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Terminations

Quit or fired? Answer affects whether you pay unemployment

12/09/2008

How an employer handles an employee who doesn’t show up for work can mean the difference between paying unemployment compensation and not being liable.

Must we offer severance payments?

12/09/2008

Q. It looks like it will be necessary for our company to lay off several employees. Can you tell me whether we are required to pay severance? If so, how much?

FSU athletics tutor sues for defamation

12/09/2008

Brenda Monk, a former learning specialist for Florida State University (FSU), has announced plans to file a $600,000 lawsuit for defamation following allegations that she provided test answers to FSU football players and other athletes she was tutoring.

How frequently must employees be paid? What’s the rule on final paychecks?

12/08/2008

Q. How often do I have to pay my employees? Are there any rules that require payment upon termination within a specific time period?

What are the ground rules for records retention?

12/08/2008

Q. How long do I have to keep employees’ personnel files after their terminations?

Former TV producer ups the ante in disability suit

12/08/2008

Erin Primmer, former producer of “The Montel Williams Show,” has increased the amount of her disability discrimination lawsuit against CBS by a whopping $3 million. Primmer claims she was wrongfully fired after she collapsed from a brain aneurysm in 2007 …

Older worker suddenly dinged? See you in court

12/08/2008

Judges are naturally suspicious. They regularly see the worst of humanity, and many don’t have the rosiest outlook on life. So when they hear that an employer suddenly disciplined an employee who has put in decades of service with nary a blot on her disciplinary record, they think “age discrimination.”

Be prepared to explain why offenses were similar but punishments differed

12/08/2008

Employers need flexibility when it comes to disciplining employees. But flexibility can’t come at the expense of members of a protected class. Be careful before you approve different punishments for the same or very similar rule violations.

Government employer alert: Firing because of spouse’s comments is unconstitutional

12/08/2008

Public employers, take note: If an employee has an outspoken spouse who chooses to voice concerns about the actions of the government agency, think twice before punishing the employee. It may amount to depriving the spouse of her First Amendment right to speak out on public issues.

Small age difference may support age bias claim

12/08/2008

Employees who claim they were fired or didn’t get hired because of age discrimination don’t have to prove that the employee who was hired or retained was younger than age 40. Instead, they need only show that the other employee was at least seven years younger.