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Employer liability for defamation claims based on a reference

07/21/2008
Q. Our company constantly receives calls from prospective employers requesting references for our former employees. Recently, one of our receptionists told an inquiring employer that a former employee was terminated for falsifying his expense reports. The former employee now has threatened to file a lawsuit against us for defamation. Do we have any exposure? …

Would an employee’s signed release protect us against reference liability?

07/21/2008

Q. What can we do to protect our company from being sued by former employees when we give references? Should we require that the prospective employer provide us with a release or consent from the former employee? …

The HR I.Q. Test: August ’08

07/17/2008
Test your knowledge of recent trends in employment law, comp & benefits and other HR issues with our monthly mini-quiz …

He said/She said: The legal risks of interviewing transgender applicants

07/17/2008
Federal workplace anti-discrimination laws don’t specifically extend protection to transgender people. However, 13 states plus several cities and counties have passed such laws. But even if your state or city doesn’t have such a law, you still could face liability for discriminating against transgender people …

Asking worker to fetch coffee may be old-school, but is it harassment?

07/17/2008

Soon after a Pennsylvania sales company hired Tamara Klopfenstein as a receptionist, she had performance problems right away. But the real trouble began when Klopfenstein received an e-mail from a VP that said one of her “many responsibilities … is making and getting coffee.”

The dastaar worked in ‘Aladdin’

07/14/2008
Musician Sukhbir Channa has filed a $1 million class-action lawsuit against Walt Disney World, claiming the park denied him employment because his Sikh religion requires him to wear a beard and a dastaar, or turban …

It’s OK to ask questions about applicant’s ability to do specific job

07/14/2008
Tell your hiring managers the good news. They can question an obviously physically challenged applicant’s ability to perform a specific job without risking a successful disability discrimination lawsuit based on regarding the applicant as disabled. The key is to stick to questions related to the exact position the applicant seeks …

Caution: Hiring applicant who signed noncompete spells trouble

07/11/2008
As noncompetition agreements become more and more popular with employers, it’s becoming easier for you to unknowingly hire someone who has already signed an agreement with a previous employer. All the ensuing complications lead more employers to ask themselves whether they should (or even can) legally hire an employee bound by a noncompete agreement with a former employer …

Applications and date of birth

07/11/2008
Q. We use a standardized employment application form. One of the questions on the form asks for the applicant’s date of birth. We have been told that it is illegal to ask for this information, as it might lead to age discrimination. Is this true? …

Drugmaker catches disco fever

07/11/2008

Allegan–based drugmaker Perrigo Corp. is reaching out to potential hires with the “Perrigo Dancing Scientists,” a slick YouTube music video of scientists in lab coats busting moves. The video is designed to show job hunters that Perrigo is a hip, fun place to work …