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.
In the post on Sunday 9/16/18 we told you to warn supervisors: Never delete texts and emails related to employee’s complaint. Really. If an employee has filed an EEOC or internal complaint or a state or federal lawsuit, deleting texts or emails related even tangentially to the underlying complaint can be risky for you. How can that play out? Here’s an example. Timothy, is white. His wife is black, and they have biracial children. The employer company hired Travis as a driver. See the post for what happened when Travis learned about Timothy’s family.
TAKEAWAY: As the post says, let your employment lawyer sort out whether the information in the documents is relevant and should be preserved. Don’t make the decision yourself.
The post on Monday 9/17/18 asked: Who really owns social media accounts? It can be a big deal. Andy was a sportswriter. He announced on Twitter that he was leaving his employer and would become the beat writer for a subscription-based, online sports website. Good, right? Well, then he pinned a tweet on his Twitter feed urging followers to subscribe and continue reading. Uh oh. The first employer claims that it owns Andy’s Twitter account and that Andy’s refusal to turn over the account constitutes misappropriation of trade secrets. The post lists the various statutes that were at issue in the suit filed by the employer. The question before the court was when does a social media account belong to the employer and when does it belong to the employee. The post reviewed an early case with that same question. The post then talks about how an employer can protect itself (develop a social media policy) and steps to accomplish that.
TAKEAWAY: Don’t leave something important to marketing your company up for grabs – talk to an employment lawyer and protect it!
In the post on Tuesday 9/18/18 we read about a man busted for stealing nearly $100K from homeowners association (and suggested you make sure you have appropriate controls in place so this doesn’t happen to you). So an attorney was acting as a Board member- which is ok. He stole money, a lot of money, from the Association – which is not ok. The post describes the background and how he accomplished it.
TAKEAWAY: Don’t let any one person have all the control. Make sure someone else – preferably unrelated and disinterested – is watching over things too.
The post on Wednesday 9/19/18 was about the EEOC Chair on age discrimination by employers – just don’t. You should know that the EEOC has been aggressive on pursuing claims of age discrimination. In the post, the Chair said why the EEOC is doing what it is doing. The post also provides many informative statistics that support the EEOC’s position. The post also offers tips to older workers and job seekers – which are also helpful to employers, so pay attention.
TAKEAWAY: Employers need to know their rights and responsibilities when it comes to age – make sure to stay on the legal side.
In the post on Thursday 9/20/18 a woman claimed her service dog was denied entry at Tulsa Drillers game. A man working at the stadium is shown on video saying he is following ADA regulations, goes through a series of questions, and the dog is ultimately not allowed in. Part of the conversation about the dog is in the post. The team issued a statement (in the post) clarifying the difference between a service dog and an emotional support dog and how they are defined by the ADA.
TAKEAWAY: This comes up in so many situations now that you should know the difference between a service dog and an emotional support dog, especially when dogs are not otherwise allowed entry into wherever the owner is trying to take them.
The post on Friday 9/21/18 told us the Grand Hyatt violated the ADA by denying a front-desk agent a chair (alleges the EEOC). The person had a chronic back problem (see the details as affecting the job in the post). The hotel initially granted the request for a chair, but revoked the accommodation two weeks later. Yep, suit was eventually filed and is pending.
TAKEAWAY: The ADA requires an interactive accommodation process – but when a requested accommodation is simple, there may be no reason to deny it. Check with an employment lawyer to see your rights and responsibilities.
Finally, in the post yesterday 9/22/18, we saw that a Title VII same-sex violation allegation was affirmed on appeal. A male employee worked in the meat department of his local grocery store. In his suit, he alleged unlawful hostile environment harassment created by his male coworkers and male supervisor (the ugly behavior at issue is mentioned in the post). Despite his complaints, the employer did nothing. Well, that’s not true – through a supervisor, it did; see the post. And other employees piled on even more, including vandalizing his car. The case depended on legal definitions and analysis as explained in the post.
TAKEAWAY: Know what constitutes illegal sexual harassment in the workplace: Hint – it could be same-sex.
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