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Discrimination / Harassment

HR CSI: How to conduct a post-mortem of a legal claim

07/14/2009

If you’ve ever been caught up in an employment lawsuit, chances are you couldn’t wait for it to be over. Yet every case presents a valuable opportunity to prevent future problems and improve HR effectiveness by conducting an “autopsy” of the claim.

Religious accommodations: Must you let employee wear a nose ring?

07/14/2009

Federal anti-discrimination law says employers must try to “reasonably accommodate” employees’ “sincerely held religious beliefs or practices,” as long as the accommodations wouldn’t place an undue hardship on their organizations. What religious practices would be deemed legitimate in the EEOC’s eyes?

Penalize the worst of the worst more harshly

07/13/2009

There’s good news if you use objective and measurable productivity and goal targets to determine whether employees will receive promotions and pay increases. You can distinguish between degrees of failure to meet those goals.

Institute strict ‘no race talk’ policy to help minimize harassment claims

07/13/2009

For years, employers have grappled with what constitutes a hostile work environment and what does not. There’s a way to end pointless arguments about whether speech or conduct is racially offensive—and prevent potential problems down the line. Implement a policy that clearly bans race banter.

Beware unintended consequence of staff realignments: More retaliation suits

07/13/2009

Many employers are trying to do more with less these days, and that often means moving staff into new roles. Not every employee embraces that kind of change. Some might even see a transfer as some kind of retaliation, especially if they have recently complained about discrimination. Fortunately, courts seldom consider reassignments as adverse employment actions.

The easiest way to win discrimination cases: Prove you treat everyone equally

07/13/2009

Employees who sue current or past employers have the burden of proving that discrimination took place. But that doesn’t mean employers should sit back and wait for employees to fail in court. In fact, you should always be ready to prove that you treated everyone equally.

Cover retaliation in all supervisory training

07/13/2009

Punishing an employee for complaining about discrimination is retaliation even if it turns out that whatever the employee was complaining about wasn’t discrimination. That’s why you should include information on avoiding any form of retaliation in all your training programs.

Crom companies head to court to defend harassment charges

07/13/2009

The EEOC has filed charges against Crom Corp. and Crom Equipment Rentals, two Gainesville construction companies, for firing a black worker after he complained of racial harassment following an alleged series of disturbing events.

‘Get real’ with job reviews; don’t fluff them up

07/08/2009

You and the supervisors at your organization have read horror stories of negative performance reviews spawning lawsuits from disgruntled employees. As a result, some supervisors may shy away from rating someone lower than his or her colleagues. That fear is one main reason too many reviews are positive even if performance is average or poor. The better thing to do is to urge your supervisors to “get real” with reviews.

Don’t rush to judge accommodation requests; ADA requires interactive give-and-take

07/08/2009

Employees who qualify as “disabled” under the ADA have the right to reasonable accommodations to allow them to perform the essential functions of their jobs. But choosing those accommodations requires an “interactive process” between employer and employee. Employers that rush to judgment about the alleged disability or the accommodation request will risk legal trouble.