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Discrimination / Harassment

Jury awards almost $865,000 to Muslim security guard

02/22/2012
A San Francisco jury has awarded $865,000 to a Muslim security guard who says his co-workers and super­visors called him a terrorist and an al-Qaida member.

Drivers, forklift operators win $17.7 million in age-bias suit

02/22/2012
Six Los Angeles-area soda company employees will share a whopping $17.7 million in damages awarded after they successfully sued the Dr Pepper Snapple Group and related companies for age discrimination.

Employee resigns in the middle of litigation? Courts unlikely to order you to change policies

02/22/2012
When courts find that an employee has been discriminated against, they often order the employer to end the practice or policy that was the basis for the lawsuit. But when the employee voluntarily quits before the case is over, that remedy isn’t available.

Employee has complained about discrimination? He still has to follow all legitimate rules

02/22/2012

After an employee files an EEOC or internal discrimination complaint, it’s natural for him to worry about retaliation. Every move by a supervisor or HR will be filtered through that lens. You need to be on guard against retaliation, too.

Beware harassment suit when boss has affair

02/22/2012
Under California law, a supervisor’s affair (and presumed favoritism) with a subordinate may be grounds for a hostile work environment claim by other subordinates.

Audit hiring patterns to spot hidden age bias

02/22/2012

When employers choose the youngest candidate for a job, older candidates may suspect age bias played a role. That could mean a lawsuit is looming. If a disappointed applicant sues, it won’t help the employer that the overall candidate pool included many older applicants. What matters is who was selected.

Older worker’s pay maxed out? That’s not bias

02/21/2012
If your company has established top pay levels for each job classification, you probably end up giving some long-tenured (and, therefore older) em­­ployees smaller raises than less-experienced employees. But those older workers won’t be able to successfully claim age discrimination, as long as you can explain that the pay difference is due to your clearly documented wage schedules.

Jackson Park Hospital settles job segregation claim

02/15/2012
A group of 11 black women who worked for South Side Chicago’s Jack­­son Park Hospital will split $80,000, now that the EEOC has brokered an agreement to settle charges that the hospital shunted the women into specific jobs because of their race.

Sears pays $100,000 to end discrimination lawsuit

02/15/2012
Sears, Roebuck & Co. has settled an age, race and gender discrimination complaint filed by a former employee in Oklahoma City.

Make sure you can justify salary differences

02/15/2012

These days, employees are getting braver about discussing their pay. Part of the reason is that the National Labor Relations Board has done a good job publicizing its stance that discussing pay is concerted activity protected by law. Be prepared for the inevitable lawsuits with solid reasons for all pay decisions.