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Florida

FMLA: No reinstatement guarantee for trial job

12/13/2011
Here’s a twist on the FMLA’s requirement to restore an employee to her previous job after she returns from leave: If an employee has been provisionally promoted but takes intermittent FMLA leave, she’s not necessarily entitled to the new job when her leave expires.

Keep full records on length of try-out stints

12/13/2011
Some employers prefer to offer employees a trial run before making a new promotion official. There’s a danger, though: If you end up keeping the employee on “training” status longer than you did others who don’t share his protected class, he may claim discrimination.

After hours: How to regulate employees’ off-duty behavior

11/29/2011
Employers can regulate what employees do away from work—but only within narrow limits. There are often good reasons to. Some off-duty acts reflect poorly on employers, raise insurance costs and create conflicts of interest. Here’s how to make the call.

Document poor attitude, just in case of lawsuit

11/25/2011
Here’s a tip for handling a difficult and argumentative employee. If she tells her supervisors she doesn’t like her job, wants to avoid some tasks and otherwise doesn’t seem interested in progressing, note her lousy attitude.

Freeport firefighter claims union talk led to firing

11/09/2011
Legal action is heating up the Panhandle town of Freeport, after firefighter John Carter sued the mayor and the fire chief.

ACLU, TSA settle case of HIV-positive applicant

11/09/2011
The federal Transportation Security Administration has settled a lawsuit brought by the national ACLU and its Florida chapter. The ACLU filed an administrative complaint on behalf of an HIV-positive Air Force veteran who was rejected for a job as a transportation security officer because of his HIV status.

You’re hired! Oh, you’re pregnant? You’re fired!

11/09/2011
Capri Healthcare in Clearwater is being sued following an EEOC complaint that it rescinded a job offer as soon as it found out its new employee was pregnant.

Warning letter typically isn’t an adverse reaction

11/09/2011
Not everything negative that happens to an employee is the basis for a lawsuit. Employees have to allege both that they were on the receiving end of some sort of negative feedback and that there were consequences that changed the terms and conditions of employment.

Courts won’t second-guess honest business decisions

11/09/2011
Courts hesitate to second-guess an employer’s decision to cut staff for economic reasons. Generally, employees have to challenge such decisions head on, with direct evidence of discrimination. That’s hard to do.

Employee sues for bias? Check lawsuit claims against original EEOC complaint

11/09/2011

A court has clarified that the EEOC isn’t required or expected to look beyond what an employee states in his agency complaint when investigating it. That means that if an employee fills out the form herself and doesn’t provide enough information to trigger suspicions that discrimination has occurred, chances are the matter won’t go further.