Management Training

The EEOC has sued copier company Ricoh on behalf of three former employees—two Hispanics and one man of African origin. The suit alleges the three endured almost daily racial epithets and race-based harassment at the company’s Greensboro location.

Employees are protected against retaliation for taking FMLA leave. Disciplining an employee who has just returned from such leave is risky, especially if you can’t point to anything truly objective as the reason. Attributing a “poor attitude” to returning employees is a bad idea unless you can provide specific examples of actual work deficiencies.

Especially in a lousy economy, fired employees will look for a reason to sue. You must be able to defend every discharge against possible discrimination and retaliation claims. The only safe approach is to document that you treated every employee equally. You simply can’t cut slack for one employee and not another.

The EEOC has filed a class-action lawsuit against Cavalier Telephone on behalf of a group of account executives and job applicants from Pennsylvania and other Mid-Atlantic states, charging that the company refuses to hire older workers and fired two employees in retaliation after they objected to the alleged discrimination.

Among the many hassles of being sued is the simple fact that once a lawsuit is filed, it’s hard to stop. And if a discrimination case, for example, ends up before a jury, all bets on the outcome are off. While you can’t prevent every possible discrimination complaint, you do have control over cases charging retaliation.

Question: “I manage a group of four women who bicker constantly and 'cop an attitude.' To make it worse, I recently hired a young, inexperienced secretary who is very rude ... I feel like I’m supervising a bunch of tattling 2-year-olds. Sometimes, I plan what I’m going to say about these issues, then I chicken out. I know I need a stronger backbone, but I don’t like dealing with conflict. What should I do?”

If you’re a leader who employs a prima donna (one who produces great results but alienates everyone), what should you do? It’s simple. Bite the bullet and fire that person. Here are three reasons why you should:

New research by Right Management shows organizations prefer employees who are a good motivational fit with the team and the organization’s culture. HR pros say that interpersonal behaviors and organizational fit are bigger factors than technical skills or experience.

While planning new HR initiatives and making your HR budget projects for 2011, don’t forget to factor in one crucial aspect: Convincing your chief financial officer to back your proposals. You can improve your chances of securing CFO support by using the following information to improve your presentations.

Sometimes, a new supervisor takes the opportunity to settle old scores with former co-workers. And that can create liability for the employer. So before the promotion kicks in, teach your newly minted managers that federal laws prohibit supervisors from retaliating against workers for everything from taking FMLA leave to filing a workers’ comp claim.