When your business offers a severance agreement to a departing employee, does it contain: a general release; a non-disparagement obligation; a confidentiality provision; a covenant not to sue; or a cooperation clause Well, if it contains any one (or more) of these provisions, head over to Jon Hyman’s Ohio Employer’s…
Back in January 2011, when I had only one child and an Aston Martin savings fund, the U.S. Supreme Court decided Thompson v. North American Stainless, LP. In that case, the Court held that an employer violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act if it takes action against…
That may be sugar coating it a bit. A county employee, who applied for a lateral transfer, and ultimately received that transfer, was able to convince two judges on a federal appellate court that the transfer was discriminatory. That’s right. An employee may have a discrimination claim for receiving the…
Generally speaking, those who wait five years to complain about perceived sexual harassment in the workplace, don’t win lawsuits if they are eventually fired. But what happens when the complaint takes the form of a status update on Facebook? Does that offer the employee extra protection? Find out after the…
Play some Skynyrd, man! (Just pretend the song is about reckless indulgences in the workplace, rather than drugs and needles and such, k?) Well, this is a new one for me. A woman claimed that she was employed as a leasing manager for four days. And during those four days,…
If I ever handled a plaintiff’s case again, at deposition, I would be sure to take a page out of the playbook of Texas employment lawyer, Mike Maslanka: Ask the manager who decided to fire the plaintiff whether he’s eligible for re-hire. An unprepared manager might blurt out, “Of…
J. Neil DeMasters worked as an EAP counselor for Carilion Clinic. During the course of his employment, a co-worker came to him complaining to have been a victim of sexual harassment. Mr. DeMasters relayed his co-worker’s complaint to HR. Then he was fired. Does Mr. DeMasters have a possible retaliation…
Cash, Rules, Everything, Around, Me C.R.E.A.M. Get the money Dollar, dollar bill y’all [Did you know that your favorite blogger has been to not one, but two Wu-Tang concerts? 36 chambers of death, son. I lyrically perform armed robbery; way harder than Justin Bieber. Now, to the 3/4 of you…
Well, if it means that the employee diagnosed with anxiety and depression — the one who requested a reasonable accommodation to perform her job — gets fired. Well, then, a lot. That’s basically what happened in this recent federal court case out of Kentucky. You see, normally, a court won’t…
Just another Monday here at The Employer Handbook. It’s how we roll. Over the weekend, I read this opinion from the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals. From the opening paragraph, it had my attention. After working at A.B. Data for four months, Michael Benes charged the firm with sex discrimination.…