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Texas

10 HR mistakes your employee’s lawyer will try to exploit

12/21/2011
If you’re ever hauled into court to testify in a lawsuit against your organization, what you say, and how you say it, can sink your defense—or help you win. Here are the 10 weaknesses you must be prepared to defend:

Take every lawsuit seriously, even those that seem weak

12/21/2011
Employees with flimsy cases sometimes decide to sue anyway, acting as their own attorneys. No matter how frivolous such a lawsuit seems to be, face it head on and fight for dismissal.

Special work arrangement? Ensure worker’s at-will status

12/21/2011
Occasionally, you may decide to create alternative work arrangements based on written agreements. How you do that is crucial to retaining at-will status.

Beware ill-chosen words, which–all by ­themselves–can sometimes launch lawsuits

12/21/2011
Sometimes, a single poorly chosen phrase can generate large legal bills, as the following case shows.

It’s got to be more than a hunch! Courts nix unsupported bias claims

12/21/2011
Good news for employers fighting off discrimination claims: Courts are losing patience with lawsuits based on little more than the argument that “it must have been discrimination.”

Leave this ugly legacy for the history books: Warn bosses against any reference to nooses

12/21/2011
You must instruct supervisors and managers: Any reference to hanging, ropes or nooses is absolutely forbidden in the workplace. Immediately address any complaints about nooses in the workplace. Also make sure no employee is punished for reporting the presence of a noose.

Employers expect uptick in lawsuits this year

12/21/2011
Nine in 10 employers expect litigation against their organizations to in­­crease or stay the same in 2012 compared with 2011, according to Ful­­bright & Jaworski’s 8th annual Liti­­gation Trends Survey Report.

Settlement reached in deaths at Mount Carroll grain elevator

12/21/2011
The operator of a Mount Carroll grain elevator has settled U.S. Department of Labor charges it that broke federal child labor laws when it allowed a 14-year-old to work in a hazardous job that proved fatal.

Beware management push-back on HR decisions

12/21/2011
As an HR professional, you may come across employment practices that you think violate the law. What you do with that concern and how you express it may make the difference between engaging in protected activity or not—and by extension, whether you can sue for retaliation if upper management punishes you.

Your detailed records: Keys to legal victory

12/02/2011

You never know which employee will file a discrimination lawsuit. These surprise lawsuits often allege that the employer disciplined ­others outside the employee’s protected class less severely for the same transgression. Protect your organization by providing detailed reasons for any discipline at the time it occurs.