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Employment Law

You risk bias lawsuits if you bypass promotion rules

01/12/2022
When considering promoting an employee, carefully track all of the steps in the promotion process, from the initial job announcement to the final decision. Be sure to follow all your promotion procedures. And never let favoritism taint the process. Otherwise, you could be courting a bias lawsuit.

Paying with 91,500 pennies draws DOL’s attention—and more charges

01/11/2022
A Georgia business owner is being sued for retaliation after delivering a former employee’s final pay in the form of 91,500 oil-covered pennies dumped in the man’s driveway.

Harassment settlement requires boss accountability

01/06/2022
The EEOC has settled another sexual-harassment case for more than $1 million. It also extracted a novel promise from the employer: It will hold managers accountable for enforcing anti-harassment rules by making compliance one of their performance objectives.

Prepare to pay if class action alleges sex bias

01/06/2022
A huge number of gender-bias and sexual-harassment cases settled for big sums in 2021. Not to be outdone by million-dollar-plus settlements, another big employer threw in the towel to finish out the year.

Amazon-NLRB deal a union game-changer

01/06/2022
Amazon and the National Labor Relations Board reached a historic settlement in late December in which the retail giant agreed to let employees freely join unions without fear of retaliation. The settlement may signal newfound power for organized labor in the service industry.

Labor unions gain members and influence

12/22/2021
Over the last 18 months, organized labor has enjoyed an uptick in both membership—up 0.1% in 2020—and public opinion. A 2020 Gallup poll found 65% of Americans have a favorable view of unions, the highest rating since 1965.

Cost of an age-biased layoff plan: $2.25 million

12/22/2021
If you are planning to terminate many employees in a reduction in force, be sure to assess the possible adverse impact the RIF might have on older workers—anyone age 40 or older.

Beware firing during employee’s FMLA leave

12/22/2021
Generally, employers are free to punish or terminate workers even while on job-protected leave like FMLA if they discover during that time away that the employee wasn’t doing his job. But there’s a caveat. You must be able to show the court that you would have done the same thing if the employee hadn’t taken leave

EEOC cracks down on pre-hire strength tests

12/22/2021
The EEOC is filing—and winning—lawsuits on behalf of female applicants who complained they lost out on jobs for which they were otherwise qualified because they failed a post-offer, pre-employment strength test.

Avoid constant questions about workers’ retirement

12/16/2021
When a 60-year-old HP employee got a new manager, the boss began to call him “uncle,” criticized his “old skills” and repeatedly asked when he was “going to retire.” After losing his job in a RIF, the employee sued for age bias.