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Terminations

Stop post-firing harassment suits by tracking and investigating every complaint

10/15/2009

An employee who has been discharged may go looking for some underlying reason other than poor performance to explain why she got the ax. And she may suddenly remember incidents that now seem awfully a lot like sexual harassment. Your best defense to such charges is a robust harassment and discrimination policy that tracks every complaint.

Can an employee sue us and our parent company?

10/15/2009

Q. Our company is owned by a foreign parent company. A former employee who was discharged last year recently filed a suit against us and our parent, claiming age discrimination in violation of the Minnesota Human Rights Act. Will the court dismiss our parent company from the lawsuit?

Are we too small to WARN?

10/15/2009

Q. We are considering laying off approximately 20 of our 83 employees. If we move forward with this plan, is there any requirement that we provide advance notice to the employees who will be subjected to layoff?

Even if managers go rogue, you can defend terminations by conducting independent review

10/13/2009

You can preach your zero-tolerance policy on discrimination and retaliation until you’re blue in the face—and sometimes it still makes no difference. Occasionally a supervisor will say or do something stupid that gets the company dragged into court. However, there are steps you can take to avoid liability.

OK to terminate pregnant employee sometimes; the PDA merely requires equal treatment

10/09/2009

Some employees believe the Pregnancy Discrimination Act makes it illegal to discharge a pregnant woman for any reason related to the pregnancy. That’s not quite true. The PDA merely requires employers to treat pregnant women no differently than other employees. That may mean discharge for complications associated with pregnancy—under the right circumstances.

Keep resignation letter, exit interview notes—just in case

10/09/2009

Employees often don’t think about suing until after they have quit their jobs and moved on. Then they claim they had no choice but to quit because working conditions were so dreadful. Beat such allegations by keeping resignation letters and any notes taken during exit interviews. They help prove the resignation was voluntary.

Seek attorney’s help on noncompete agreements

10/05/2009

It’s important to carefully tailor noncompete agreements, also known as covenants not to compete. Employers can prohibit employees from poaching customers, but it’s essential to have an attorney help you craft a covenant that will prevail in court.

You’ve got mail—and you might have a lawsuit if your e-mails are too casual

10/05/2009

E-mail—often quick and informal—is the standard for most business communications these days. But if you’re too casual in the way you word e-mails, you could wind up in lots of legal trouble, as the following case shows.

Age bias nets almost $1 million for El Paso airport food manager

10/05/2009

A U.S. District Court jury in Texas has awarded $992,500 in an age discrimination lawsuit filed by a former employee of the company that provides food and beverage services for El Paso International Airport.

Nail down documentation before firing harassment complainant

10/05/2009

Sometimes, employers have to fire employees—even those who have recently filed successful discrimination complaints. Don’t be afraid to do so. You can beat a bogus retaliation claim by making sure you have good, solid documentation to substantiate the firing.