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Illinois

Discrimination or paranoia? Courts can distinguish

11/15/2010
Courts are beginning to get tough on employees who say they had no choice but to quit and then sue for alleged discrimination.

Court: We assume you’re not biased against Americans

11/15/2010
An applicant for an adjunct professor position at a for-profit educational institution has lost her bid to advance a lawsuit alleging discrimination against Americans. The court noted that it takes more than a mere allegation to litigate a suit charging discrimination against the majority.

Use exit interviews to identify patterns of supervisor’s hidden discrimination

11/15/2010

Do you suspect a rogue supervisor is driving away employees belonging to a protected class? If so, begin asking tougher questions during your exit interviews. For example, if several black employees who work under the same supervisor have quit or requested transfers, find out why. The problem may be a biased supervisor …

Show good-faith ADA accommodation effort by documenting interaction with employee

11/11/2010

Employers and disabled employees both have an obligation to act like adults when coming up with possible reasonable accommodations. Each side has to listen to the other and consider different viewpoints and potential accommodations. Neither party should walk away in a huff. Be smart: Carefully track the accommodations process.

Illinois ranks high in magazine’s business climate ratings

11/11/2010

Illinois has the nation’s 16th best business climate, according to Site Selection magazine. Each year, the magazine rates the states by tallying up manufacturing plant openings and new expansions of other corporate facilities. It also surveys site selectors—the people who help companies decide where to locate—to get their take on state business climates.

Stop lawsuits by double-teaming hiring process

11/11/2010

You can help lawsuit-proof your hiring process by relying on strength in numbers. Have two company representatives sit in on interviews. Then have both reps deliver the news when you have to tell an applicant she wasn’t selected. That’s insurance against a drawn-out he said/she said lawsuit.

Make choice up front: Employee or contractor?

11/11/2010

Adding staff? Decide up front if you want an employee or an independent contractor. Under the FLSA and state law, you must pay overtime to nonexempt employees. Not so for independent contractors. Make the employee-or-contractor call well before you bring someone on board. Don’t assume you can make the designation later. That usually won’t work.

How to Collect Employee Medical Info Under New FMLA Rules

11/10/2010
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Establish clear performance expectations so courts can judge if employee was meeting them

11/01/2010

Courts often hesitate to second-guess employers when they fire employees for what seem like honest reasons. And employers that set out clear performance expectations and then show how the terminated employee fell short rarely lose a lawsuit. That’s because, absent smoking-gun evidence of discrimination, fired employees have to prove they were meeting their employer’s legitimate expectations.

Tollway EEO officer claims punishment after complaints

11/01/2010
An Equal Employment Opportunity officer with the Illinois Tollway has sued the agency, claiming she was suspended in retaliation for two reports she wrote alleging contracting improprieties by its former chief procurement officer.