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Discrimination / Harassment

Conscientious objector vs. his military employer

12/07/2011
A company whose business is maintaining and repairing U.S. Navy equipment has agreed to settle with an employee who said his religious convictions prevented him from working on “weapons of war.”

When co-workers clash, offer transfer option

12/07/2011
Personality clashes almost always affect work, and inevitably one of the combatants will file a formal complaint. Defuse that tension by suggesting that one or both co-workers transfer to other positions. Offering the transfer option to warring co-workers isn’t an ad­­verse action as long as neither is forced to accept the offer.

The pregnant pause: How to respond to baby news

12/06/2011
“I’m pregnant!” … Two words that can make an employer cringe on the inside but smile on the outside. And even though the baby might not be kicking yet, you can be assured that pregnancy anti-discrimination laws have kicked in …

Required: Investigating all harassment complaints Not required: Providing a perfect workplace

12/05/2011
Sometimes an employee may feel uncomfortable with the close proximity and may even interpret another employee’s innocent behavior as sexual harassment. While you must respond to every sexual harassment complaint and investigate, that doesn’t mean each incident warrants corrective action. Use common sense.

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.

New Year, new laws covering veteran hiring, whistle-blowing

12/02/2011
Employers will ring in some new laws with the New Year, and those laws will bring challenges and opportunities.

Goodyear faces lawsuit over woman’s health-related firing

12/02/2011
Akron-based Goodyear Tire & Rubber faces charges of disability discrimination at a plant in North Carolina after it terminated a woman because she suffers from a menstrual bleeding disorder, menorrhagia.

After years of litigation, court orders cops’ promotion

12/02/2011
Federal courts don’t like being turned into proxies for HR departments, but they will act when necessary. That’s how the 6th Circuit recently came to order the immediate promotion of police officers in a discrimination case that has been in the courts for more than a decade and still isn’t finished.

Leave shameful history in the past: Warn bosses against any reference to nooses

12/02/2011
Objects can become powerful symbols. That’s certainly true of nooses, which black Americans see as infamous reminders of a past in which lynchings were relatively common, especially in the South. That’s why you must instruct supervisors and managers: Any reference to hanging, ropes or nooses is absolutely forbidden in the workplace.

Keep consistent records of all disciplinary actions

12/01/2011
You must track all disciplinary actions. That way, you can quickly determine whether your discipline has been equitable.