Employment Law

You don’t have to raise arbitration pact with EEOC

08/13/2009

Do you require employees to sign an agreement to arbitrate workplace disputes as a condition of employment? If so, you don’t lose the right to force the case into arbitration if you don’t ask for it during an EEOC investigation.

It cuts both ways: Be on guard for religious harassment that offends nonbelievers, too

08/13/2009

Employees are entitled to work in an environment free from religious harassment, and employers should treat such harassment just as seriously as they do any other kind of harassment. Do that by promptly investigating complaints and fixing any problems you discover. What you don’t want to do is ignore religious harassment.

Beware alternative to Title VII: There’s another way to file for race discrimination

08/13/2009

You are no doubt familiar with Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. It prohibits various kinds of discrimination and also spells out tight deadlines for when employees must file complaints with a state discrimination agency or the EEOC. But there is another avenue employees can use to get into federal court, as long as race is at the core of the discrimination claim: Section 1981 of the Civil Rights Act.

When union tensions boil, make sure managers keep cool when tempted to make accusations

08/13/2009

If your organization is a target for union organizing or your employees have recently voted to be represented by a union, be careful how you respond. You should consult with an experienced labor lawyer before you do anything else. Consider what happened in one recent case.

Frequent firings may indicate personality conflicts, not bias

08/13/2009

Companies that fire lots of employees get sued for discrimination by many of the castoffs. But all those terminations may be an indication of employee/management personality conflicts, not discrimination.

Normal pregnancy difficulties aren’t ADA or MHRA disabilities

08/13/2009

Pregnant women have many legal protections under Title VII’s sex discrimination provisions, the Pregnancy Discrimination Act and the FMLA. They rarely, however, qualify as disabled. That’s because normal pregnancies may create temporary difficulties, but they’re not severe enough to count as substantial limitations …

Mn/DOT criticized for lack of women and minority hiring

08/13/2009

A group of 200 community and religious leaders marched on the Minnesota Department of Transportation (Mn/DOT) building on July 23 to demand renewed efforts to hire more women and minorities. According to protesters, Mn/DOT is employing fewer women and minorities, even as federal stimulus dollars and state infrastructure spending have swelled the agency’s employee rolls.

Employment Law

You don’t have to raise arbitration pact with EEOC

It cuts both ways: Be on guard for religious harassment that offends nonbelievers, too

Beware alternative to Title VII: There’s another way to file for race discrimination

When union tensions boil, make sure managers keep cool when tempted to make accusations

Frequent firings may indicate personality conflicts, not bias

Normal pregnancy difficulties aren’t ADA or MHRA disabilities

Mn/DOT criticized for lack of women and minority hiring

How does workers’ comp work alongside FMLA leave?

Poor performance terminations and COBRA: Can we deny the new COBRA subsidy?

Are early retirees eligible for the COBRA subsidy?

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