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Employment Law

OSHA eschews Mickey Mouse approach with Disney World

01/11/2010

OSHA has cited Walt Disney World following two fatal accidents at the amusement park. Last July, a monorail train operator was killed when a switching error brought two trains together on the same track. In August, an actor died from injuries suffered during Disney’s new “Pirates of the Caribbean” stage show.

Catch all 22 evidence preservation steps in case of litigation

01/11/2010

Employers and HR professionals hear it all the time: You must be prepared to preserve relevant corporate information and data and produce it if you are sued. You can take some preparatory steps to ensure that you can comply with inevitable litigation holds and are proficiently primed to assist your attorneys should litigation occur. This list of 22 to-do’s can guide your document and data preservation and retention procedures:

Employment testing and discrimination in the post-Ricci era

01/11/2010

Like every other aspect of the employer-employee relationship, a variety of federal and state laws govern how employers can administer job-related tests. Last year, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Ricci v. DeStefano that employers violate Title VII if they do not validate job testing results solely because they fear a lawsuit.

How should we respond to a subpoena for one of our employees’ personnel records?

01/11/2010

Q. We recently received a subpoena to produce an employee’s personnel file in connection with a lawsuit. The employee is a party to the lawsuit, but the company is not. Do we have to comply with the subpoena? Should we tell the employee about the subpoena?

Wasted at work? You don’t have to tolerate it!

01/11/2010

Some employers foolishly worry that they may violate the ADA or the FMLA if they enforce a zero-tolerance policy that forbids employees to work under the influence of alcohol. The simple reality is that employers have every right to expect workers to show up sober in the morning. Furthermore, being an alcoholic is no excuse.

Tell managers: No comments on family planning

01/11/2010

Some comments simply aren’t appropriate in the workplace—especially when the person weighing in is a supervisor or manager. Most bosses understand they can’t use ethnic or racial slurs, but many don’t understand that the same common sense applies to discussing family planning.

Chicagoland truckers offer lesson on price of harassment

01/11/2010

The EEOC has charged YRC Inc.—the trucking firm created by the merger of Yellow Transportation and Roadway Express—with racial intimidation and harassment at its Chicago Ridge location. According to the complaint, black employees at Chicago Ridge had to endure nooses, racist graffiti and racial slurs while working at the plant.

Great! You have an anti-harassment policy; now make sure all your employees can use it

01/11/2010

Your organization probably has policies prohibiting sexual harassment, and you probably offer training for supervisors and employees alike on how the policy works. But that simply isn’t enough. What really matters is what happens once an employee picks up the phone or stops by HR to discuss potential sexual harassment.

6 years is long enough: Are quick dismissals on the way following 7th Circuit’s rebuke?

01/11/2010

Employers may soon notice trial judges dismissing frivolous lawsuits sooner rather than later. It seems some of the judges on the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals have taken to chastising trial judges who don’t move fast enough. That could mean significant savings on legal fees if trial judges heed their brethren’s advice.

Transfer with same pay and benefits may still be an adverse employment action

01/11/2010

Employees who are transferred to another position with fewer or less important responsibilities may use the transfer as a basis for an employment discrimination lawsuit. That’s true even if the transfer doesn’t come with less pay or fewer benefits.