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Discrimination / Harassment

Impartial discipline: The best defense against bias claims

02/20/2018

Treat all employees impartially and you’ll rarely end up on the losing end of a discrimination lawsuit.

Note 90-day deadline after EEOC right-to-sue letters

02/14/2018

Employees who receive their EEOC right-to-sue letter have just 90 days to file a federal lawsuit. Advice: Note that deadline as soon as you receive your copy.

Requesting religious accommodation isn’t protected, but that doesn’t kill lawsuit

02/14/2018

Employees who engage in so-called protected activity under Title VII cannot be retaliated against for doing so. But the definition of protected activity is narrow.

OK to add more reasons for termination, as long as they’re consistent with first rationale

02/14/2018

Some former employees who sue over alleged discrimination try to discredit their employers’ explanations for discharge. Even so, employers have a great deal of flexibility about how they explain the reason an employee was fired.

Work romance ends? Separate the former lovers

02/14/2018

When a sexual relationship between a supervisor and a subordinate ends, there’s likely to be trouble in the workplace. If the subordinate is complaining about how her former lover is treating her at work, the only safe course of action is to remove the supervisor entirely.

Prior harassment? Let supervisor know

02/07/2018

Sometimes, you may want to use a last chance agreement to give a worker who violated your rules a second chance. Make sure supervisors know about it so they can be on the lookout for potential problems.

Make your complaint process retaliation-proof by limiting access

02/07/2018

Access to internal complaints should be on an as-needed basis. Restricting access to those files limits the number of staff members who can be accused of retaliation.

Note firing for straw that broke camel’s back

02/07/2018

Former employees who sue over their discharge sometimes try to use their employers’ shifting explanations for the termination as evidence that they were fired for discriminatory reasons.

Snapshot: Employers react to #MeToo, #TimesUp

02/06/2018

Since sexual harassment emerged last fall as a central cultural and workplace issue, employers have responded in these three ways.

Anti-harassment policies a mystery for many

02/06/2018

Ninety-four percent of surveyed HR professionals told the Society for Human Resource Management that their organizations have anti-harassment policies. Yet, 22% of nonmanagement employees did not know for sure that these policies existed.