Fair Employment Practices Guidelines articles from January 2004

Fair Employment Practices Guidelines archives from January 2004

Undercover investigation justifies terminations.
January 1, 2004... Most, if not all employers, at some time or other, and oftentimes on a recurring basis, have problems with employee theft, dishonesty, fraud, and/or drug use. A recent case from California, Santillan v. BT Office Products, Inc., 2003 WL...

Reduction in force is nondiscriminatory reason for termination.
January 1, 2004... A voluntary or involuntary plan for reducing the workforce that takes age into account as one factor in the selection process does not discriminate on the basis of age, the Ohio Court of Appeals ruled in Howard v. Contech Construction...

Employee's failure to document disability defeats his claim.
January 1, 2004... During his 12 years with the company, the plaintiff received written reprimands, poor performance reviews, and was placed on an "action plan" to improve his job performance. At one performance review shortly before his separation, he told...

Ask the expert: q & a.
January 1, 2004... Q Under the Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA), why can't the employer ask to see the documentation when the applicant applies, rather than waiting until the first day of hire and taking the risk that the new employee does not have...

Successful employer not entitled to attorney fees.(Louisana (5th Circuit))(Brief Article)
January 1, 2004... The Fifth Circuit declined to award the employer attorneys fees against a plaintiff despite the employer's success in getting a judgment as a matter of law in its favor on the plaintiffs Americans With Disabilities Act claim (Vitale v....

$200,000 for sexual harassment is not excessive.(Missouri (8th Circuit))(Brief Article)
January 1, 2004... Calling it "a case involving the question of human decency," the Eighth Circuit reversed a lower court's decision and reinstated a jury's verdict for the plaintiff in the amount of $200,000 in non-economic damages and $42,272 in economic...

General harassment complaints not tied to gender do not state claim under Title VII.(Colorado (10th Circuit))(Brief Article)
January 1, 2004... If the basis of the plaintiff's hostile work environment claim is simply complaints about the general environment in which she worked and she has not adequately linked any of her complaints to gender, then the claim will fail, the Tenth...

Transfer to a comparable position is not an adverse job action.(California)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2004... A California appellate court reversed a $300,000 jury verdict in favor of a plaintiff, finding that her transfer to another job due to her disability did not constitute an "adverse job action" under the California Fair Employment and Housing...

Plaintiff's release of Title VII claims valid, but her release of age discrimination claims not valid.(New York)
January 1, 2004... Although the facts and circumstances established that the plaintiff's waiver and release of Title VII claims (national origin (Hispanic/Colombian female) and retaliation) was voluntary and knowing and therefore enforceable, her release of age...