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New York

When it comes to discrimination lawsuits, the clock starts ticking with firing date

02/07/2013
A federal trial court has reiterated that the important date for filing deadlines is not when an employee learns he was discriminated against, but when he was fired. Employees have to file their EEOC complaint within 300 days of discharge or they lose the right to sue.

How to create a valid severance agreement: Sweeten the pot above and beyond the usual

02/07/2013
To prevent lawsuits over layoffs, employers often offer a severance agreement that requires the employee to waive the right to sue. When those agreements involve older workers, they have to meet very specific legal requirements.

Counter religious discrimination claim by showing focus on accommodation, job performance

02/07/2013
Do you have a difficult employee who always has a ready excuse for poor performance? If he’s also demanding religious accommodations, don’t get sucked into litigation over alleged religious discrimination.

Choreographer dances off with $125,000 settlement

02/07/2013
Marymount Manhattan College has settled an EEOC discrimination lawsuit that alleged the college discriminated against a 64-year-old choreography instructor when it denied her a tenure-track assistant professorship.

ADA: No need to eliminate essential functions

02/07/2013
Some disabled employees think employers should drastically modify their jobs so they are do-able, even if that means removing essential functions from job descriptions. Fortunately, there’s no such requirement.

Remind bosses: No comments on FMLA use

02/07/2013

Some managers and supervisors just can’t seem to resist offering “helpful” career advice to subordinates. That’s especially true for workers they may see as less devoted to their work than old-school employees. But a remark concerning absences covered by the FMLA may well be viewed as interference with a protected right.

N.Y. High Court rules on disciplinary definitions for public employees

01/13/2013
Although public employers may be aware of their obligation to provide certain types of employees with an opportunity for a hearing before imposing discipline (such as a written reprimand), the line be­­tween a nondisciplinary counseling memorandum and a disciplinary reprimand is not always clear.

Disaster averted: Make emergency preparedness part of your job

01/09/2013
Hurricane Sandy … the derecho last June … employers must be prepared for a variety of disaster scenarios. Two very practical matters employers must deal with in the aftermath of a disaster: workplace cleanup and paying workers. Federal law affects both.

First Republic settles FLSA suit for more than $1 million

01/09/2013
San Francisco-based First Republic Bank has agreed to pay $1,009,644 in overtime back wages for 392 First Republic Bank employees in New York, California, Connecticut, Mas­­sa­­chu­­setts and Oregon.

Queens contractors plead guilty to not paying workers

01/09/2013

The owners of Onward Construction in Queens have pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor count of failing to pay their employees. The company quit paying its seven workers in March 2011. In all, they owed workers $18,680 by the end of September 2012.