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Retaliation

When you’ve been accused: Handling an EEOC charge

05/01/2008
The events that lead to an EEOC charge are sometimes beyond a company’s control. Whatever your role in the events leading up to the complaint, how your company fares depends largely on how you respond. Don’t blow it—mistakes can be costly. Here are the steps you should follow if and when you receive an EEOC charge …

HR protected—But only if it actually helped file bias claims

05/01/2008
What happens if management wants to fire or otherwise punish an employee for discriminatory reasons, and HR objects? Can an HR professional who is then fired for refusing to play ball proceed to file her own EEOC retaliation or protected-activity claim? …

Camden firefighter sues over racism

04/28/2008
A firefighter who was recently fired by the Camden Fire Department is suing for harassment and retaliation, alleging a captain at Tower Ladder Company 2 “habitually” made threatening racist comments. Shane Streater alleges that he was discharged shortly after he began complaining about the harassment …

Appeals court dumps Wyeth whistle-Blower’s claim

04/28/2008
A three-judge panel of the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals rejected a whistle-blower claim by Mark Livingston, a former training director at the Sanford, N.C., facility of the drug maker Wyeth …

It’s up to the employee to explain religious objections

04/25/2008
Good news for employers: You aren’t required to be religiously clairvoyant when it comes to accommodating religious beliefs. Although Title VII says employers must reasonably accommodate religious beliefs that conflict with job requirements, it is the employee who is responsible for explaining exactly how her religion conflicts with some aspect of the job …

Serial complainer? She probably can’t show retaliation

04/25/2008
Employees who file discrimination complaints can claim retaliation if they can show that their employers took actions that would dissuade reasonable employees from complaining in the first place. But employees who constantly file complaints probably won’t be able to show retaliation for all but the most egregious punishments. Here’s why …

Can a guy mess up so bad, it turns out good?

04/25/2008
In 2000, Jeffrey Paich was hired to manage the Nike Factory Store in Mercer. A year later, Debra Sweda became Paich’s supervisor. Over the next four years, Sweda was inundated with complaints about Paich’s temper and his treatment of women …

Appeals court dumps whistle-Blower’s claim

04/23/2008
A three-judge panel of the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals rejected a whistle-blower claim by Mark Livingston, former training director at the Sanford vaccine plant of pharmaceuticals giant Wyeth Inc. The company fired Livingston in December 2002 …

Tell supervisors to zip it! Little digs can add up to retaliation

04/22/2008
When supervisors have to work with an employee they view as a troublemaker, they sometimes look for subtle ways to exact punishment. If the so-called troublemaker got that title because he constantly complains that his co-workers are being discriminated against, supervisors should lay off …

FMLA entitles you to request proof worker’s parent has serious health condition

04/21/2008
Do you routinely accept employees’ claims they need FMLA time off to care for an elderly parent? If so, consider a new policy. While it may be easier to approve leave than to challenge it, blanket approvals may prove costly in the long run as more and more “sandwich generation” employees find themselves having to care for both their children and their elderly parents …