Articles Posted in Retaliation

Employer’s failure to investigate harassment creates retaliation claim

June 11, 2012 | by Eric B. Meyer

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 is because, generally, to avoid liability for sexual harassment, an employer must demonstrate that it undertook reasonable care to prevent and promptly correct harassment.

But the failure to investigate could cost an employer even more. Like a dead-to-rights retaliation claim too.

Really? Retaliation too? Yes. I’ll explain after the jump…

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Paycheck Fairness Act fails in the Senate, plus other news…

June 6, 2012 | by Eric B. Meyer

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, eight votes shy of the 60 votes necessary for cloture. The vote came down strictly along party lines, with the two independent senators voting with the Democrats and Sen. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) not voting. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) changed his vote so that he could bring the bill up again.

In other news…

The Eleventh Circuit Court of appeals ruled on Monday that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 permits claims for retaliatory hostile work environment. The decision brings the Eleventh Circuit in line with everyone else.

Boss fires HR Manager to whom he sent w-2 (by w-2, I mean lots of porn)

May 23, 2012 | by Eric B. Meyer

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 to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

And then there’s the porn and dirty texts…which the employee’s boss admits sending…to the employee…like 40 times…

Interest piqued? I thought so. Click through…

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More office romances; more anti-harassment training

May 2, 2012 | by Eric B. Meyer

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 closets and click through for more on this survey and ways to address the office romance…

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Failure to provide timely COBRA notice, retaliation? No, Sensei!!!

April 24, 2012 | by Eric B. Meyer

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 COBRA notice to the plaintiff, a former employee that had filed a Charge of Discrimination with the EEOC. The court held that an employer is not liable for retaliation where the employee: (1) received the opportunity to enroll retroactive to the date the employee’s health insurance ends, (2) turned down COBRA in favor of Social Security Disability benefits, and (3) did not seek subsequent employment.

And now that we have that clear…

Even a voluntary demotion can lead to a retaliation claim

April 19, 2012 | by Eric B. Meyer

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 representative, the mechanic took the demotion. He later sued for retaliation, claiming that the demotion, which he voluntarily accepted, was a direct response to a charge of discrimination he previously filed with the EEOC.

Is this retaliation? A federal circuit court gave us the answer yesterday. And I have it for you after the jump…

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But, you see judge, it was only “exotic dancer” harassment…

February 27, 2012 | by Eric B. Meyer

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 the jump, I have a recent federal-court decision in which a Maryland grocery claimed that the [alleged] relentless sexual harassment of a female employee by the store’s male manager wasn’t “sexual harassment” — that would be illegal. Rather, it was “exotic dancer” harassment.

That’s pretty creative, alright.

Oh boy…

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Supervisor’s advice to sexually-harassed employee: “Pray…”

February 21, 2012 | by Eric B. Meyer

Worst. advice. ever.

More on this doozy involving two Denny’s waitresses after the jump…

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SCOTUS: Religious groups nearly exempt from job-bias laws

January 12, 2012 | by Eric B. Meyer

Thumbnail image for Supreme Court.jpg 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…

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Your favorite “The Employer Handbook” posts from 2011

December 30, 2011 | by Eric B. Meyer

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 was the blogging school teacher who wrote that her students were “utterly loathsome in all imaginable ways.” Although, Ms. Munroe eventually returned to work, her experience is a sound reminder to always think twice before hitting “send.” You can read the fifth-most-popular post, “Yes, you CAN discipline employees who abuse social media” here.

4. I’m a poet and I don’t even know it. I’m not sure what inspired the fourth-most-popular post. It must have been a slow news day. How else do I come up with the idea to Haiku — verbing a noun, sorry — about recent employment-law decisions from the U.S. Supreme Court?

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