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Discrimination / Harassment

‘Our customers don’t think that should be a man’s job’

04/27/2017
The EEOC filed suit on behalf of a male ultrasound technician whose clients requested a female technician.

After complaint is filed, be sure to justify all discipline

04/25/2017
If an employee complains about discrimination, make sure any subsequent discipline is well justified. Sudden discipline against a worker whose record was previously clean can be viewed as retaliation.

Document circumstances before discipline, as well as punishment that you imposed

04/25/2017
Generally, if an employer operates in a fair and equitable fashion, there’s very little room for an employee to file and win a discrimination lawsuit. But how can HR know whether supervisors are imposing balanced discipline without regard to race, sex, religion or other protected characteristics?

Tell managers: No comments of any kind about discrimination complaints

04/24/2017
The risk: Even if a complaint gets tossed out, employees could have a valid retaliation claim.

Your best protection against bias lawsuits: Let he who hired be the one who fires

04/24/2017
If the manager has moved on, all is not lost. You can still argue that the worker was hired knowing his status and that it makes no sense to then have fired him for that characteristic.

Isolated incidents don’t add up to harassment

04/19/2017
Courts don’t expect workplaces to be perfectly harmonious, without any hint of harassment. As long as the behavior doesn’t repeat or become progressively worse, courts generally hesitate to intervene.

Lawsuit targets Bloomberg–the business and former mayor

04/12/2017
A former salesperson for the Bloomberg media empire has filed a hostile work environment lawsuit against the company, her former boss and the company’s owner, former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

Employee’s safety may be legitimate reason to end employment contract

04/12/2017
Sometimes, it becomes clear that safety concerns require an employer to move a worker and even terminate him if it isn’t possible to offer a different, safer position.

It’s easier for employees to win hostile environment lawsuits in NYC

04/12/2017
Under federal law, to prove he had to endure a hostile environment, a worker has to prove the hostility was severe or pervasive. That’s not the case under New York City’s Human Relations Law.

Provide several ways to report harassment–and make sure one of them works

04/12/2017
Employers sometimes think more is better when it comes to administering their harassment policies. Unfortunately, providing lots of options doesn’t always help.