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Terminations

You don’t have to put up with insubordination

04/19/2010

Some employees think they can behave like jerks at work without any consequences—as long as they don’t harass co-workers. You don’t have to put up with that kind of nonsense. Instead, institute clear rules against such behavior. Put them in your employee handbook. Then enforce those rules—up to and including firing those who just won’t change their ways.

When former employees poach more of your all-stars, fight back in court

04/19/2010
There’s hope for employers victimized by competitors who attempt to poach corporate all-stars. If some other organization tries to unethically steal your best employees, you may have a remedy—even if you haven’t made employees sign noncompete agreements (which aren’t usually enforceable in California anyway).

‘Hey, I thought Mike was going to retire last year’

04/16/2010
Be cautious about asking employees about their retirement plans. Employees who are fired soon after disclosing their retirement thoughts have brought successful age bias claims in court.

Facing RIF, employees must show initiative

04/15/2010
Workers who lose their jobs in a reduction in force may look at those who were retained and conclude there had to be a discriminatory reason for their misfortune. But before they can successfully sue, employees must show some degree of initiative before they can claim discrimination. An employee who never applies for an open position or who doesn’t actively ask about available jobs isn’t going to win a lawsuit.

Doc’s note can sometimes work in your favor

04/15/2010

At some point in your HR career, you’ll run into a trainwreck of an employee with problems that just seem to escalate. It may start with a small injury and a workers’ comp claim. That can turn into a dispute over alleged harassment and retaliation. Eventually, she may even claim she has developed deep psychological scars … If she says she can’t work and has a doctor who supports her, you may be able to use the medical assessment to your benefit.

Include an extension clause in your noncompete agreements

04/15/2010
In the wake of a recent Illinois court decision in Citadel Investment Group, LLC v. Teza Technologies LLC, employers should rethink their noncompete agreements. Without fine tuning, these contracts may not work as well as they could.

Air quality complaint isn’t basis for retaliation claim

04/15/2010

The Illinois Indoor Air Quality Act is designed to reduce indoor pollution. It tasks the Illinois Board of Health with enforcing statewide indoor air quality standards, because encouraging good air quality is good public policy. However, the law doesn’t specifically offer whistle-blower protection to employees who voice complaints about their workplace air quality.

Alcoholics still have to follow work rules

04/15/2010

The ADA protects people who are alcoholics from discrimination based on their disability. That doesn’t mean, however, that alcoholic employees don’t have to follow standard workplace behavioral rules. Simply put, alcoholism isn’t an excuse for poor behavior—and you don’t have to tolerate it.

Beaumont Autoplex worker files race discrimination suit

04/15/2010
A former employee is suing Mike Smith Autoplex and Group 1 Automotive, claiming he was forced to resign from the Beaumont car dealer because of his race.

Don’t pile on reasons for firing; you’re spoiling for retaliation fight in court

04/15/2010

Let’s say you’ve got one very good reason to fire an employee, plus several other halfway decent reasons. Why not wrap them all into one big package of employee shortcomings when it comes time to show her the door? Because such overkill could play badly in court if the dismissed employee ever sues you.