What if a management consultant suggests that you find “young, energetic” people to take over? A court ruling last week sends a clear warning: Be careful who you listen to for advice … and where you write it down.

Have you checked your company’s bulletin boards lately? Do they show the correct, updated federal- and state-law posters? As this week’s new court ruling shows, poster mistakes can actually breathe new life into supposedly dead employment lawsuits …

The economy is still funky. Unemployment continues to rise. And, with Boomers entering their retirement years, some of those older laid-off employees are crying foul. In fact, the EEOC last year reported a shocking 29% rise in age discrimination claims. The good news: A recent U.S. Supreme Court decision made it more difficult for employees to win such cases, as the following case shows …

Have you ever felt that punch-to-the-stomach feeling of clicking “Send” and realizing you sent an e-mail to the wrong person? That usually causes only mild embarrassment. But as the CEO in the case below learned, one misguided e-mail mixed with some poor judgment can stir up a potent legal stew …

You may think your managers know how to respond to harassment claims. But what if those complaints are about male-on-male or female-on-female harassment? That’s not what harassment looked like in the training video! Would your managers shrug it off--as in the following case--by saying, “Don’t be so sensitive. Go back to work!” If so, get ready to write a big check—and don’t be so “sensitive” about how many zeros your company might have to put at the end.

It’s smart to set reasonably lofty goals for employees. But is there a danger in setting those goals too high? One court recently let a jury decide whether a company’s higher-than-the-moon goals were discriminatory. And, as we all know, once an employer is pushed off to a jury, it’s an instant loss… in time, money and brand damage ...

So you’ve had enough. The employee messed up big time again and you can’t take it any more. Thank goodness all your ducks have been lined up by a supervisor who documented previous poor performance. There’s even a “last chance” agreement in the employee’s file. What a gift! Go ahead and pull the plug. This is a worry-free decision, right? Not so fast, as a new court ruling shows. First, you better make sure the previous documentation was written by an unbiased supervisor. This begs the timely question: “Who can you trust any more?”

Do you sometimes let employees bend company policy … just a little? It’s really no big deal, right? A new court ruling warns that if you start bending a policy for one, you’d better be ready to bend it for all. Being flexible can sometimes be fatal.

Does your organization recruit via “word of mouth?” While companies may be spending less on recruitment efforts during these difficult economic times, be careful. A new court ruling says that relying too heavily on this hiring tactic could, in fact, trigger a discrimination lawsuit …

Do you assign points or scores to rank candidates during their interviews? If so, do you explain in writing why the applicant received each score? A new court ruling says you’d better back up those numbers with an explanation or you might just lose points in front of a jury if you’re sued for discrimination …

I thought we’d all learned our lessons from misguided politicians and CEOs to quit exchanging e-mails that are loaded with evidence of discrimination. Apparently for some, the lesson isn’t over until it’s learned the hard way …

Maybe a long, long time ago, in a far, far away place, folks used to tell women, “Oh, you can’t do that … it’s a man’s job.” And for whatever reason, it was acceptable. Maybe the work was too heavy, muddy or risky? But welcome to 2008, where jobs are no longer classified by gender. Better check to make sure your hiring managers understand that, too …

Every workplace has managers who love to hand out nicknames to employees and co-workers. That’s all good fun until an employee in a protected class—age, sex, race, religion, disability, etc.—takes offense to his or her special nickname. As this new court ruling shows, nicknames are dangerous and can be used as part of a “mosaic” to prove discrimination …

There’s nothing like a thorough, prompt and impartial investigation to save a company in court. So it’s time to think: Are you (and your HR staff) prepared and trained to handle investigations the correct way? As this new ruling shows, good investigations and an independent review of those investigations can be a true “get out of court free” card …

Question: Employers often feel cornered when poor-performing employees take job-protected FMLA leave. Can you terminate such employees while they’re out on leave? It often comes down to one question: How well have you documented the poor performance? …

You’re a tolerant, open-minded person. You’ve hired people of all races and religions, including a woman who wears a head scarf (hijab) in accordance with her religion. But what do say when that woman seeks a promotion to a more visible position? A few unwise words coupled with foot-dragging on the promotion and you’ll be wrapping your head around a religious discrimination lawsuit …

When one of your employees confides in her manager that she’s being harassed by a co-worker, what will that manager say? Hopefully, it’ll be something more constructive than “Go along with it,”...

Do you have employees who look like they just crawled out of a suitcase? Maybe they need a closer shave or to run an iron on their clothes. One court recently addressed this question: If an employee is fired for ignoring his boss’ demands to get a shave, does that count as “misconduct” that disqualifies him from unemployment benefits? …

Asking your administrative assistant to fetch you coffee may be old-school, but is it sex discrimination? In a recent case, a female employee got in such a froth about her bosses’ demands for coffee that she said, “Get your own coffee and see you in court!” ...

Judges and juries bring a mental stopwatch to every discrimination and retaliation case. They use it to compare the time between when employees exercise their legal rights (using FMLA, voice harassment complaint, etc.) and when you took action against them. Tick, tick, tick … if you can hear it, don’t do it!

You may trust your employees to not harass female colleagues. But do you trust Howard Stern? The growth of XM and Sirius radios have brought uncensored programming into cubicles, warehouses and breakrooms. And as a new court ruling proves, employees who overhear such sexual banter—even if it’s not directed at them—can sue for harassment…

It’s nearly futile to try to deflect Cupid’s arrows. Still, many organizations do set policies to minimize the potential legal fallout from co-workers’ romantic relationships. UPS recently got sued over its policy that bans supervisors from dating ANY hourly employee—regardless whether the employee is a direct report. So, do love relationships trump house rules? In this case, the court sighed, “Love and marriage are the losers; something doesn’t seem quite right about that.”

That’s a trick question. The answer is none. Still, courts hear it all the time. “We’re an exception to harassment/discrimination laws because … We’re in a gritty industry …We’re doctors …. We have an extra-friendly workplace.” Whatever. One company just wrote a $1.5 million check trying that defense. It doesn’t work in 2008...

If employees ask for Sunday off work for religious reasons, must they attend services on that day? A new court ruling clarifies that the answer is no. And you could face a religious discrimination lawsuit even if you try to accommodate employees by allowing them to find their own replacement for Sunday shifts ...

Do you have to treat transgendered job applicants differently? Which box, if any, do you check on the application—male or female? And what special laws must you know about?