Fair Employment Practices Guidelines articles from October 2006

Fair Employment Practices Guidelines archives from October 2006

Bank teller fails to prove discrimination or retaliation.
October 1, 2006... The plaintiff in Green v. Franklin National Bank of Minneapolis, 2006 WL 2419171 (8th Cir.), a black female teller who worked at the bank for only six months, sued the bank for racial harassment, discriminatory discharge, retaliation for...

Another court rules that FMLA claims can't be waived.
October 1, 2006... Department of Labor (DOL) regulations implementing the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) prohibit an employee from waiving her rights under the statute, a federal district court in Pennsylvania ruled in a case of first impression in...

Non-citizens aren't protected from discrimination in foreign countries.
October 1, 2006... The plaintiff, a black male who was not a citizen of the United States (the opinion doesn't say which country the plaintiff was a citizen of), but who was a permanent resident of Connecticut, sued several subsidiaries of American...

Ask the expert: Q & A.(Interview)
October 1, 2006... Address questions to Gerard P. Panaro, at Howe & Hutton, Ltd., 1901 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20006, tel. 202-861-1314, or e-mail at gpp@howehutton.com. Q Our company is thinking about setting up an affirmative action plan...

Correction.(Correction notice)
October 1, 2006... Correction. A reader pointed out that the "Ask the Expert" column in the September 2006 issue stated that for FMLA purposes a child is one year old or younger. The regulations do not define the term "child." They do define "son or daughter"...

Company's reinstatement of plaintiff cures FMLA mistake.(California)
October 1, 2006... A resort mistakenly terminated the plaintiff during her pregnancy disability and family medical leave because it miscalculated her return date and believed she had overstayed her leave. However, when the plaintiff informed the resort of its...

Agency offered nonsmoker reasonable accommodation.(Kentucky)(Brief article)
October 1, 2006... The plaintiff began to notice breathing problems associated with cigarette smoke in her building. She was diagnosed with "reactive airway disease." She requested that she be moved from the building to a well-ventilated and smoke-free...

Comments too infrequent to be harassment.(Minnesota)(Brief article)
October 1, 2006... Summary judgment for the city was appropriate on the plaintiff's claim that her employer (Minneapolis's park-board department) fostered a hostile work environment, the Court of Appeals of Minnesota ruled in Womack v. City of Minneapolis, 2006...

Human rights act imposes individual liability.(Missouri)
October 1, 2006... In a case of first impression, the Missouri Court of Appeals held that the "plain and unambiguous language" defining "employer" in the Missouri HRA imposed individual liability on the chief executive officer, who could be found individually...

Woman states claim for wage discrimination under NJ EPA and LAD.(New Jersey)
October 1, 2006... A male candidate for the city tax assessor job was offered $43,430. He turned it down. The plaintiff, a female, was offered $30,000. The trial court determined that the plaintiff's job and the male's job were not substantially equal, because...

Employer's dress code (Blazers for women) may violate law.(Washington)
October 1, 2006... The employer fired the plaintiff because she refused to comply with the dress code policy and wear a blazer. Only female employees had to wear the blazer. There are two ways a dress code may violate the law, the Washington Court of Appeals...