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New York

2006 Farmingdale noose incident subject of new discrimination suit

02/01/2008

Fourteen black employees of 180 Connect, a Farmingdale cable television contractor, have filed a lawsuit over a 2006 incident in which a supervisor hung a 15-foot noose in a warehouse. Although the EEOC investigated and eventually dismissed charges brought against the company, the suit alleges the noose was part of a campaign of harassment against black workers …

Arabic school principal’s rights were not violated

02/01/2008

Free speech protections don’t apply to on-the-job speech, a U.S. District Court judge ruled, ending round one of Debbie Almontaser’s legal bid to regain her job as principal of the Khalil Gibran International Academy in Brooklyn …

The old ‘Pot in the meatballs’ trick fails again

02/01/2008

A New York City Police Department counterterrorism detective said he failed a drug test in 2005 because his wife spiked his meatballs with marijuana …

Why do employers have to investigate harassment?

02/01/2008
Q. I know I’m supposed to investigate harassment complaints. I just don’t know what law requires it. Exactly why does an employer need to conduct an investigation of a harassment complaint?

What to do? Employee who complained about harassment wants us to drop the investigation

02/01/2008
Q. What if the harassment victim wants the matter dropped? Do we still have to conduct an investigation?

Concerns during a harassment investigation

02/01/2008

Q. If we start an investigation about sexual harassment, is there anything we need to worry about while conducting the investigation? …

Are we liable for a car accident our employee had on the way to a meeting?

02/01/2008
Q. If an employee is involved in a “fender bender” en route to a work-related meeting in his or her personal vehicle, is the employer liable?

An age-Old problem: ‘Stray remarks’ have a way of coming home

02/01/2008

Conventional wisdom has been that isolated or “stray” remarks alone by an employer do not prove discriminatory intent. Conventional wisdom may be wrong. A recent 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals case (Tomassi v. Insignia Financial Group, Inc., 478 F.3d 111, 2007) has clarified what it deemed a misconception of the true meaning of the term “stray remarks”  …

Hiring friends, family not illegal—Unless race factors in

01/01/2008

Technically, favoring friends and family members for jobs and giving them plum assignments isn’t illegal. But if nepotism results in an all or mostly white work force, applicants or employees from other protected categories (e.g., race, gender, national origin) can still sue, claiming illegal discrimination …

Settle quickly if you’re worried overtime case will expand

01/01/2008

Overtime collective actions represent a growing nationwide trend. These are cases in which one employee claims his employer misclassified him as exempt and owes overtime. The employee also claims to represent everyone else similarly situated. If such a case goes forward, it may mean the employer must pay out thousands of dollars in unpaid overtime. Employers have only one chance to make the case go away …