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Employment Law

Use exit interviews to identify patterns of supervisors’ hidden discrimination

01/11/2011

Do you suspect a rogue supervisor is driving away employees belonging to a protected class? If so, begin asking tougher questions during your exit interviews. For example, if several black employees have quit or requested transfers, find out why. The problem may be a biased supervisor who is pushing away good employees—and setting up the company for a lawsuit.

Beware setting up employees for possible embarrassment

01/10/2011
Managers and supervisors should always consider “what if” before they push employees into difficult situations. In the following case, for example, supervisors probably didn’t think ahead what could happen if male firefighters were ordered to drive a firetruck in a gay pride parade.

Poor economy, new legal peril: Refusing to hire the unemployed

01/07/2011
No federal law says it’s discriminatory to refuse to hire unemployed people. However, legislatures in several states are considering bills that would make it illegal to discriminate on the basis of current employment status. Moreover, many who are jobless fall into protected classes—including women, minorities, people with disabilities and those over age 40.

New N.Y. ‘wage theft’ law imposes stiff penalties on employers

01/07/2011
The Wage Theft Prevention Act, a law designed to end what workers’ rights advocates term “wage theft,” takes effect April 12, but the time to plan is now. The new law has teeth. It expands the New York Department of Labor’s enforcement powers, and as much as quadruples penalties on employers that violate the law.

ACLU says tracking state employee was unconstitutional

01/07/2011
An American Civil Liberties Union lawsuit filed on behalf of a worker fired by the New York Department of Labor for falsifying time sheets may test the limits of employer surveillance of employees.

Lawsuit: NYC watch seller had no time for crucifix

01/07/2011

A workplace conflict that started with jewelry has escalated into a case of dueling lawsuits. On one side: Jamie Errico, former vice president of sales for Manhattan watch retailer Concepts in Time, who has filed a gender and religious discrimination suit against her former employer. On the other: The store’s owners, who are suing Errico for trying to poach customers.

Asking worker to stay can counter constructive discharge

01/07/2011
Employees who believe they work in a hostile environment can quit and claim they were “constructively discharged,” arguing that no reasonable person would stay and suffer intolerable conditions. But when an employer responds to a resignation with entreaties to stay, chances are the employee will have a hard time arguing things were so terrible she had to quit.

Be sure to document all employee complaints

01/07/2011
If you don’t already have a system in place to track all employee complaints, develop one now. You simply never know when someone will sue. When a lawsuit claims that an employee worked in a hostile environment, a record of those complaints—or the lack thereof—will come in handy.

Court limits reach of obscure bias law: Discrimination case must stay in state court

01/07/2011
Here’s a bit of good news for employers that would prefer to keep New York discrimination claims in state court. A federal court has refused to let a former employee use Section 1981 of the Civil Rights Act to move state claims to federal court.

After worker complains of bias, beware even small job changes–such as less overtime

01/07/2011
Employees who complain about discrimination are protected from retaliation. Anything that would cause a reasonable employee to rethink the original complaint is fair game for a retaliation lawsuit, including such seemingly minor consequences like losing a few hours of overtime pay.