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Retaliation

No whistle-blowing if safety rule was unwritten

01/03/2014
The Pennsylvania Whistleblower Law protects employees of government agencies or employers that receive state funding from retaliation for reporting wrongdoing or waste. But the protection doesn’t extend to complaints about unwritten safety rules.

Fair is fair: Before you fire, give employee a chance to tell her side of the story

01/03/2014
Want to look good to a judge? Then take the extra time to let employees tell their side of the story before you fire them.

OSHA launches online whistle-blower complaint form

01/03/2014
OSHA now offers whistle-blowers an online complaint form. Until now, whistle-blowers had to either write or call OSHA. The online form is designed to provide workers who have been retaliated against an additional way to reach out for OSHA assistance.

Gaines’ loss: Over $1 million for whistle-blower violations

01/03/2014
OSHA has ordered Gaines Motor Lines, a Hickory-based freight hauling company, to reinstate three workers and pay $1,070,123 in back pay wages, interest, compensatory and punitive damages to four former employees who warned about safety problems.

Quick action key to preventing harassment lawsuits

01/03/2014
Here’s how to handle sexual har­­ass­­ment complaints: Investigate fast and fix any problems you find. Then don’t fear legitimate discipline afterwards.

Testifying for fellow employee in race case provides retaliation protection

12/23/2013
Employees who testify in an internal investigation, an agency in­­vestigation or in court are protected from retaliation whether or not they belong to the same protected classification as the employee whose case their testimony supports.

OK to discipline worker who has complained, but be sure you can justify your decision

12/17/2013
Courts don’t want to tie management’s hands; they just want to protect employees from genuine retaliation. That’s why the standard for retaliation is anything that would dissuade a reasonable worker from complaining in the first place. Most minor discipline doesn’t reach that level.

Does your employee discipline have to be identical?

12/13/2013

Before your organization disciplines an employee, it’s always important to ask these questions: Have other employees violated the same policy? If so, what action did we take against that other em­­ployee? How similar are those two situations? One court recently said employers shouldn’t search for “identical” situations—“similar” is good enough.

Whoa! Never saw that one coming! You’re not responsible for aberrant crime

12/10/2013
Unless it’s obvious that an em­­ployer acted maliciously by purposely setting out to harm an employee, chances are it won’t be held responsible for the consequences of a co-worker’s crime.

Boss’s verbal gaffe doesn’t prove retaliation

12/10/2013
Worried that a supervisor’s isolated, ill-advised comment about a subordinate’s cooperation in a discrimination case will mean an automatic win if the employee sues for retaliation? It’s not a sure thing.