Discrimination and Harassment
Discrimination and harassment claims often increase in a down economy. Learn the proper techniques for conducing proper workplace harassment investigations, providing sexual harassment training, and more to reduce claims of employment discrimination and preventing sexual harassment in the workplace.
The EEOC has just won a significant legal victory without even having to go to trial. It recently alleged that some last-chance agreements automatically violate Title VII if they prevent employees from filing EEOC actions. The agreements in question contained a clause that had employees promising not to file discrimination charges in exchange for keeping their jobs.
Some jobs demand relevant, real-world work experience. If a failed applicant sues, claiming a college degree should have trumped on-the-job experience, you’ll probably win—if you can justify your experience requirements.
You just terminated an employee for misconduct or poor performance. A few weeks later, you receive an EEOC complaint alleging that the employee suffered years of harassment and discrimination. If you didn’t have clear rules in place for reporting such conduct, you may be facing years of litigation.
Having rules against fighting doesn’t necessarily make it easy to punish employees when punches fly. The best approach: Figure out who did what to whom, and in what order.
The EEOC has issued a new regulation addressing the “reasonable factors other than age” (RFOA) defense to disparate impact claims under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act. Understanding the new regulation can help you comply with the law and prevail in court if you are sued.
Sometimes, sexual harassment happens after hours, not in the workplace. But if there’s a sufficient connection to work, employers may still be liable.
Unless you’re willing to risk losing an ADA reasonable accommodations lawsuit, don’t wait to define the essential functions of your employees’ jobs.
Some employees attribute perfectly reasonable actions to race discrimination just because the decision-maker happens to belong to a different protected class. Fortunately, courts usually quickly dismiss such cases.
A former Houston Chronicle reporter has filed a sex discrimination complaint against the newspaper claiming she was illegally fired for failing to inform her bosses that she was moonlighting—as a stripper.
There is no constitutional right to a free attorney in employment discrimination cases. Unless a so-called pro se litigant can show the court that his claim clearly has merit, he’ll have to serve as his own lawyer.
