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North Carolina

Beware bias claims when accommodations differ

07/23/2010
Overlapping issues often make it even harder for HR pros to deal with difficult situations. For example, addressing the needs of two disabled employees can turn into a discrimination lawsuit if they belong to different protected classes and you come up with different accommodations.

Bank of America workers sue for overtime

06/28/2010
Workers at Charlotte-based Bank of America’s retail branches and call centers in five states have filed a lawsuit claiming they are due unpaid overtime from the banking giant.

EEOC busts dentist’s chops

06/28/2010
Kinston-based Affordable Care Inc. will pay $150,000 to settle sex and race harassment charges leveled by two female employees of an affiliated dentist in Massachusetts.

N.C. woman has bone to pick with Perdue

06/28/2010

Audrey Sheftall and her granddaughter both applied for jobs at Perdue Farms’ Lewiston facility on the same day. Perdue hired the granddaughter, but not the 66-year-old Sheftall. Sheftall complained to the EEOC that Perdue had discriminated against her because she was no longer—ahem—a spring chicken.

‘Unacceptable conduct’ is valid discharge reason

06/28/2010
Public employees are entitled to due process before they’re fired. But that’s a flexible standard that allows firing for “unacceptable personal conduct.”

NASCAR’s Mayfield loses N.C. disability challenge

06/28/2010

The North Carolina Persons with Disabilities Act prohibits discrimination against the disabled, but that protection is limited. Consider the following case involving race car driver Jeremy Mayfield:

Employees may choose just one: Either workers’ comp or retaliation lawsuit

06/28/2010
Here’s a bit of good news for North Carolina employers: The Court of Appeals of North Carolina has rejected a bid to expand the right to sue one’s employer for retaliation.

Keep processes transparent so everyone knows crucial employment milestones

06/28/2010

Typically, employees have just a short period of time to file an EEOC discrimination claim. But what if they don’t know they are being discriminated against? In some circumstances, that may give them much more time to begin a lawsuit. All the more reason to be open about employment decisions—it makes it harder for employees to later claim they didn’t understand their situations.

Invest a little in harassment training upfront to avoid sky-high litigation costs later

06/28/2010

If you do nothing else during training sessions, at least impress upon supervisors and managers the costly mess that can result if they allow any sort of harassment or retaliation in their departments. And remind them that it doesn’t matter if employee complaints fail to stand up in court.

Good job descriptions explain pay differences

06/28/2010

Always prepare accurate job descriptions for each position. That way, if an employee challenges pay differences, you will be ready to show that jobs and duties that sound similar at first blush aren’t really comparable. That can come in handy if an employee claims some form of discrimination based on race or other protected characteristic.