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Terminations

Tell employee as soon as you make decision to terminate

07/14/2008
Do you let employees know they will lose their jobs as soon as the final decision has been made? Or do you wait until near the effective date? If there’s no other reason for delaying the notification (e.g., you fear the employee will retaliate by destroying records or stealing secrets), tell employees right away. Here’s why …

Panthers employee sent to penalty box over critical e-Mail

07/14/2008
After the Florida Panthers traded team captain Olli Jokinen to the Phoenix Coyotes, some season ticket holders sent the National Hockey League team irate e-mails questioning the move. One Panthers employee tried to rationalize the decision with an e-mail that described Jokinen as a skater who played “with little heart or passion” …

Be ready to justify different punishment for like offenses

07/14/2008
The cardinal HR rule is that employees who break the same rule should receive similar punishments. That doesn’t mean, however, that you have no flexibility if the circumstances warrant it. You just have to make sure you can justify why you disciplined one employee differently than another …

Don’t sweat innocent mistakes when deciding on disciplining

07/14/2008
Good news: You don’t have to be perfect when disciplining employees. As long as you can show you acted in good faith, you don’t have to worry that a court will second-guess your disciplinary decisions …

Assistant sues judge for age, disability discrimination

07/14/2008
Barbara Tomlinson, a former judicial assistant, has filed an age and disability discrimination charge against Hillsborough County Judge Joelle Ann Ober. Tomlinson worked for Ober for 11 years before quitting in February …

Strong privacy policy can curtail rifling through files

07/11/2008
Employees who are involved in employment disputes often think they can simply gather up any evidence they find lying about and turn it over to their lawyers. Smart employers try to limit the damage that revealing such confidential information may bring by holding all employees to reasonable privacy and confidentiality rules …

You can terminate employees on FMLA leave

07/11/2008
Employees who are in trouble often ask for FMLA leave. They seem to believe that asking for or taking FMLA leave protects them from disciplinary action. That’s a myth. The fact is, being on FMLA leave doesn’t protect employees from legitimate disciplinary action unrelated to their time off …

Palace employee allegedly makes off with king’s ransom

07/11/2008
Palace Sports & Entertainment is suing a former employee, claiming she used a company credit card to make $1.8 million in unauthorized personal charges. Amy McDonald, a former accounting manager, was authorized to use the card for business purposes …

Ignoring harassment? You may be hit with more than claims

07/09/2008
Ignore complaints about any kind of harassment, and you may soon find that the employee who complained will hit your organization with more than just claims under federal Title VII and the Illinois Human Rights Act (IHRA). He or she also may sue for common-law claims like assault and battery and intentional infliction of emotional distress …

Radio station manager’s promises strike a sour note

07/09/2008
Kassie Dargo worked on-air and in sales at classic rock WLUP-FM radio in Chicago. In March 2007, Rob Morris, program director of Clear Channel’s top-40 KDWB-FM in Minneapolis, contacted Dargo to recruit her for a morning co-host position …