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Discrimination / Harassment

Respect the results of outside investigations into complaints

03/26/2019
Be prepared to honor the findings of outside investigators you hire to get to the bottom of internal complaints. Accept the results and act immediately to remedy the situation.

Document why discipline may have differed

03/20/2019
Before you discipline any employee, review how you handled similar situations in the past. If you decide to discipline more harshly in a new case, be sure to detail in your records exactly why.

Resist temptation to act on presumptions about pregnant employees’ abilities

03/15/2019
Some managers continue to hold outdated views on pregnancy and the capacity for a woman to work while awaiting the birth of her child. Being vocal about these views—and especially acting on them—is almost certain to provoke a lawsuit.

Lawsuit alert: Beware disciplining for infractions of seldom-enforced rules

03/15/2019
Sometimes, supervisors get frustrated with workers they consider trouble makers because they complain all the time. Those bosses need to think twice before they retaliate by strictly enforcing work rules—especially if they have often ignored those rules in the past.

Accommodate lactation needs of new mothers

03/15/2019
Employers that prohibit necessary lactation breaks or who retaliate against women for trying to take breaks may violate the sex discrimination provisions of Title VII.

Federal courts add another twist in the road to pay equity

03/13/2019
The U.S. Supreme Court just rejected an equal pay lawsuit for a most unusual reason. Even so, employers can learn valuable lessons from the case.

Transgender football player wins $20,000 for bias

03/13/2019
For the first time a transgender person has won an employment discrimination award under the Minnesota Human Rights Act.

Audit training to identify possible discrimination

03/13/2019
Make sure your training programs don’t discriminate, especially if promotions and pay raises depend on training.

$4.2 million firing: Back pay, pain & suffering, punitive damages—and then front pay, too

03/13/2019
Unfairly terminating a worker could spark a lawsuit that costs your organization millions of dollars.

Supreme Court hands win to injured workers

03/13/2019
The Minnesota Supreme Court has overturned a 30-year-old decision that prevented injured workers from receiving workers’ compensation benefits and also suing their employers for discrimination.