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North Carolina

Watch out if your reorg affects only one worker

03/23/2012
If you terminate a current employee during a reorganization process and then hire someone outside the terminated worker’s protected class, you can count on a lawsuit that will go to trial.

Beware new grounds for wrongful-firing suits: Termination in violation of public policy

03/23/2012
Employees and their lawyers are always looking for new reasons to sue. Lately, there’s been an in­­crease in efforts to cast terminations as public-policy violations.

Stay ahead of EEOC complaint calendar by documenting when employee learns he’ll lose job

03/23/2012

Employees who think they have been wrongly fired face tight deadlines for complaining about discrimination. In North Carolina, they have just 180 days to file an EEOC complaint. What’s more, the clock starts ticking the day the employee learns he is informed he will no longer have a job, not from the last day on the job.

Looking for a quick end to harassment case? Never urge the complaining employee to resign

03/23/2012

Sexual harassment victims deserve to have their claims investigated, not ignored. Under no circumstances should you encourage a complaining employee to quit instead of having to endure continued harassment. That’s a sure indication to many juries that the worker was punished for reporting sexual harassment.

Manning’s big tip earns big penalty for Raleigh waiter

03/23/2012
A March evening started out great for a waiter at the Angus Barn restaurant. One of his customers was NFL quarterback and well-known big tipper Peyton Manning, who left a $200 tip. The waiter was so excited he posted Manning’s credit card slip in a photo on Facebook. Bad move …

Don’t let disability excuse worker misconduct

03/23/2012

Disabled employees sometimes try to use their medical conditions as an excuse for poor behavior. Don’t fall for it. Disability can’t be used to avoid discipline for misconduct.

Equal pay? Not if jobs aren’t really equal

03/23/2012
The Equal Pay Act says that men and women who perform jobs requiring equal skill, effort and responsibility should be paid the same. But that doesn’t mean everyone with the same title or similar job responsibilities falls into the same pay category.

Raleigh KFC agrees to settle EEOC harassment lawsuit

02/24/2012
A Kentucky Fried Chicken franchisee will pay $277,000 to resolve sexual harassment complaints from a group of women who worked at a store in Raleigh.

Winston-Salem Dairy Queen faces harassment charges

02/24/2012
The manager of a Winston-Salem Dairy Queen restaurant thought he was getting rid of a problem employee when he fired Chastity Hill-Cox. His problems were only beginning. The EEOC and Hill-Cox are suing Dairy Queen for sexual harassment …

What turkey fired the HIV-positive employee?

02/24/2012
Butterball, the Garner-based turkey processor, faces EEOC disability discrimination charges after it allegedly tolerated harassment against an HIV-positive employee and then fired her after she complained.