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Illinois

EEOC suit says school system made teacher choose: faith or job

04/14/2011

Safoorah Kahn was a middle school math coach in the tiny Chicago suburb of Berkeley. As a devout Muslim, she looked forward to making the hajj or pilgrimage to Mecca, something Muslims are expected to do once during their lifetimes. Kahn asked the school district for three weeks of unpaid leave to make the journey. The school district refused the request …

Neutral comment doesn’t prove pregnancy discrimination

04/14/2011

When an em­­ployee announces she is pregnant, the only appropriate re­sponse is “Con­grat­ulations!” Then give her the information she needs so she can take any leave to which she is entitled. Negative comments can be used to prove pregnancy discrimination, but neutral ones cannot.

Work with your attorney to preserve evidence

04/14/2011

These days, much of the evidence used in employment litigation is electronic—such as attendance records. Courts require employers to preserve such evidence when employers reasonably know that a lawsuit could arise. If evidence is destroyed, courts can impose heavy financial sanctions and even hand a win to the other side without a trial.

The best reason to retain personnel documents: Employees–and courts–have long memories

04/14/2011
Employees are often only too happy to go back years to come up with circumstantial evidence that their employers are biased, citing incidents that on their own could not be the basis for a lawsuit.

How not to handle FMLA leave: Do what Chicago did to a seriously ill employee

04/14/2011
Here’s a chance to learn from an employer’s FMLA mistakes. Don’t make the same ones yourself.

To catch a thief, first document suspicions

03/18/2011

Employee theft is a big problem for some employers. Even so, don’t make the mistake of accusing someone unless you have solid evidence he is the culprit. Instead, document your suspicions and consider whether to call police or conduct your own investigation. Then, try to catch the thief in the act.

Lesson from Walmart: How to cut risk when a co-worker harasses

03/18/2011

Here’s some good news for employers that take sexual harassment complaints seriously. In Sutherland v. Wal-Mart, the 7th Circuit emphasized that an employer’s prompt response to an employee’s complaint of sexual harassment may protect it from liability.  

Fire insubordinate worker, despite complaint

03/16/2011

Employees who complain about discrimination or harassment are protected from retaliation. But some of them mistakenly believe that complaining makes them invincible. That’s not true. Employers can discipline any employee who deserves it—including those who have complained—as long as the rules are applied fairly.

Being sued? Gather all employment records ASAP

03/16/2011

It’s a fact of life: Unhappy applicants, employees and former employees tend to sue. There’s not much you can do about that. However, you can be prepared to react quickly as soon as you learn of a lawsuit. The key is having complete documentation of all employment decisions.

Feel free to offer constructive criticism when evaluating employees–even good ones

03/15/2011

You may have employees who perform well but could do better—and you might have some ideas about how they can do that. So at evaluation time, you rate them as good or even excellent employees and want to include some specific suggestions in the narrative part of the evaluation. But you also know that some employees are sen­sitive to criticism. What should you do?