Retaliation
To Avoid EEOC Actions, Create Policies, Train in Advance
As topics like #MeToo and workplace bias receive continued attention, the importance of understanding how the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) works will only grow. For one thing, experts say, the EEOC’s procedures are complicated and evolving. For another, many companies work under misconceptions that could complicate an already messy situation should they ever be…
Read MoreTen Ways Employers Get Themselves Sued (Part One)
Take care of yourself! In medicine, sometimes the practices that get people in trouble are pretty simple. Too many nachos, and not enough leafy greens. You’d rather binge-watch Seasons 1-3 of Stranger Things than go for a walk. You hate needles, so you haven’t been to the doctor in 20 years. The same principle often applies…
Read MoreHeterosexual HR Manager Loses Discrimination Claim
A heterosexual HR manager fired after writing an angry Facebook post against Target’s policy of allowing transgender individuals to use restrooms according to gender identity could not state a discrimination or retaliation claim, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled. The plaintiff began working in the Louisiana office of Plant-N-Power Services Inc. (PNP) in…
Read MoreEmployers Beware: Workplace Gossip about Sex May Risk Liability under Title VII
Sexually explicit rumors, affairs to influence promotion, jealous male coworkers, sexist remarks by a high-ranking manager, and ultimate retaliation and termination—an episode of Mad Men? The plot of a new show on Netflix? No. Real sexual harassment—at least according to Evangeline Parker, who filed a claim alleging discrimination under Title VII against her former employer,…
Read MoreTermination: Your Legal Responsibilities When You Let an Employee Go
Letting an employee go is challenging for everyone involved. With such a life-changing event, many in the business world feel it is prudent to be as open, honest, and prepared as possible for the way the terminated employee might respond to their termination. Right to Work and At Will Even in right to work states,…
Read MoreThe Rumor Mill Is Now Your Problem? Yes, According to the Fourth Circuit
In a decision that could have wide-ranging implications for all employers, the Fourth Circuit Court, located in Richmond, Virginia, with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the District of Maryland, Eastern District of North Carolina, Middle District of North Carolina, Western District of North Carolina, District of South Carolina, Eastern District of Virginia, Western District of Virginia, Northern District…
Read MoreSupervisor’s Alleged Threat Results in Retaliation Claim Going to Trial
A former employee of a paper manufacturing mill could proceed to trial with his Title VII retaliation claim in light of a supervisor’s alleged threat, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana held. Graphic Packaging International Inc. hired the plaintiff in 1996 as a worker in its paper mill in West Monroe,…
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