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Florida

Orlando shooter showed signs of depression before rampage

12/08/2009

In the weeks leading up to the Nov. 6 shootings at the offices of Reynolds, Smith & Hills in downtown Orlando—where one person was killed and five wounded—alleged gunman Jason Rodriguez had exhibited signs of deep depression, according to relatives.

Fort Lauderdale suit shows cops don’t know all the laws

12/08/2009

When Fort Lauderdale police officers sued the city, they claimed an early retirement offered to older workers violated the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA). The grounds: that a release the city asks the departing officers to sign illegally makes retirees relinquish all claims against the city.

Can an employee collect workers’ comp and then sue us for more?

12/04/2009

Q. One of our employees suffered a job-related injury. Now she’s trying to sue us in court for damages following mediation in which she settled her workers’ compensation petition by accepting permanent total disability (PTD) benefits. Can she do that?

Worker complained of bias? Discipline with care

12/03/2009

Employees who complain about alleged discrimination are protected from retaliation for doing so, even if it turns out that their discrimination claims don’t hold water. The idea is that employees shouldn’t have to fear reprisal if they complain internally about discrimination or go to the EEOC. If one of your employees files a discrimination complaint, be careful how you discipline him for any workplace rule-breaking.

Justify different penalties for like violations

12/03/2009

When it comes to discipline, equal treatment is the only safe way to go since you don’t know which employees might sue for alleged discrimination based on membership in a protected class. That doesn’t mean, of course, that you can’t come up with different punishments when the circumstances warrant. The key is to document why you punished one employee more severely for seemingly similar rule violations.

How should we handle union reps during employee misconduct interviews?

12/03/2009

Q. We recently signed a collective-bargaining agreement with a union. While the labor contract addresses union representation during grievances and arbitrations, it doesn’t offer our managers and security investigators any guidance on whether and how the union can represent a covered employee during any interviews or investigations of possible employee misconduct. What is our duty under these circumstances?

Don’t let chronic complainer scare you from legit discipline

12/01/2009

Some employees see discrimination everywhere and constantly complain. How you react can mean the difference between winning and losing a lawsuit. Keep cool no matter how often the employee runs to the EEOC. Focus on his work, not the complaints, and treat him like every other employee.

It probably seemed like a good idea at the time

12/01/2009

A South Florida secretary e-mailed a bomb threat to American Airlines to make sure her boss had time to catch a pre-Thanksgiving flight from Miami to Honduras. The plane was detained—and so was Claudia De La Rosa after police traced the e-mail back to her work computer … Police arrested her for making a false bomb report, a crime punishable with a prison term of up to 15 years.

H1N1 virus alert: Complying with the ADA during an emergency

11/13/2009

The H1N1 influenza virus has added a note of urgency to the need to understand the ADA’s privacy requirements. Although some of the rules are relaxed in emergencies, employers that use confidential medical information to discriminate against workers will have to answer in court for their actions.

Beware RIFing worker who’s out on FMLA leave

11/09/2009

Employees returning from FMLA leave are entitled to reinstatement to their former jobs or equivalent positions. However, an employer can terminate an employee while she’s out on FMLA leave if it can show it would have done so anyway even if the employee hadn’t taken FMLA leave. But be careful …