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Discrimination / Harassment

Former Fresno State volleyball coach awarded $5.85 million

09/01/2007

California Superior Court jury in Fresno has awarded $5.85 million to a former Fresno State volleyball coach who filed a discrimination suit after she was fired in 2004. The award covered back wages, future lost pay and emotional distress …

Fresno officer settles age, disability claim for $825,000

09/01/2007

Fresno city policeman, who claimed the city forced him into early retirement following an on-duty motorcycle accident, has settled his age-discrimination and failure-to-accommodate claim for $825,000 …

EEOC Focuses on ‘Family-Responsibilities Bias’

09/01/2007

The EEOC recently issued enforcement guidance declaring that disparate treatment of employees who care for children, parents or other family members violates federal law. “Disparate treatment” generally means an employer intentionally treated employees differently because of a protected factor such as race, gender, age or—in this case—their need to care for family members …

Document discharge reasons before taking action

09/01/2007

Faced with a performance problem, too many employers seize on the first reason to discharge an employee instead of thoroughly reviewing the person’s work and documenting any problems in his or her file. That’s fine, if the firing rationale stands up to scrutiny and the employee doesn’t sue. But if the employee claims some form of discrimination, you want the reason you chose to be rock-solid …

Ignoring lawsuits can cost employers big bucks

09/01/2007

Nothing makes a former employee’s attorney sing for joy more than an employer that ignores a lawsuit. In fact, when employers ignore lawsuits and hope they will go away, it’s almost certain the attorney—and the employee the attorney represents—will have a fast and easy payday. That’s why you should immediately contact counsel with any legal papers that come your way …

Limited right to terminate employees whose wages are garnished

09/01/2007

Q. Every time we turn around, a certain employee is having his wages garnished. We’re sick and tired of the added paperwork and are ready to terminate his employment. Is this a valid reason? …

Georgia law protects employees’ right to ‘Day of rest’

09/01/2007

Q. We recently began operating our Georgia production facilities seven days a week. I am familiar with our obligations under Title VII to accommodate the sincerely held religious beliefs of employees, but does Georgia law impose any similar requirements? …

Customer complaint can be basis for discipline

09/01/2007

Employers can’t cater to every customer’s whim, but they can respond to complaints about employee behavior without worrying that a judge will second-guess their decision …

‘Blind’ applications help defend against frivolous lawsuits

09/01/2007

If the people reviewing employment applications don’t know the race of the candidates, they can’t discriminate for or against any particular applicant. That’s why you should consider using a “blind” application process …

Do you know whom you’re disciplining?

09/01/2007

When it comes to discrimination, your best defense is treating everyone absolutely equally. That’s tough to do without a central HR tracking system. It doesn’t have to be complicated. Make sure you note any problems (and praise) in each employee’s official file. Then, do regular audits—pulling out data on age, sex, national origin and race—to tabulate types of problems and any discipline levied …