Discrimination and Harassment

With more and more lawyers getting selective about the cases they take, em­ployees sometimes have to go it alone. Don’t ignore these pro se cases. Instead, get expert legal assistance. Often, courts will toss out dubious cases rather quickly.

Think you’re immune from lawsuits as long as you don’t cut an employee’s pay or fire, demote or refuse to promote him? You’re wrong. Employees who belong to a protected class and can show they endured enough slights, insults or other harassing conduct to affect the way they perform their jobs can win a hostile environment lawsuit.

There’s no set standard for the amount of time that must pass between a discrimination complaint and an adverse employment action for it to qualify as retaliation. In fact, federal judges hearing retaliation claims have wide discretion in determining whether something may be retaliation based on timing alone. To be safe, periodically follow up with employees who have complained about bias.

Here’s something to remember when you’re worried about firing someone because you might get sued: Judges don’t want to run HR departments. As long as HR acts honestly and believes the employee should be fired because she broke a company rule, chances are a lawsuit won’t ­succeed.

A 69-year-old woman who has worked for Central Title, a Tyler County title company, since 1992 is suing her former employer, claiming she was a victim of age discrimination.

Four Amigos Travel and Top Dog Travel are facing a class-action lawsuit after the EEOC stepped in on behalf of telemarketers who accused the Tampa-based companies of condoning sexual harassment.

Salisbury-based trucking firm A.C. Widenhouse faces charges it allowed racial harassment of black drivers who allege managers and co-workers frequently addressed them using ­racial epithets.

Employees break rules from time to time. They make mistakes occasionally. When those things happen, you have to respond. But don’t make the mistake of thinking you must discipline or correct every employee the same way all the time. Management needs the flexibility to tailor solutions to particular problems, because every situation is different.

Some employees are less than honest about their absences. From the “Monday morning flu” to claiming time off for nonexistent medical treatment, employees can get creative. But what can you do if you find out later that an employee has lied to get time off? Fire him for misrepresentation.

A former employee of Texas Energy Service is suing the company under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, alleging it fired him because he is black.