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Firing

Calculate FMLA eligibility based on date leave begins

10/28/2010
Some workers decide to provide notice that they’ll need FMLA leave long before they’re even eligible for coverage. When you get such a request, don’t reject it out-of-hand.

Dillard’s faces age bias charges after firing in Cary

10/26/2010

Dillard’s department stores will have to answer in court to charges it discriminated against former area sales manager Virginia Keene because of her age. Working in Cary, Keene was 61 years old at the time the company fired her and replaced her with a 24-year-old with only four months’ experience.

New employee a dud? Boss who hired should fire

10/26/2010

Someone who harbors animosity against a protected class isn’t likely to hire someone he knows belongs to that protected class. If a manager picks a black man as his preferred candidate for an opening and offers the job, he probably isn’t a racist. If that same manager finds out the new employee isn’t as qualified as he sounded or looked on his résumé, he should be the one to make the termination decision.

Employee became disabled? Adjust expectations

10/15/2010

If a good employee has a sudden medical emergency and returns to work with lingering physical challenges, take his reintegration slowly and with compassion. Now is not the time to push him to perform exactly as he did before he became disabled. Otherwise, you may end up with a disability discrimination lawsuit on your hands.

Know when to settle! Even small jury awards can lead to huge attorneys’ fees

10/15/2010
Need a way to sell a possible lawsuit settlement to managers? Try explaining that even a small jury award can mean having to pay huge attorneys’ fees on the employee’s side, in addition to the company’s own legal costs.

Collect ample evidence of wrongdoing before firing military vet covered by USERRA

10/15/2010

USERRA provides returning soldiers, sailors and other service personnel with additional employment rights that other employees don’t always enjoy. One of those is the right to remain employed unless fired for just cause. In effect, USERRA temporarily turns what were once at-will employees into employees with job protection.

Fitness-for-duty exams: When can they be used?

10/15/2010
We’ve all tussled with sending employees to fitness-for-duty exams when returning from an injury or illness. When are they the right decision? When do they create liability? As this case shows, it’s best to let the doctor make the right call …

Handle firing with care if employee has complained about alleged corporate wrongdoing

10/12/2010

Employers that want to terminate employees who have complained about pressure to engage in criminal activity must make sure the termination process is flawless. It’s especially important to be able to articulate in very concrete terms an underlying, legitimate reason for the firing—one that can’t be mistaken as a pretext for getting rid of a troublemaker.

Firing new mother? Better have a good reason

10/12/2010

Terminating someone who is pregnant or who just gave birth can be dangerous. If you must fire her, make sure you can provide clear and consistent reasons. Tell supervisors they should never make comments that sound as if the real reason is pregnancy.

Federal court makes it tougher for employees to prove retaliation

10/12/2010

Federal courts often use the well-known McDonnell Douglas burden-shifting test to determine whether an employer has unlawfully discriminated against an employee. Now the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that when it considers an Illinois workers’ compensation retaliation claim, it must apply an Illinois state law rule that is more demanding for employees than the McDonnell Douglas test.