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Employment Law

Turnabout is fair pay: EEOC broke overtime law

04/22/2009

An arbitrator has ruled that the EEOC willfully violated the Fair Labor Standards Act by forcing employees to take comp time instead of overtime pay when they worked more than 40 hours a week. The EEOC will be liable for back pay, plus liquidated damages that so far haven’t been determined.

Verizon settles harassment suit filed by Pittsburgh woman

04/22/2009

Lissa Hannan, a Verizon employee in the Pittsburgh area, filed a complaint alleging a male contractor sexually harassed her. The company essentially put her on hold and then hung up. Ten days after she filed her complaint, Verizon fired Hannan. The company ended up agreeing to pay her $37,000 to settle the lawsuit.

Avoid ADA ‘regarded-as’ problems: Don’t mark ‘disabled’ on files

04/22/2009

Employers that “regard” people as disabled and then discriminate by firing them or refusing to hire them in the first place will face lawsuits—even if it turns out those applicants and employees aren’t actually disabled. That’s a key part of the ADA.

Don’t make juries use their imaginations! Tell decision-makers to keep interview notes

04/22/2009

Months or even years after the fact, it can be hard for managers to remember what happened during a job or promotion interview. That can be a problem if they have to recall in court the interview and the decisions that resulted. And that can add up to unconvincing testimony, which can cause juries to doubt their sincerity and honesty—and therefore conclude the organization was discriminating.

Government employees have only limited free-speech protection under First Amendment

04/22/2009

Government employees have the right to speak out on matters of public importance without being punished by their employers, but that right has limitations. One of those involves speaking out on issues that are directly related to the job the employee holds.

Discipline based on customer complaints? Get them in writing

04/22/2009

Sometimes, you may want to discipline or discharge an employee because of customer complaints. Get those complaints in writing—you may be able to use the letters as evidence that proves you sincerely fired the employee based on the complaints.

If a suing worker may have litigious past, alert attorney

04/22/2009

The grapevine sometimes is very effective. When an employee decides to sue an employer, chances are he has discussed it with someone at work. That someone may also know that the employee has sued others in the past.

Labor Department sues Pennsylvania benefits firm

04/22/2009

Bridgeport-based employee benefits firm Penn-Mont faces charges from the U.S. Department of Labor claiming the company failed to pay full death benefits to the families of deceased employees covered under its plans.

Plymouth House nursing home slammed for ‘bad faith’

04/22/2009

A federal jury has awarded $74,000 to Melissa Brown, a former food service director at Plymouth House nursing home in Plymouth Meeting, after the contractor employing her dismissed her when she sought maternity leave. But that was just the beginning …

Temple’s nurse pool leads to labor headache

04/22/2009

The Temple University Health System will have to collectively bargain with a larger group of nurses following a recent Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board (PLRB) ruling.