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…
Articles Posted in Retaliation
The post-employment retaliation trap that your business needs to avoid
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…
How many things can you find wrong with this picture?
Remember those “what’s wrong with this picture” games that we played as children? Something like this. Last night, I found the employment law equivalent from this recent Sixth Circuit opinion. [tl;dr: A colossal series of HR-compliance gaffes leads to a whopper of a jury verdict against the employer, which includes…
Retaliation can come in many shapes and sizes
By Jfacew at the English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, Link Let’s say that you learn that one of your employees is testifying as a witness in a discrimination case against another company in your industry. That doesn’t sit right with you. So, you tell this employee that you’ll fire him…
Three HR lessons from a supervisor’s alleged knuckle-dragging savagery.
Evieliam [CC BY-SA 4.0], via Wikimedia CommonsWhat I have for you today is anything but fine. I’ve got news of a recent EEOC settlement on behalf of two female employees of a general contractor working at an auto plant. The EEOC charges that a supervisor subjected the women to sexual…
She was raped by her supervisor, the company suspended her and put the harasser back to work. How mad did this make a federal jury?
Ken Lund from Reno, NV, USA [CC BY-SA 2.0], via Wikimedia CommonsNope. Madder. Here’s more from the EEOC’s press release announcing the $850,000 jury verdict. A federal jury rendered a verdict on Dec. 19, 2018 awarding $850,000 in compensatory and punitive damages to a female farmworker at [an employer] in…
If at first you don’t succeed, sue, sue, and sue again.
Par Idibri — Flickr – https://www.flickr.com/photos/idibri/16217772928, CC BY 2.0, Lien Today, I’m going to tell you the story of a man that has now sued the same employer four times. It’s a bit like the Buffalo Bills of employment litigation, except the plaintiff here hasn’t suffered a fourth defeat…yet. Fake…
Is it retaliation to fire an HR employee for encouraging a co-worker to file an EEOC charge? Well…
By dconvertini (Nashville, Tennessee, USA) [CC BY-SA 2.0 ], via Wikimedia CommonsI was going to begin this post by telling you more about my weekend trip to Nashville. But since I can hear the sound of thousands of pearls being clutched, I’m not going to bury the lede. A company…
Can you ban your employees from wearing Nike apparel at work?
By Timidonfire [Public domain], from Wikimedia CommonsRecently, Nike unveiled a new ‘Just Do It’ advertising campaign centered around former National Football Leauge quarterback Colin Kaepernick. Here is the first commercial that aired. Controversy. In the 49ers third preseason game of the 2016 season, Mr. Kaepernick did not stand during the…
2.5 million reasons not to refer to black employees as ‘slaves’ or fire them after they complain to HR
Image Credit: Pixabay.com (https://pixabay.com/en/south-beach-miami-florida-sunset-891749/) In terms of workplace issues, #MeToo and sexual harassment have dominated the headlines in 2018. Most recently, John Oliver covered these subjects on his show and Jon Hyman has a robust discussion going on right now on LinkedIn in which I encourage you to weigh in.…