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Terminations

Fire offender to decouple discrimination, employment action

10/01/2007

Remind upper-level managers: When a supervisor or mid-level manager makes comments that could be construed as racist or religiously motivated, it pays to act fast. In fact, firing the responsible manager sometimes can be the best way to go. That way, if the employee he disparaged later gets turned down for a promotion or a raise, it will be much harder for an attorney to show a connection between the supervisor’s biased views and the denied opportunity …

Document good faith when disciplining for rule violation

10/01/2007

Employees who sue for sex or other forms of discrimination under the Texas Commission on Human Rights Act often claim their employer based discharge or other punishment on trumped-up charges. Employers can win these cases if they have good records showing their actions were reasonable and “in good faith” …

Negligent hiring and supervision? That’s a tough case in Texas

10/01/2007

While employees can file negligent-hiring and supervision claims when they suffer trauma at the hands of a rude and crude supervisor, such cases rarely end badly for employers. That’s because an employer’s obligation is reasonable and doesn’t require being clairvoyant …

American Home Mortgage employees blindsided by shutdown

10/01/2007

American Home Mortgage (AHM) was reportedly still hiring employees by the dozens when it crashed in the first week of August. More than 6,000 employees, including 1,300 in the company’s Melville headquarters, were let go with a single day’s notice …

Downsizing and FMLA leave

10/01/2007

Q. Our company is in the process of going through a reduction in force. One of the positions that has been selected for elimination belongs to an employee on FMLA leave. Can we still eliminate the position? …

Hispanic manager cannot object to diversity report

10/01/2007

Eduardo Padilla, an information technology manager for the North Broward Hospital District, filed a discrimination and retaliation lawsuit alleging he was laid off because he was Hispanic …

University of California settles UC Berkeley coach’s sex-Bias case

10/01/2007

On July 19, the University of California agreed to pay a former UC Berkeley women’s swim coach $3.5 million to settle her gender-discrimination claim. Karen Moe Humphreys, an Olympic gold medalist who was a 26-year employee of the university’s Department of Intercollegiate Athletics, argued that she was laid off while less qualified males were hired and retained without regard for the university’s seniority system …

Getting along without employee on FMLA leave? Go ahead and terminate

10/01/2007

When an employee goes on FMLA leave, someone has to do the work. What if that someone easily assumes the employee’s duties and does a great job? Can you use that fortuitous realization as the basis for firing the leave-taker when he returns? Perhaps, but there’s a risk. The employee may sue, alleging the real reason he was let go was retaliation for taking leave, and not that you figured out the company could get along just fine without him …

ADEA verdict flies after Boeing’s job offer falls flat

10/01/2007

A former procurement-quality specialist for Boeing Company in Philadelphia does not have to accept reinstatement in lieu of front pay awarded by a jury in an age-discrimination suit, the U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Pennsylvania, has ruled …

Mere days of harassment mean lawsuit when ‘Constructive discharge’ is involved

10/01/2007

When it comes to sexual harassment under Ohio’s sex discrimination laws, a few days is all it takes to create a hostile work environment. Even if the harasser stops—instead turning critical and cold—the harassed employee may quit shortly after. Courts then will view the resignation as the effective equivalent of being fired in retaliation …