Below is a review of the posts (on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter) from the past week. You can check out the full posts by clicking on the links.
The post on Sunday 12/27/15 was about how employment lawsuits can ruin your business. So what are some of the ways a lawsuit can hurt your business? You could lose your reputation. You could lose your money. See the post for more.
TAKEAWAY: Ensure proper legal compliance to help avoid – or at least provide a good defense for – lawsuits arising out of the workplace. An employment attorney can help with this.
In the post on Monday 12/28/15, we noted that sometimes the jury gets it right – a BIG verdict for sexual harassment in this case. And by big we mean $18M! So what happened? Among other things, the plaintiff alleged that she was pressured to dress provocatively on the job and that the CEO continually asked her for sex. More allegations are in the post, including the use of social media. Bad, just bad.
TAKEAWAY: The defendant’s lawyer summed it up pretty well: “his client made some ‘mistakes’ in his treatment of [her] and now he’s going to pay for $18 million of them.”
In the post on Tuesday 12/29/15 we saw that all is not hunky dory for females at Ford Motor plants. Yes, this is more on the class-action sexual harassment suit. Ford has asked the court to dismiss the suit which now involves 33 women at various Ford plants who allege unwelcome touching and sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, male employees showing them pictures of their genitals, and attempted rape. The post has even more of the lurid allegations.
TAKEAWAY: However this plays out in the legal system, Ford loses in the court of public opinion. Don’t let something like this happen to your business.
The post on Wednesday 12/30/15 told us an employer cannot discourage an employee from speaking to others about an investigation into comments written on newsletters. This was a decision from the NLRB about something that took place in unionized workplace, but remember that certain sections of the NLRA apply to ALL employees in ALL work environments, including your business. One of those is the right to discuss the terms and conditions of work.
TAKEAWAY: The protection afforded to employees to discuss their work environment is broad – and in a law that is being interpreted very broadly now. Employers must be aware of their employees’ rights and not step on them.
In the post on Thursday 12/31/15 we learned that federal courts recognize a “perceived as” religious bias claim. Just one more thing for which employers must be wary. One of those courts is the federal appellate court governing PA. In the PA case, the plaintiff was perceived as Muslim. Here, the plaintiff said he was subject to harassment when he wore his hat backwards and others said it looked like a “topi” (a skullcap worn for religious reasons by Muslim men). There were other incidents of harassment too which are in the post.
TAKEAWAY: Religious discrimination is not cut and dried; its scope is expanding and employers’ vigilance over their employees’ actions must also expand to prevent legal liability.
In the posts on Friday 1/1/16, here and here, we wished you a happy and joyous new year and reminded you that we are here to help with your legal needs in 2016 and beyond.
TAKEAWAY: Just this once, let’s make it simple: be thankful for 2015 and look forward to the possibilities 2016 holds for you.
Finally, the post yesterday 1/2/16, reminded you that the delete button could save your job. Really. We all know that social media rules the world. Given that, employees must be very careful of what they send out (even if they think they are protected by their right to discuss work conditions in a non-union workplace). The post details one situation where an employee would have been reinstated but for his own social media stupidity.
TAKEAWAY: When employees do themselves in an employer is within its rights to follow its policies and discipline or discharge that employee.
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