Articles Posted in Retaliation

Protected conduct “can be as simple as telling a supervisor to stop.”

April 24, 2015 | by Eric B. Meyer

When I think about retaliation, I think about ~~that time I plastic-wrapped the judicial toilets after losing a motion to compel~~ an employee who gets fired after complaining about discrimination to an HR Manager or the EEOC. These actions epitomize the “opposition” and the “participation” clauses of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the federal anti-discrimination statute.

By what about when an employee doesn’t go to HR, doesn’t complain to the EEOC, but, instead, simply tells a supervisor to stop sexually harassing her? If that employee is later fired, and she can establish that she was fired because she told her supervisor to stop, is that a winning retaliation claim? Continue reading

Dude, you were fired for fellatio jokes, not your disability.

April 16, 2015 | by Eric B. Meyer

Geez! What’s gotten into me this week? Even by The Employer Handbook editorial standards, which are lower than Title VII’s religious accommodation undue hardship test.

[I’ll be here all week. Sorry.]

First, a 1000+ word blog post on ADA telework, followed by two cheeky posts on bad interview questions and the FMLA. So, naturally, this builds up to a Thursday post about oral.

As I resist every urge to cheapen this further by resorting to silly puns and other double entendre, allow me to set the stage for you: Continue reading

Can you smack your sexual harasser, complain, and still claim retaliation?

March 11, 2015 | by Eric B. Meyer

Not exactly a happy workplace trinity, but it’s what fuels The Employer Handbook. That and Jolt-Cola Bombs.

The plaintiff in this case claimed that she was sexually harassed by her male supervisor for over a year. The court’s opinion details alleged comments and groping in vivid detail. (No recap here. I plan to keep my post PG, damn it! Ok, PG-13. You happy, now?). Whenever the plaintiff supposedly complained, her employer did nothing about the harassment.

So, finally, she decked him one.

That got the employer to take notice. Indeed, it determined that the plaintiff had been sexually harassed and it fired her harasser. Then, the company also fired the plaintiff.
Continue reading

Apparently, in Texas, your managers are allowed one free “Heil Hitler.”

March 5, 2015 | by Eric B. Meyer

“I see your ‘two free slurs’ rule, Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, and I raise you one shout out to the Third Reich, alright Hoss?”

Ok, you got me.

The Fifth Circuit, which covers Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas, didn’t actually use those words, exactly. But, what the Court did say in this opinion, was that an employee who complained to Human Resources about a Deputy Director, one who allegedly said “Heil Hitler,” could not reasonably believe that this single comment created a hostile work environment. Got that? When a manager allegedly praises the Nazis one time, that’s not against the law:

Consider requiring your new independent contractors to release employment claims

February 17, 2015 | by Eric B. Meyer

What the hell are you talking about, Eric? Why would we make an independent contractor sign a release of employment claims before starting work for our company?

So glad you asked. Although, I’m not sure I like your tone.

*** takes pills ***

Many years ago, Allstate Insurance restructured its business, where it decided to longer have employees; only independent contractors. So, it offered its employees a bunch of options. One option was a severance; another was the ability to convert to independent contractor status. Either way, the individual had to release all past and presented employment-related claims agains the company.

When the EEOC got wind of the conversion option, they cried retaliation.

FACT OR FICTION: To protect a pregnant employee, a company can make her stay home.

January 20, 2015 | by Eric B. Meyer

That’s right folks. It’s time for another edition of “Fact or Fiction” a/k/a “Quick Answers to Quick Questions” a/k/a QATQQ f/k/a “I don’t feel like writing a long blog post.”

Oh, if I had a nickel for every time I got this question from an employer, “Hey Eric. We have this pregnant employee and she is very close to term. We’re concerned that if she continues working all the way up to childbirth, she may harm herself or the fetus. Can we require her to stay home?”

Eek! Check out this recent press release from the EEOC in which the agency announced that it is suing an employer, which allegedly required a pregnant employee to take unpaid leave until she was cleared by a doctor indicating that she could work despite her pregnancy. The EEOC further alleges, when the employee failed to provide a release, and after she and her mother disputed the legality of the requirement, the employee was fired in retaliation.

I was right. This appellate court employment-law decision was one of the worst of 2014.

January 13, 2015 | by Eric B. Meyer

About a year ago, I blogged here about a dreadful Sixth Circuit opinion, in which the court concluded that the plaintiff may have a discrimination claim for receiving the specific transfer he requested (after having interviewed for the position).

Now, if you read the comments on my post, you’ll see that some of my readers took issue with my analysis of the case.

Well, I see your comments and raise you a scathing Justice Alito dissent from the United States Supreme Court’s denial of certiorari:

It’s prolly not retaliation when you fire an employee who masturbates in your parking lot

January 5, 2015 | by Eric B. Meyer

Or, at least, when you honestly believe that one of your employees is masturbating in the parking lot.

(Unless, of course, you’re like by buddy Fred, who operates Parking Lot Self-Gratification, LLC).

Let’s just pretend that parenthetical remained in my head, ok?

After the jump, it’s a lesson on the law of retaliation involving the case of a school district employee who was fired for allegedly masturbating in a car…in the school parking lot…during school hours. And he claimed that his firing was retaliatory in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Allow that to sink in for a sec, then hit jump while I kiss the head of my golden blogging statuette and rub her belly…

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Train your supervisors not to shoot at those who complain about discrimination

November 14, 2014 | by Eric B. Meyer

Just another HR Pro Tip from your old buddy, Meyer. Hey, what would you guys do without me?

Sage advice for American businesses coming up after the jump…

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EEOC’s attack on garden-variety severance agreements suffers a potentially MAJOR setback

September 22, 2014 | by Eric B. Meyer

Earlier this year, the EEOC filed a federal lawsuit against CVS in which it claimed that drugstore chain “conditioned the receipt of severance benefits for certain employees on an overly broad severance agreement set forth in five pages of small print.” Specifically, the EEOC took issue with several common provisions that you guys probably use in your severance agreements:

a general release;

a non-disparagement obligation;

a confidentiality provision;

a covenant not to sue; or

a cooperation clause

But don’t go throwing your severance agreements in the trash just yet.

More after the jump…

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