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Employment Law

How to head off race bias lawsuits: Have the hiring manager also handle firing

09/03/2010

Common sense says that if a manager hires someone knowing that she belongs to a protected class, the manager probably won’t turn around a few months later and fire the new employee because she belongs to that protected class. That’s why you should make it a policy that the same managers who make hiring decisions also make termination decisions.

When you discover race-based harassment, act quickly to investigate, discipline

09/03/2010

Take it seriously anytime you learn that employees are using bigoted language or are otherwise harassing minority co-workers. If you punish offenders but the victim files a hostile environment lawsuit anyway, you’re likely to win in court. That’s why you should have a quick-response action plan for dealing with name-calling, graffiti and problematic behavior.

Vague gripes about bosses aren’t protected

09/03/2010

Employees who are punished for complaining about alleged illegal discrimination can sue for that retaliation. And they don’t have to show that actual discrimination took place—just that they believed in good faith that it did. Still, that doesn’t mean that every vague complaint can be used as the basis for a retaliation claim.

Don’t let stereotypes dictate pregnancy policies

09/03/2010
Some ideas die hard—such as the belief that pregnant women can’t work in what some consider dangerous or strenuous jobs. If you make assignment decisions based on that mistaken belief instead of real medical information, you could end up in court.

‘Tone-deaf’ suitor or true harasser: How to tell

09/03/2010

A boss’s repeated failed efforts to woo a subordinate isn’t necessarily sexual harassment. But it’s often unclear for HR to tell when ineffective courting crosses the line into actionable harassment. To help you understand the line, courts have come up with a list of factors to consider when trying to determine whether an employee has been sexually harassed at work.

Don’t shoot yourself in the foot! If you praise extra work, pay for it

09/02/2010

Nonexempt employees are entitled to be paid for all the hours they work. Before issuing a performance appraisal that hails hourly employees for coming in early and staying late, make sure they were appropriately compensated. Otherwise, your praise may come back to haunt you.

Business groups fight to repeal new 1099 paperwork

09/02/2010
A coalition of more than 1,000 business associations and chambers of commerce called on Congress last month to repeal a burdensome new reporting mandate that was buried in the new health care reform law. Starting in 2012, businesses would be required to file a 1099 Form each time they spend more than $600 a year to buy goods or services from another company.

When duty calls: Don’t interfere with employees’ jury duty

09/01/2010
The Federal Jury Act makes it clear that employers may not “discharge, threaten to discharge, intimidate, or coerce any permanent employee by reason of such employee’s jury service, or the attendance or scheduled attendance in connection with such service, in any court of the United States.” Two recent cases show that courts won’t turn a blind eye to employers that fire workers because of jury service.

Rochester roofer settles race bias claims for $1 million

09/01/2010
Elmer Davis Roofing, the largest roofing contractor in New York state, will pay $1 million to settle an EEOC race bias lawsuit, following what the commission called “decades of ugly and unlawful discrimination against African-American employees.”

Was N.Y. union staffer fired for trying to organize a union?

09/01/2010

Until recently, Jim Callaghan was a writer for the United Federation of Teachers (UFT), the union that represents New York City teachers and that has made its name by actively opposing city officials’ power to fire teachers without due process. Now Callaghan is claiming UFT employees have no such protection themselves. He says he was fired after he began looking into unionizing UFT editorial employees.