If an employee complains that her supervisor is sexting her, making unwelcome physical contact, and telling her that she can get a better work schedule in exchange for “small favors,” you better damn well investigate that! Ignore it and you risk losing a valuable defense to sexual harassment claim. This…
Billed as a way to provide more effective remedies to victims of discrimination in the payment of wages on the basis of sex, the Paycheck Fairness Act, did not make it out of the Senate yesterday. The Paycheck Fairness Act earned 52 votes in favor of proceeding to final consideration,…
A long-time county employee in Florida, who served as HR Manager, is set to file a federal discrimination complaint against her former employer, claiming that she was sexually harassed at work and later fired after complaining. The employer claims that it fired the employee for making false sexual discrimination claims…
A recent survey by Workplace Options, shows that most Generation-Y employees believe that an office romance will have a positive influence on performance and overall workplace morale. Sounds like a Cialis commercial. Who says I need to wait for Valentine’s Day for this post? Losers, that’s who. Lock the broom…
Workplace retaliation was the last thing on the mind of Cobra Kai Sensei John Kreese when he told Johnny to sweep the leg. Similarly, workplace retaliation was likely the last thing on the mind of the defendant-employer, in Thompson v. Morris Heights Health Center, when it sent out a late…
A maintenance mechanic in Illinois received 28 disciplinary-action forms from his supervisor. Ultimately, he was offered two choices: (1) accept a demotion to a non-mechanic position and take a significant pay cut; or (2) keep the position, fight the discipline, but face potential termination. On the advice of his union…
I’ve come up with some pretty creative defenses to unlawful harassment. Usually, however, before I file a pleading, I take out my trusty red pen iPad and delete those arguments that are just so outrageous that I feel my client will lose credibility with the court. But that’s just me. After…
Worst. advice. ever. More on this doozy involving two Denny’s waitresses after the jump… * * * Two Denny’s waitresses have filed this complaint in CA Superior Court alleging that their manager sexually harassed them and, when they complained to another Denny’s manager, they wore told, “Pray about the situation.”…
Yesterday, in Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church and School v. EEOC, the United States Supreme Court unanimously held that the Establishment and Free Exercise Clauses of the First Amendment bar employment-discrimination lawsuits by ministers against their churches. More on this decision and some helpful reminders for private-sector employers after the jump……
As the year draws to a close, let’s take a look back at the most popular posts at The Employer Handbook in 2011, based on number of hits: 5. Social media and the workplace. School teacher Natalie Munroe made several appearances on the blog this year. Remember her? She…