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Discrimination / Harassment

When EEOC is involved, prepare to give up cash, much more

02/09/2010

The Bahama Breeze restaurant chain has settled racial harassment charges with the EEOC for $1.26 million. According to an EEOC complaint, black employees at the chain’s Beachwood location were regularly subjected to racial epithets, mockery and ongoing harassment.

Ohio law: Bosses personally liable for discrimination

02/09/2010

Here’s a reminder that should catch the attention of supervisors: While they may not be personally liable for most types of discrimination made illegal under federal law, they are liable under Ohio state law.

Cleveland bans bias based on gender identity, expression

02/09/2010

The Cleveland City Council has passed legislation expanding the city’s anti-discrimination ordinance to include transgender individuals. By adding “gender identity and expression” to a list of protected classes that already includes sexual orientation, Cleveland now offers one of the most all-encompassing anti-discrimination statutes in the state.

7 bills to watch: Congress’ 2010 employment law agenda

02/09/2010

When Republican Scott Brown of Massachusetts won January’s special election to fill the seat long occupied by the late Sen. Ted Kennedy, Democrats lost their 60-vote supermajority in the Senate. That means it will be that much more difficult for the Obama administration to make good on many of its pro-employee campaign promises. That’s not to say those employment law initiatives are dead. The following are the key initiatives pending in Congress.

Is it legally risky to refuse to hire people who have been arrested?

02/09/2010

Q. I am considering putting a policy in place to prohibit hiring any job applicant found to have an arrest record. Are there any legal risks?

Develop fail-safe application tracking system

02/09/2010

Do you have an employee who consistently applies for open positions for which she falls short on qualifications? You may be tempted to “lose” or “misplace” her applications. Be bigger than that. Instead, exercise patience and handle her applications just as you would for any other applicant.

Beware the high price of foul language: Expensive trials before unsympathetic judges

02/09/2010

It doesn’t happen often, but now the 11th Circuit has issued a rare unanimous en banc opinion. The judges, without a single dissent, ruled that a woman who quit her job because she couldn’t stand alleged daily sexual harassment can take her case to trial. The decision includes some important guidelines for what will be considered sexual harassment and what is simply crude and generally offensive behavior.

When picking candidates for promotion, use measurable criteria—and document it

02/09/2010

Employers have plenty of leeway when deciding which employees deserve to be promoted—as long as they document the decision-making process. Chances are a court won’t second-guess their choices. Just ask yourself this basic question: Have I passed over a candidate whom a reasonable person would have selected because his qualifications were superior to the person I picked?

Get legal help with termination agreements

02/09/2010

Call your attorney before offering a severance agreement! A federal trial court in Florida has allowed to go forward a disability discrimination lawsuit from a former employee who left under a negotiated termination agreement largely because the agreement was silent on why the employee was leaving.

Beware bias based on gender stereotyping

02/09/2010

While the federal Civil Rights Act contains no outright prohibition against discrimination based on sexual orientation, that doesn’t mean employers can get away with discriminating against employees who don’t fit society’s stereotypes about how men and women should look. Sex stereotyping may well be sex discrimination because it is based on notions of what is “feminine” and “masculine.”