a manufacturing plant, consistently earned excellent job evaluations. But her supervisor noted problems with her …

‘Direct threat’ no longer required to bar former substance abusers

04/01/2000
After the 1989 Valdez oil spill cost it billions of dollars, Exxon tightened its policy on recovered substance abusers. It permanently removed any employee who had been …

To the winner goes … the loser’s legal bill

04/01/2000
Houston police officer David Garcia was denied a transfer to the city’s SWAT team even though his evaluations ranked higher than three of the four officers selected. One reason Garcia …

Straight talk, business reasons help shoot down bias lawsuit

04/01/2000
Vendors, customers and employees had complained about Jane Sturdivan, a 59-year-old office manager. But her fate was sealed when a 24-year-old office accountant …

Seinfeld jokester loses award

04/01/2000
If you were stunned when a jury awarded $26.6 million to Jerold Mackenzie for wrongful discharge after he was fired for discussing a sexual innuendo …

Workers at smallest firms using ‘public policy’ loophole to file suits

04/01/2000
If you operate a small business, don’t take it for granted that you’re immune from state discrimination laws. It’s true that state anti-bias laws don’t apply …

The $500,000 question: Are your hiring tests legal?

04/01/2000
If you use a test to screen job applicants, make sure it isn’t unfairly blocking certain groups. Dupont used a written test for entry-level …

Labor is following through on pay-equity crackdown

04/01/2000
Sunoco Inc. is one of the latest companies caught up in the federal government’s increased enforcement of equal pay laws. The company was ordered to pay a total of $250,000 …