Image by Clker-Free-Vector-Images from Pixabay Technically, they settled for $1.15M. But, that won’t stop me from playing some ‘Lil Wayne. Many of you have good taste in employment law blogs, my ramblings and typos notwithstanding. That’s because you also read Jon Hyman’s Ohio Employer Law Blog. Jon’s blog is a…
Image Credit https://www.jbcharleston.jb.mil/News/Photos/igphoto/2000273522/ That’s cold. Yesterday, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) announced here that it has settled a sexual harassment and retaliation lawsuit filed against a fast-food chain. The facts are indeed chilling. According to the EEOC’s suit, a 22-year-old male manager at the store was “forced to…
Downturn Direction Banks Trend Down Symbol Arrow (Maxpixel.net: License to use Creative Commons Zero – CC0) In the context of an employment discrimination lawsuit, when I think about a demotion, I’m also thinking of retaliation. The plaintiff with a disability was also thinking the same thing in this recent federal court…
Image by Christos Giakkas from Pixabay You have an underperforming supervisor in your workplace. Several employees have complained about her work performance and leadership. So, the plan is to fire her. Except, three weeks before you terminate this supervisor’s employment, she complains about discrimination. Can you go through with the…
Image Credit: Photofunia.com (https://photofunia.com/results/5d9aa283089f7ad4978b458c) Earlier this week, I detailed several feeble retaliation claims that a federal court easily brushed aside. Today, I’ll talk about another retaliation claim that almost suffered a similar fate until one of the most conservative federal appellate courts in the country breathed new life into it.…
Image Credit: Photofunia.com (https://photofunia.com/results/5d9aa283089f7ad4978b458c) Retaliation is one of the most common employment claims pursued in court. Indeed, it’s the #1 claim individuals make at the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). A retaliation claim consists of three elements: (1) a protected activity; (2) materially-adverse employment action; and (3) a nexus…
Image by DigitalShards from Pixabay I’ve talked a fair amount recently about retaliation claims (here and here), mostly focusing on timing as the possible link between a protected activity (such as a complaint of discrimination) and an adverse employment action (like a firing). The plaintiffs in those cases were unsuccessful…
Image Credit: Photofunia.com (https://photofunia.com/results/5d750cee089f7a9b358b4594) Last week, I blogged about a situation in which two employees alleged that their former employer retaliated against them for participating in a workplace investigation. Each claimed that the close timing between the investigation and their subsequent firing confirmed that there must have been some retaliatory…
Image by Clker-Free-Vector-Images from Pixabay You’ve been here before. One of your employees just complained about discrimination in the workplace. Or maybe s/he just participated in an HR investigation. A few days or weeks later, s/he violates your work rules and you have clear grounds to fire the employee. Now…
Image Credit: Carly Meyer Hold on a sec. Let me finish gnawing on that T-Bone from last Wednesday’s dinner at STK in Disney Springs. Ok, done. Vacation over. Time to start blogging again. Let’s see. What do we have today? What not to do after you settle a discrimination claim…