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Policies / Handbooks

Title VII’s silence on gay bias doesn’t give OK to discriminate

10/01/2000
It would be an understatement to describe the working relationship between nurse Gary Hamner and the hospital’s medical director as poor. Hamner, a homosexual, says …

Employee doesn’t need to exhaust complaint channels to file suit

10/01/2000
After complaining to her store manager several times about harassment, Gabrielle Breda decided to resign and sue rather than take her complaint up the chain of command. Company policy …

Prepare for OSHA visit when labor’s unhappy

10/01/2000
Pay extra attention to safety when your company is going through labor unrest. Reason: A new study shows that the likelihood of a federal safety inspection …

Base English-only rules on business necessity

10/01/2000
Unless you have a good business reason, steer clear of preventing workers from talking to each other in their native language. In September …

Check arbitration pacts against these standards

10/01/2000

Q. To hold down litigation costs and resolve disputes faster, we’re thinking about requiring employees to sign arbitration agreements that would make them arbitrate employment disputes instead of going to court. Are these agreements legal? —C.R., California

Even ‘tolerable’ harassment will nail you

10/01/2000
For months, Richard Corliss hurled racial slurs at two African-American co-workers at McDonald’s. When the two women complained, their supervisor said he couldn’t control Corliss’ mouth, claimed he didn’t know how …

No special protection for morning sickness

10/01/2000
After 20 unexcused absences in a year, Jennifer Dormeyer was fired from her job as a bank teller. She claimed nine of the absences were because of morning sickness and sued …

Be consistent: Don’t slap harasser on wrist, then fire victim

09/01/2000
Michelle Johnson complained that her boss, a police chief, exposed himself, touched her inappropriately and verbally abused her. The employer launched an investigation. Johnson saw the chief as he was …

Company’s ‘head in the sand’ response racks up punitive damages

09/01/2000
Faced with a bad situation, Wax Works record stores managed to make it even worse, and paid a big price. One of Wax Works’ store managers, Kerry Ogden, had compiled …

Set policies on which software employees can download

09/01/2000
Legal experts warn that employers could get caught up in the current battle over the legality of programs that let users download music free off the Internet. If employees …