HR Specialist: Florida Employment Law

There’s a dark side to doing business in the Sunshine State. Aggressive attorneys don’t stop with federal laws like FMLA, ADA and FLSA: they use state and local living-wage statutes, rural codes, plus discrimination and other laws to sue employers for sky’s-the-limit damages. This Florida-specific newsletter arrives monthly to help sue-proof every aspect of HR. Written in plain English, it’s your insurance policy for staying in step with current interpretations of state and local laws – and staying out of court. Learn more about HR Specialist: Florida Employment Law and the free report you’ll get when you subscribe...

Before you fire any employee, double-check to make sure others who performed just as poorly or made similar mistakes were also terminated. Doing so may prevent a lawsuit … or, if you are sued, at least provide evidence that you treat everyone alike.

If a lawsuit is filed, you will be ordered to turn over that information, so you might as well review it now.

Recent case: Ronna Corriveau was fired from her job as a Starbucks manager and sued, alleging pregnancy and sex discrimination.

Starbucks said it fired her for poor performance and provided specific examples. Corriveau’s attorneys asked the court to order Starbucks to turn over information on all discipline involving other Starbucks managers in the region. The court approved the request. (Corriveau v. Starbucks, No. 08-61794, SD FL, 2009)