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Employment Law

Can your e-mail survive ‘Smoking gun’ software?

07/01/2008
Plaintiffs’ lawyers are using a new tactic to search for incriminating e-mail messages in corporate e-mail archives—software that seeks out “worry words” in e-mails that could show your company was aware of potential liability earlier than it admits …

Political shift could heighten your union risk

07/01/2008
“If you’ve not dealt with unions before, I cannot overemphasize how quickly the world could change this fall,” said Mike Fox, a Texas-based attorney with Ogletree Deakins. “This would be the first time in my life we’d really have a president aligned with organized labor.”

Demanding coffee may be gauche, but it’s not harassment

07/01/2008
In a case that illustrates just how sensitive some employees are to perceived sexual stereotypes, a woman hired to work as a receptionist tried to claim that refusing to serve her male bosses coffee was tantamount to engaging in protected activity. Then she alleged retaliation …

Comcast takes check for woman’s ‘Right arm’

07/01/2008
When Krista Cooney, a Comcast customer in western Pennsylvania, sent the company a check made out for “My Right Arm and Zero Dollars” to protest her cable bill, she thought she’d had the last laugh. But Cooney contends an unidentified employee at Comcast posted an electronic copy of the check on the Internet …

Pittsburgh company to pay $100,000 for race discrimination

07/01/2008
Champion Window of Pittsburgh has agreed to pay $100,000 to settle a race discrimination lawsuit brought by the EEOC on behalf of former employee Martell Waite …

How to protect yourself from Internet-Related liability

07/01/2008
The Internet is an invaluable tool in many workplaces, but lately it’s become a somewhat unexpected cause of employment law litigation. Two issues lead the wired way to the courthouse for employers: gathering information about job candidates through web sites and potential liability for what their employees do while using the Internet …

Can emergency contact info be mandatory?

07/01/2008
Q. We’re cleaning up our personnel files and updating emergency contact information. Some employees don’t want to provide their contact information. Is it legal for us to require them to give it to us? …

Sex harassment complaints only in writing?

07/01/2008
Q. Our regional manager wants me to revise our sexual harassment policy to require that complaints be in writing. He says this will formalize the procedure and help ensure that only valid complaints are filed. I’m not sure this is a good idea. Is it? …

Are we legally obligated to rehire a disabled ex-employee?

07/01/2008
Q. One of our employees went on disability after a motorcycle accident. We terminated him at his request, as he wanted to cash out his 401(k). His doctor recently released him from disability, and he’s seeking re-employment for a different position. Our owner is concerned that if he doesn’t offer the ex-employee a job, we may face legal retribution. And he’s concerned that if we do bring him back, we’ll end up with a workers’ comp claim from a slip/fall injury. Do we have any obligation to rehire this employee?

Red Light, Green Light: How HR Must Prepare for Political Change

07/01/2008
Election Day could bring enormous changes to the world of labor and employment law. Don’t wait until Nov. 4 to react. Here are the three potential scenarios for change, the eight key legislative issues in the hopper and the five things you can do right now.