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Employee Relations

Demanding lie detector test isn’t necessarily retaliation

11/01/2007

The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, which has jurisdiction over Texas employers, has refused to say that Title VII prohibits the use of polygraph examinations in harassment investigations. Now juries get to decide whether forcing an employee to undergo a polygraph exam is retaliation for filing a complaint …

If employee makes threats, discipline isn’t retaliation

11/01/2007

You’ve done everything right. You have a solid anti-harassment and discrimination policy, a simple and effective complaint process and you strive to fairly, completely and quickly resolve complaints. But what do you do when the employee who complained doesn’t like the results and blows up? …

It’s not discrimination if worker wasn’t disciplined

11/01/2007

Employees whose employers turn down their requests for time off to attend religious services can’t just run out and sue for religious discrimination. They have a case only if their employers discipline or discharge them for refusing to comply with work requirements—for example, skipping work to attend services …

Guard what’s said during in-House investigation—It’s not absolutely privileged

11/01/2007

When an employee alleges wrongdoing, you’ll need to conduct a thorough internal investigation. That may mean interviewing employees, supervisors and even customers. But be careful how much information you share with those you interview. If you indiscriminately discuss the comments of others who were interviewed, it may constitute defamation. Texas law only protects communications made in the course of a wrongdoing investigation if disclosure is limited to people who have a legitimate reason to know …

Is office gambling a legal bet?

11/01/2007

Q. A senior vice president in our company wants to run a Super Bowl pool. A few of us are nervous about conducting office pools involving money. We don’t expect the company will profit from such a pool, although the individual vice president could win the pool. Are office pools like these legal in New York? …

More than low rating required to win discrimination suit

11/01/2007

Believe it or not, federal courts don’t want to micromanage every aspect of your HR function. When faced with serious claims such as discrimination, courts ask employees to prove they suffered an “adverse employment action”—major damage such as a demotion, a cut in pay or discharge. They don’t tend to sweat the small stuff, such as lousy performance appraisals …

Reporting suspected harassment doesn’t always equal ‘Protected activity’

11/01/2007

Sometimes employees who are in trouble for poor performance try to protect themselves by reporting incidents that don’t come close to being sexual harassment. They figure that their employer won’t fire or otherwise punish them for fear of a retaliation lawsuit. But you can take heart: It’s not protected activity just because someone reports an incident. If—when viewed objectively—the conduct being reported seems far from harassment, reporting it isn’t protected, and the employee can’t charge retaliation …

Family-Responsibility discrimination: A growing trend

11/01/2007

The EEOC has issued new enforcement guidance concerning disparate treatment of workers with caregiving responsibilities—or “family-responsibility discrimination.” The guidelines are designed to help determine whether a particular employment decision is discriminatory. Family-responsibility discrimination is not a new type of discrimination, but rather an application of the existing discrimination laws to a situation that is drawing increasing attention …

How should we go about developing written job descriptions?

11/01/2007

Q. My family has operated a small medical supply business for many years. Lately, our business has really taken off, and we now have more than 20 employees in different job categories. We are wondering whether we should develop written job descriptions for the different positions. If so, where should we begin? …

Performance appraisals help in court as well as on the job

11/01/2007

Performance appraisals are valuable tools to help put struggling employees back on track. But a low rating also can spur poor performers to consider legal action: Many discrimination suits have been launched on the wings of a poor performance appraisal. Fortunately, employers with solid appraisal systems usually have built-in defenses against such charges …