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Employment Law

Four companies cited for worker injury

12/12/2008

The Michigan Occupational Safety and Health Administration (MIOSHA) fined four companies roughly $40,000 apiece for an accident last year while the Durant Hotel in Flint was being demolished.

Cut your risk! Have HR make firing decisions

12/11/2008

Here’s another good reason to insist that HR handle all terminations: It’s much harder for employees to sue the company for its supervisors’ alleged harassment or discrimination if the HR office has primary responsibility for discharge decisions. Here’s why …

Don’t consider FMLA absences when firing

12/11/2008

Employers can’t punish or otherwise hold it against employees for taking FMLA leave—that’s interfering with FMLA rights, and it’s illegal. That’s why it’s important to exclude FMLA leave when making any disciplinary decisions based on employee absences.

Marion veterans hospital to pay for hiring lethal doctor

12/11/2008

The VA Medical Center in Marion has agreed to pay $975,000 to Katrina Shank, whose husband, Robert Shank III, bled to death after former staff surgeon Dr. Jose Veizaga-Mendez operated on him.

Beware reverse discrimination risk of overly aggressive minority recruiting

12/11/2008

It goes without saying that employers shouldn’t discriminate based on race, age, sex or other protected characteristics. But favoring people based on those protected characteristics can lead to another problem—reverse discrimination.

Formal contract not necessary for employee to bring wage claim under IWPCA

12/11/2008

Under the Illinois Wage Payment and Collection Act, employees can sue their employers if they believe they are owed money, including promised commissions and the like. The law doesn’t require that the money owed be promised in a binding, written contract.

Good news for state supervisors: Immunity means no tort lawsuits

12/11/2008

If you are a supervisor working for an Illinois state agency, there’s a bit of good news on the lawsuit front. You can’t be personally sued by an employee for exercising your supervisory functions, even if she claims your supervision amounted to intentional infliction of emotional distress.

You don’t have to guarantee absolutely cordial treatment

12/11/2008

Although we all might wish for perfect harmony at work, that isn’t realistic. As long as there’s no obvious or thinly veiled race, sex or other underlying discrimination at work, it doesn’t matter if a supervisor isn’t very friendly with some employees.

Courts taking critical look at prevailing-wage standards

12/11/2008

Are you in an industry affected by Illinois’ prevailing-wage laws? If so, note that the courts are beginning to recognize cracks in the way the Illinois Department of Labor sets those wages.

Judge to pilots: sickouts won’t fly

12/11/2008

United Airlines won the first round of a legal battle against its pilots over sickouts and other disruptions that cost the airline millions of dollars in lost profits and revenues last year.