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Discrimination / Harassment

Never hesitate to make legit rule changes

03/17/2014
Have you found that some of your disciplinary rules are too lenient? Don’t hold back on stiffening your rules just because you fear the first employees subject to harsher penalties might sue you.

Minnesota town administrator files human rights complaint

03/17/2014
Former Pine Island Administrator Abraham Algadi has filed a complaint with the state Department of Human Rights, arguing that the town created a hostile work environment for him in the months leading up to his termination. Algadi alleges he suffered discrimination because of his Jordanian heritage.

Prepare to justify any adverse employment action affecting members of the military

03/17/2014
Members of the military who are called to active duty service have rights while deployed. Employers must be prepared to defend any decision that adversely affects the deployed employee.

Act fast on hostile workplace complaints–or prepare for costly, complicated lawsuit

03/17/2014
Employers that ignore the first or second complaint about a racially hostile workplace do so at their peril. The fact is, if you don’t do something to stop the harassment fast, it’s likely to get worse—much worse.

Court: Less than stellar review isn’t retaliation

03/17/2014
Proving retaliation is often easier than proving the underlying discrimination that was the basis for the original complaint. Still, an ordinary employer action—such as preparing a performance review that’s generally favorable—isn’t retaliation, even if the employee thinks he deserved a better review and more praise.

Employee doesn’t have to be a minority to file a racial harassment complaint

03/17/2014
When nasty racial words are tossed around in a workplace, you may think the target of those words is the only person who can sue for racial harassment. Not true.

Do we have to tolerate ‘Duck Dynasty religion’ hat?

03/14/2014
Q. We let a female cashier at our restaurant wear a religious head covering, despite our policy against hats. Now, a male employee has started wearing a camouflage cap, claiming his religious idol is Phil Robertson of “Duck Dynasty.” He says his “religion” is sincere. Can we tell him to remove the cap?

EEOC settles GINA discrimination lawsuit with N.Y. employer

03/13/2014

In January, the EEOC announced it had reached a settlement with Founders Pavilion, a former nursing and rehabilitation center in Corning. The EEOC had sued, alleging that Founders violated the Gene­­tic Information Non­­dis­­crimi­­na­­tion Act. The case marked only the third time the EEOC has brought a lawsuit alleging an employer violated GINA. It was the first time a GINA suit alleged systemic discrimination.

Cuomo proposes hotline for Albany harassment complaints

03/13/2014
Following a rash of sexual harassment complaints against state legislators, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo has proposed an independent investigator for complaints against members of New York’s legislative and executive branches.

‘Game over’ for NYC worker, ‘game on’ for retaliation suit

03/13/2014
A snarky reply to an employee’s email—plus alleged retaliation—has landed a Manhattan firm in legal hot water.