Retaliation

Employee filed for workers’ comp? Careful with layoff

06/12/2008

If your organization plans to lay off employees, make sure you don’t target anyone for a furlough because of a workers’ comp claim or prior injury. That’s why it’s a good idea for someone in HR to audit the layoff list for any apparent retaliation …

Take steps to reduce your liability for co-Worker retaliation

06/12/2008

The United States 6th Circuit Court of Appeals has joined a growing number of federal courts holding that employers are liable for co-worker retaliation. The decision, in Hawkins, et al., v. Anheuser-Busch, increases employers’ liability when an employee retaliates after another worker has complained about improper conduct …

Did serial harasser fare better than the victim at DHS?

06/11/2008

Jacqueline Smith worked as a server in the Illinois Department of Human Services (DHS) John J. Madden Mental Health Center from 2000 to 2004. In September 2003, a co-worker, Eddie Spivey, allegedly called Smith a sexually explicit name while their supervisor, Bella Ynares, was present …

Is that harassment—Or just a personality clash?

06/10/2008

When an employee complains about alleged discrimination or harassment by a supervisor, take a careful look at what each person says is happening. As the following case shows, sometimes just a poor working relationship—not discrimination—is the source of the problem …

Even workers unharmed by discrimination still could sue

06/06/2008

The floodgates of association discrimination lawsuits are slowly opening. Although the following case ultimately was dismissed because the employee couldn’t show he was harmed or that the company engaged in discriminatory hiring practices, it serves as a powerful reminder that lawsuits can come from just about any employee …

6th Circuit rules: Association discrimination now illegal in Ohio

06/06/2008

Employers, beware! Retaliation against a third party who is associated with an employee who engaged in protected activity now can be the basis of a lawsuit in Ohio …

Feuding employees leave employer mired in the middle

06/04/2008

Annie Ludwig began working for the Rochester Psychiatric Center (RPC) as a psychiatric nurse in the Adult Services Unit. Within a month, she was counseled to improve her professional knowledge, supervision and attendance. Otherwise, she would be in danger of losing her job …

There’s pretext, and then there’s not even bothering

06/03/2008

It makes a judge’s job easier when a company just fires workers for complaining, rather than trying to concoct elaborate rationalizations. That’s the tack evidently taken by Pillow Kingdom of Denver …

Public employers, take note: Some employee speech may be protected

05/30/2008

Public employees have some rights that other employees may not. One of those is the right to speak out on matters of public importance without being punished. But that right isn’t available to employees performing their official duties …

Warn supervisors: No angry responses to employee complaints

05/28/2008

One of the best ways to sink a discrimination defense is to come off as defensive, angry and vengeful. That’s why you need to train all supervisors and managers on how to initially handle discrimination complaints. Tell them that no matter how outrageous the complaint, the only proper response is to explain exactly how the employee should report what happened …