You wouldn’t fire someone because they complained to you about sexual harassment at work. For starters, that would violate Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. But, Title VII’s anti-retaliation provisions are much broader than that. Title VII prohibits employers from retaliating against an employees who oppose unlawful harassment…
Articles Posted in Retaliation
This one will get you to hire slow and fire fast to avoid retaliation claims
As in faster than an employee can complain about discrimination to HR or to the EEOC. ***phone rings*** Me: Eric Meyer Caller: Oh hey, Eric. It’s [insert name of HR Director] from [insert name of Company]. Me: Whassup? Caller: That’s getting old, Eric. But, if you’d like, I can hang…
Drama following a bra-less woman’s meeting with the CEO supports her retaliation claim
Nope, no clickbait here. And no irony in the lede either. Plus, I feel like I’ve seen this one before. But, before we get to that… Disney World wore these kids out! For more photos from our trip, head over to my Instagram (@eric_b_meyer). Life imitates art (sort of). For…
New Year’s Resolution for 2017: Stay classy at The Employer Handbook
Starting tomorrow. Today, let’s talk about the employee who claimed sexual harassment because her male co-worker constantly stared at her with an erection — which she subsequently photographed and showed to other co-workers, and all of that morphed into a retaliation claim. So, basically, this post will be like a…
Racist code names for customers are bad. And, so is firing someone for complaining about it.
These are the key allegations underpinning ***Googles “underpinning”*** yes, underpinning a complaint filed in California against luxury retailer Versace. Tell us more, Mayra Cuevas reporting here at CNN.com: Can you fire employees for complaining about discriminatory treatment of customers? No, dude. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 protects employees who…
Bad things often happen when employees feel they have to resort to self-help
Like one-man bands. Or, retaliation lawsuits, for example. Ms. Nuness is our plaintiff in this case. Ms. Nuness alleges that she is a female African-American who worked for her former employer for about 14 months. During her employment, the plaintiff worked alongside a male Caucasian co-worker who had been counseled, from…
Company tried to “sprinkle a little salt” on its worksite; pays $50K to the EEOC.
Are you guys old enough to remember that old NFL Films Dial ‘M’ For Moron bit? What can I say? I’m a sucker for the classics. Well, it’s all I could think of after reading this EEOC press release, highlighting a recent race discrimination and retaliation action against a car dealership because…
Blaming the victim is a bad way to respond to a sexual harassment complaint
Indeed, it cost a southern baptist church $25,000. According to this press release from the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the church is writing that check because: One of its kindergarten teachers complained that the pastor, who was also the school superintendent, had been sexually harassing her; Church officials informed…
This, right here, is why a good workplace investigation is EVERYTHING!
You received a complaint of sexual harassment from a female employee against a male co-worker. So, you promptly investigate, during which you interview the complainant and the alleged harasser, and review documents. When the investigation ends, you conclude that the female complainant — not the male co-worker — was the sexual harasser. So, you promptly…
Can you sue an employee for filing what seems to be a false EEOC charge?
There was a time when I got that question from employer-clients more times than Tony Romo’s chokes in December. Do you like defending retaliation claims? Let’s go back to yesterday’s retaliation post for a sec. What you’ll find is a non-exclusive list of examples of behaviors that could be considered retaliatory.…