Fair Employment Practices Guidelines articles from September 2002

Fair Employment Practices Guidelines archives from September 2002

Stray remarks add fuel to discrimination claims. (Age Discrimination).(Brief Article)
September 15, 2002... Imagine you're sitting in on a promotion discussion involving a worker who is close to retirement age and someone in the room says, "Well, she's not going to be around very long anyway." Would you think the person meant that the older worker...

Labor board clarifies remedies for undocumented aliens. (Immigration/NLRA).(National Labor Relations Board)(Brief Article)
September 15, 2002... Although the U.S. Supreme Court reversed the National Labor Relations Board's policy of awarding back pay to undocumented workers earlier this year, it did not entirely change the way the Board will handle remedies for these workers under the...

Temps allowed to file Title VII complaints. (Discrimination in General).(Brief Article)
September 15, 2002... Independent contractors may not file Title VII complaints against the companies that hire them because they are nonemployees. However, not every temporary employee is an independent contractor. The law recognizes "dual employment" when...

RIF requires more stringent ADEA review. (Age Bias).(reduction in force; Age Discrimination in Employment Act)(Brief Article)
September 15, 2002... In most situations, to prove age bias under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), an employee must show that he or she was at least 40 years of age, was qualified to perform the job, suffered an adverse employment action, and was...

Separation agreement ends Title VII claim. (Sexual Harassment).(employee claims sexual harrassment)(Brief Article)
September 15, 2002... A woman on the verge of termination for with performance problems was offered a chance to resign provided she signed a separation agreement. The woman was aware that she had the makings of a sexual harassment complaint when she signed the...

Consider "Broad" EEOC request carefully. (EEOC/Discrimination on General).
September 15, 2002... When the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) contacts your company in response to an employee's discrimination complaint, the request can sometimes be very broad. When faced with a race discrimination claim, for example, the...

Insurance didn't cover gender bias. (Illinois).(insurance company not required to pay for sexual misconduct)(Brief Article)
September 15, 2002... A woman claimed she was fired from her job because of her gender and because she was pregnant. She said her boss fired her because he was the father of the child. The employer tried to have the claim settled through its employment practices...

At-will status unchanged by drug policy. (Mississippi).(employee fired for not passing drug test)(Brief Article)
September 15, 2002... An employee signed two disclaimers acknowledging that his employment was at-will. One was contained in his employment application and the other in his employee handbook. However, this employer was subject to U.S. Department of Transportation...

State supports continuing violation claims. (New Jersey).(Brief Article)
September 15, 2002... A state court of appeals has decided to follow the U.S. Supreme Court when considering whether an employee can file a "continuing violation" claim, which allow an employee to introduce evidence of employer actions that occurred outside the...

Noncompete clause is fair. (Indiana).(financial expert must wait a year to open own practice)(Brief Article)
September 15, 2002... After his termination, a bank financial expert sent letters to all of his customers explaining that he had left the bank. He later advertised his own financial consulting business in the newspaper. The bank sued, claiming it had a non-compete...

Employee should have provided information. (Alaska).(applicant sues car dealer for not hiring him)(Brief Article)
September 15, 2002... An applicant sued a car dealer for refusing to hire him as a salesperson. The dealer said it didn't hire the man because he failed to show his driver's license as part of the application process. The man said a license was not a requirement...

Quick looks.(EEOC lawsuit can proceed; employee trust declines)(Brief Article)(Panel Discussion)(Statistical Data Included)
September 15, 2002... * Court refuses to dismiss EEOC lawsuit. A U.S. District Court has said that the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) can continue with its disability complaint against an employer. The EEOC says that R.R. Donnelley, a...

Four steps help you avoid wrongful termination claims. (Termination).(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... What happens when unemployment rates begin to reflect the growing trend of corporate downsizing? Wrongful termination lawsuits, that's what. Wrongful termination was an uncommon claim in the courts when our economy was growing and the...

Watch out for gender stereotypes in the workplace. (Sex Discrimination).(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... In 1989, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the accounting firm of Price Waterhouse was liable for gender discrimination because it denied partnership to a woman that decision makers criticized for being "rather masculine" and needing to...

Failure to develop promotion procedure appears discriminatory. (Discrimination in General).(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... The best way to verify that supervisors are making fair promotion and hiring decisions is to have clear procedures that are followed regularly. A recent case shows that failing to have such procedures could lead to discrimination complaints....

Women prove hiring bias without submitting applications. (Hiring).(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... In most cases, an applicant will have to actually apply for a job and be rejected before he or she can prove an employer acted in a discriminatory manner. However, if the employer's procedures make it clear that certain groups could never be...

Employer had no knowledge of pregnancy. (Pregnancy Discrimination/Termination).(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... "Unlike race and gender, early pregnancy is not an obvious condition," said the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit in a recent termination case. A woman was warned about performance problems and she promised to improve in the...

When accusations turn out to be false. (Sexual Harassment).(discrete investigations)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... When employees bring charges of harassment to an employer s attention, the employer has a duty to look into the situation. But not every accusation turns out to be true, and, if one jury finding is any indication, employers may be responsible...

Secrecy "fundamental" to trade secret. (Arkansas).(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... The state supreme court has said a company did not go far enough to protect its trade secrets and so could not force an ex-employee to refrain from using this information at his new job. The court considered six factors to determine whether...

Supervisors liable under state law. (California).(Fair Employment and Housing Act)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... Although supervisors may not be sued individually for discrimination claims under the Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) [Reno v. Baird, 18 Cal.4th 640 (Calif S.Ct. 1998)], retaliation claims are another stow. Recently, a state appeals...

Handbook clause not promotion promise. (Wisconsin).(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... Even if your handbook contains a disclaimer stating it is not an employment contract, employees may try to prove that statements made in the handbook are legally binding promises. An employee argued that her employer's promotion policy, which...

Mastectomy disability under state law. (New Jersey).(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... A state court of appeals has said that a woman who underwent a mastectomy and cancer treatments qualifies as a person with a disability under the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination (LAD), even though she suffered no relapse or serious...

EEOC settles disability bias suit. (Quick Looks).(Equal Employment Opportunity Commission)(against Ford Motor Company)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Conunission (EEOC) has settled a multiple-victim disability discrimination lawsuit against Ford Motor Company and its subsidiary, Visteon Corporation, for $415,000 and injunctive relief. In the lawsuit,...

Need ergonomics information? (Quick Looks).(Safety Training & Compliance Library Online)
September 1, 2002... Looking for up-to-date information on OSHA's new strategy to prevent workplace ergonomic injuries? Need help determining which engineering and work practice controls can help reduce or eliminate musculoskeletal disorders, back strain, and...