Employee Relations
Retaliation Claims Can Drive You Nuts!
As many employers sadly know, those retaliation claims can be more problematic than a discrimination or harassment claim. Federal and state discrimination laws protect employees not only from discrimination or harassment, but also from retaliation for opposing discrimination/harassment, or making a charge/complaint, testifying, assisting, or participating in any way in a discrimination proceeding, such as…
Read MoreGun Reform: How Employers Can Protect Employees from Workplace Violence
Congress recently passed the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, or gun reform legislation, that President Biden has now signed into law. Portions of this legislation may help reduce workplace violence that involves domestic abusers who pursue their partners at their workplaces. The gun reform legislation contains a provision that closes what is commonly known as the…
Read MorePreventing Sexual Harassment in the Workplace
In August, Lone Star Ambulance, a critical-care transportation company in San Antonio, settled a lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) for alleged sexual harassment and retaliation. The company will pay $90,000 in damages and provide additional relief. “The EEOC is committed to vigorously enforcing anti-discrimination laws on behalf of all workers,”…
Read MoreCan Non-Employers Be Sued for Interference with an Employee’s ADA Rights?
Addressing this “novel” question, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit answered: No. However – be careful – companies may be held liable under a joint employer theory. In Post v. Trinity Health-Michigan, a nurse was employed by a physician group that provided services to a hospital. Several months after suffering an accident…
Read MoreUnlimited Time Off Presents Hidden Challenges for Employers
We have increasingly been fielding inquiries from organizations that are looking to implement some version of unlimited time off for their employees. They saw that employees continued to be productive while working remotely during the pandemic, and they want to give them the flexibility to take time off as/when needed – provided the work still…
Read MoreWorkplace Investigations: When Should You Consider Retaining an Outside Investigator
Increasingly, organizations are conducting workplace investigations in response to employee concerns – both those raised formally to human resources or through a written complaint or attorney demand letter, and those raised informally in a conversation with a supervisor that is brought to human resources’ or an equivalent function’s attention. Matters that, in the past, might…
Read MoreEx-SHRM Worker Alleges Organization Let Bias Fester Behind ‘Principled Public Facade’
A self-described “brown-skinned Egyptian Arab woman” who worked for the Society for Human Resources Management filed a lawsuit against the organization June 30 alleging discrimination and retaliation, in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Mohamed v. Society for Human Resource Management, No. 1:22-cv-01625 (D. Colo. June 30, 2022)). According to…
Read MoreCourt Cases Show Mistakes to Avoid in ADA Compliance
Staying compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) presents various challenges for employers, and these challenges have only increased in the last two years during the COVID-19 pandemic. There’s a lot of complexity in determining what’s a covered condition and what’s an essential job function. Two of the biggest problems are employees who want…
Read MoreEmployers: Take Steps Now to Prevent Workplace Violence and Protect Employees
There have been over 240 mass shootings nationwide in 2022 so far – more shootings than days of the year. Many of these shootings involve workplace violence. For instance, three victims were killed in a Maryland manufacturing facility last week., and two teachers were among the victims in the recent school shooting in Texas. These…
Read MoreSands Shift for Background Screening for Manufacturers
Manufacturers have other reasons to want to know about their workers. Manufacturing employees often operate equipment or control processes that require vigilant attention and where, for example, drug impairment might have severe consequences. In addition, other manufacturing employees have access to large quantities of valuable supplies, making potential theft a costly risk. Background checks are…
Read More