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Employment Law

Goodyear to pay $4.4 million in Seattle sexual harassment case

01/01/2008

A court has awarded $4.4 million to a Seattle woman who worked at a Goodyear store and endured harassment—and eventual retaliation—because she is gay …

Steelworkers sue over WARN Act violations

01/01/2008

The United Steelworkers union filed a complaint against Meridian Automotive Systems Inc., claiming the company violated the federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act when it permanently laid off workers at its Jackson, OH, plant in August of 2007 …

Ohio Supreme Court narrows right to file wrongful discharge claim

01/01/2008

The Ohio Supreme Court has narrowed the scope of the public-policy wrongful discharge claim in Ohio. In Leininger v. Pioneer Nat’l Latex, the Ohio Supreme Court said employees couldn’t claim wrongful discharge after being fired for speaking out on alleged age discrimination. Here’s what the decision means …

New laws for the New Year?

01/01/2008

Q. Heading into 2008, are there any changes to Ohio law that employers need to be aware of? …

Right to have a witness during discipline

01/01/2008

Q. We have a nonunion shop. It is not uncommon for our employees to insist that they have the right to have a witness present during investigatory interviews and disciplinary action meetings. I have heard conflicting answers to whether employees in a nonunion facility have the right to have a witness present during investigatory and disciplinary interviews. Can you clear up the confusion for me? …

GPS to track employees

01/01/2008

Q. I would like to install GPS tracking devices in company-owned vehicles to track my employees’ whereabouts and determine whether they are making effective use of company time. I would prefer not to notify my employees that I will be installing these devices. Would I subject my company to any liability for violating our employees’ right to privacy if I take this step? …

Different grooming rules for different employees are legal

01/01/2008

Tattoos, body piercings, wildly colored hair—these days it seems as if just about anything goes in the workplace. Employers that want some sense of decorum at work may feel as though insisting on a dress code marks them as dinosaurs. Rest assured, however, that you can insist on a reasonable dress and grooming code …

Employers—Not employees—Choose ADA accommodation

01/01/2008

Sometimes disabled employees and their employers have different views of the accommodations needed to do their jobs. Fortunately, it’s up to the employer, not the employee, to pick the accommodation. Simply put, the employee isn’t the master of the accommodation—the employer is …

Following baseless complaint, ensure later discipline is legit

01/01/2008

Sometimes employees who know they are in trouble at work will try to set up lawsuits. That way, they reason, if they get fired, they can sue for “retaliation.” It’s up to HR to ferret out such sneaky tricks and prevent those lawsuits. The best way is to make absolutely sure that you can justify any eventual discipline …

Condition worthy of FMLA leave might not be ADA disability

01/01/2008

The FMLA and the ADA may seem as though they overlap, but that’s not always the case. A disability under the ADA is almost always a serious health condition under the FMLA, but not every serious health condition is an ADA disability. Here’s why …