• The HR Specialist - Print Newsletter
  • HR Specialist: Employment Law
  • The HR Weekly

Terminations

OK to fire employee who complained, if you have rock-solid discharge reasons

08/13/2012

Some employees assume that complaining about harassment or discrimination will protect them from being disciplined. They may have heard or read that the fear of a retaliation lawsuit will make employers so gun-shy that they won’t crack down on misbehavior. Don’t let employees handcuff you like that.

Fairmont English teacher terminated for name-calling

08/07/2012
What’s in a name? That’s what the Kettering Board of Education asked two years ago after Fairmont High School English teacher Michael Togliatti began calling his students “idiot,” “troll” and “hobbit.”

Planned layoffs can include those who took FMLA leave

08/07/2012
Employees on FMLA leave sometimes think they’re immume from being discharged. That’s not true. As long as FMLA leave isn’t a factor in the decision, you can fire those on leave.

OK to terminate, even after FMLA leave request

08/07/2012
If you were going to terminate an employee before you learned she wanted FMLA leave, you still can. Just be sure you can document when and why the termination decision was made.

Albany Times Union settles with Newspaper Guild

08/03/2012
The Albany Times Union and the union representing its employees have reached a settlement following a National Labor Relations Board ruling that the newspaper violated federal labor law when it laid off three employees in the fall of 2009.

Leave policy goes above and beyond FMLA? Make sure court sees your generosity

08/03/2012
If, like many employers, you offer employees more than the required 12 weeks of unpaid FMLA leave in any given year, you may have a powerful response to a disability or FMLA discrimination lawsuit.

Nassau County settles suit with septuagenarian lifeguard

08/03/2012
He may not make the cast of “Bay­­watch,” but Jay Lieberfarb now has $65,000 that says Nassau County was wrong to fire him from his job as a lifeguard in 2009.

Log date you inform employee of termination

08/03/2012

Employees who learn they’re being terminated don’t have much time to file an EEOC complaint—in New York, no more than 300 days. But some employees think they have 300 days from their last day at work. That’s incorrect. Instead, the clock starts ticking when the employee is first informed that she was losing her job.

Coach–called a ‘poor fit’–files race bias suit

07/31/2012
When track coach and teacher Alvin Jackson was hired in September 2010, he became Frisco High School’s only black coach and core-subject teacher. Now he is suing the Frisco Independent School District, alleging that his contract wasn’t renewed this year because of race discrimination.

OK to lay off worker who took FMLA leave as long as that’s not a factor in the decision

07/31/2012
Once an employee has used up FMLA and other leave, requiring employees to show up and get their work done is a reasonable expectation. In the following case, the court reasoned that the employer could consider attendance when deciding personnel cuts, as long as it didn’t use FMLA leave as a factor.