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Terminations

Best bet: Always investigate hostile environment claims

09/01/2007

You’ve heard a rumor that one of your employees is looking for or has already accepted another job. Then you call him into a meeting to discuss the matter. You ask whether the rumor is true. That’s when the employee admits the job hunt, but hits you with the reason: He claims the work environment is so hostile that he has no choice but to look. What’s your next step? Do you fire him since he’s looking for other work? Or do you tell him you will investigate his claims and then follow up? …

Personality clash? Don’t automatically transfer complainer

09/01/2007

Employees who complain of harassment may actually be experiencing a personality conflict. Circumstances that lead someone to see harassment based on race, disability or gender may be nothing more than the result of difficulty getting along with others. If your internal investigation reveals no real discrimination, you may be tempted to move the feuding parties as far away from each other as possible. But that may backfire, especially if the person you transfer is the one who complained of discrimination in the first place …

Outside complaint can be misconduct, meaning no unemployment

09/01/2007

Employees who break company rules can be fired for misconduct and aren’t eligible for unemployment compensation. But what if the “misconduct” involves taking a complaint outside the company? If your policy clearly states that complaints should be raised internally first, then you probably won’t have to pay unemployment for employees who are fired because they ignored your rule …

Morgan Stanley gains yet more bad publicity over sexual harassment

09/01/2007

A lawsuit filed in Manhattan Supreme Court in July describes a lurid and hostile scene at Morgan Stanley. A former client-services associate in the Melville, Long Island, office alleges her boss, a broker, stuck his hand up her skirt, stole underwear from her gym bag, sent her offensive notes and suggested they have sex. The lawsuit is the latest in a string of sex-bias suits that have already cost the firm $100 million …

Queens business owner must testify about religious beliefs

09/01/2007

Ted Doudak, president of Riva Jewelry Manufacturing in Long Island, was forced to testify in court whether he believes homosexuality is a sin against God, and gays and lesbians are doomed to eternal damnation. The former employee who brought the lawsuit claims he was fired a day after telling Doudak that the employee’s daughter is a lesbian and the employee is gay …

Pants suit doesn’t look too becoming on MTA

09/01/2007

A Pentecostal bus driver fired by the Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) for refusing to wear pants because it violated her religious beliefs has sued and is receiving legal aid from an Orthodox Jewish organization. Agudath Israel of America came to her aid because Orthodox Jewish women, like Pentecostals, can wear only skirts …

Whistle-Blower law doesn’t limit right to sue for nongovernment reporting

09/01/2007

Before the Illinois Whistleblower Act became law, employees could sue employers for retaliatory discharge if they reported wrongdoing either internally or to the government or the media. Some lawyers thought the act wiped out such broad employee protections. Now an Illinois appeals court has clarified that employees are protected even if they take their complaints outside an employer’s formal resolutions process …

Complaining about working conditions—And public policy violations—Also protected

09/01/2007

An employee who reports that his or her employer is violating state or federal law may be protected from discharge. The employee can sue for retaliatory discharge and also on the premise that firing him or her violates public policy …

Providing more leave than required? You can legally cut back

09/01/2007

Some employers offer more than the 12 weeks’ unpaid leave annually that the FMLA grants to eligible employees who need to care for themselves or close family members who have a serious health condition. But that doesn’t mean they have to keep doing so. It’s OK to change your leave policy to the legal minimum and then start disciplining employees who exceed the FMLA allotment …

Gender-Bender Liability: More States, Cities Make It Illegal to Discriminate Based on ‘Gender Identity’

09/01/2007

Don’t fire an employee for cross-dressing or allow co-workers to harass a female worker who acts masculine until you understand your potential liability under the increasing number of “gender-identity discrimination” laws. Such laws typically prevent discrimination against workers or applicants because they don’t conform to the stereotypes of how a man or woman looks, lives or acts …