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Employment Law

Donor’s gift causes OSHA fines for fire department

03/23/2012
The Indian Beach-Salter Path Fire Department faces $10,838 in fines after state OSHA inspectors learned that firefighters had removed 120 ceiling tiles that contained asbestos from a mobile home a citizen had donated for use in the department’s training program.

Greensboro mulls settlement in race discrimination lawsuit

03/23/2012
The city of Greensboro is considering an offer to settle a racial discrimi­­na­­tion lawsuit filed by longtime athletic director Jean Jackson. Jackson, who is black, claims the city regularly promotes white employees to management jobs without openly advertising the positions.

Rocky Mount company faces huge pay lawsuit in California

03/23/2012
Rocky Mount-based Premier Ware­­housing Ventures is being sued over pay practices at its former facility in Jurupa Valley, Calif. Premier no longer operates the facility, but current and former employees have filed a lawsuit alleging wage-and-hour violations dating back to 2003.

Worker returning after leave? Just say, ‘Welcome back!’

03/23/2012
Here’s a tip that doesn’t cost anything to implement and may prevent a lawsuit: When employees return from an illness, medical leave or other absences, make them feel welcome—and don’t publicly focus on any lingering problems.

Watch out if your reorg affects only one worker

03/23/2012
If you terminate a current employee during a reorganization process and then hire someone outside the terminated worker’s protected class, you can count on a lawsuit that will go to trial.

Beware new grounds for wrongful-firing suits: Termination in violation of public policy

03/23/2012
Employees and their lawyers are always looking for new reasons to sue. Lately, there’s been an in­­crease in efforts to cast terminations as public-policy violations.

Stay ahead of EEOC complaint calendar by documenting when employee learns he’ll lose job

03/23/2012

Employees who think they have been wrongly fired face tight deadlines for complaining about discrimination. In North Carolina, they have just 180 days to file an EEOC complaint. What’s more, the clock starts ticking the day the employee learns he is informed he will no longer have a job, not from the last day on the job.

Looking for a quick end to harassment case? Never urge the complaining employee to resign

03/23/2012

Sexual harassment victims deserve to have their claims investigated, not ignored. Under no circumstances should you encourage a complaining employee to quit instead of having to endure continued harassment. That’s a sure indication to many juries that the worker was punished for reporting sexual harassment.

Don’t let disability excuse worker misconduct

03/23/2012

Disabled employees sometimes try to use their medical conditions as an excuse for poor behavior. Don’t fall for it. Disability can’t be used to avoid discipline for misconduct.

Equal pay? Not if jobs aren’t really equal

03/23/2012
The Equal Pay Act says that men and women who perform jobs requiring equal skill, effort and responsibility should be paid the same. But that doesn’t mean everyone with the same title or similar job responsibilities falls into the same pay category.