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 9/9/18 we saw that a jury awards Temple University executive assistant $850K in age discrimination suit. After she was fired, Ruth Briggs sued Temple, claiming age discrimination and hostile work environment during her tenure as an executive assistant to a department chair. The university, however, said she was fired for performance deficiencies. The one thing it didn’t count on: what her boss allegedly said to her (it’s in the post).
TAKEAWAY: Train your employees not to make comments to colleagues or underlings – it may come back to haunt them and you – and be costly.
The post on Monday 9/10/18 told us that a lawsuit accuses 2 Chicago-area bakeries of systemic racial hiring discrimination. The suit that seeks.class action status alleges black job candidates were passed over in favor of Hispanic workers at two Chicago-area bakeries that hired through staffing agencies to hide the discriminatory practices. The bakeries were sold to two other corporations which are not parties to the suit. The plaintiff, who is black, alleges that the seller conspired with staffing agencies to weed out African-American workers seeking assignments at the bakeries. The post contains more background facts. The suit attached as an exhibit another suit with similar allegations. Stay tuned.
TAKEAWAY: Make sure that your company and its agents follow the law – you will be found out and brought to heel if you don’t.
In the post on Tuesday 9/11/18 we read that the EEOC said to airline: if you have a policy, follow it! United Airlines found out the hard way what companies should already know. The EEOC sued, alleging that officials refused to take action against a male pilot who had been sexually harassing a female flight attendant for years. More details are in the post. Did the flight attendant complaint? Yes – see the post for just how many times and to whom. So what did United do? Nothing. And that’s why it found itself named as a defendant.
TAKEAWAY: You should have policies about harassment and discrimination (if not, put them in place). And apply and enforce those policies uniformly. Period.
The post on Wednesday 9/12/18 showed us that a municipality is moving to clean unit overrun with animal waste, flies. We asked: what would your Association do under these circumstances? Just how bad was the problem? See the post. It took 2 years to get to the point of being able to evict the woman who remained long after Sheriff’s Sale. And when it acted … see the post.
TAKEAWAY: Make sure your Association has Governing Document sin place that will help it deal with a situation like this – swiftly.
In the post on Thursday 9/13/18 we saw that even with FMLA, enforce no-show/no-call rule. You read that right. Your company has a policy requiring call-ins for absences. Don’t exempt those on FMLA leave from the policy. It might work in your favor. As in the post, Latonia, who worked as a lab technician, had a long record of unscheduled absences and tardiness. She was approved to take intermittent FMLA leave, and when she did, none of those absences were counted against her. All good, right? Well … Then she was told to follow the policy. And didn’t. See the post for the result.
TAKEAWAY: Just like the policies we discussed on Tuesday, make sure to enforce attendance and absenteeism policies too.
The post on Friday 9/14/18 brought good news: Pennsylvanians can now file LGBTQ complaints with the PHRC (Pa Human Relations Commission). Why? Because the definition of “sex” as a basis of discrimination was amended. The post talks about what is now included.
TAKEAWAY: As an employer or employee, know what are your rights and responsibilities relative to the legal bases for adverse decisions.
Finally, in the post yesterday 9/15/18 we learned that ‘merely discourteous behavior’ is not unlawful a court tells man who says he was ‘shunned’ at work. Plaintiff Rondell Veal was first suspended with pay in November 2016, then fired three days later. He later sued AHAA, asserting claims of racial discrimination, hostile work environment, and retaliation. As to the general comments he alleged were made, see what the judge said in the post. Timing of what happened was also an issue as noted by the judge in the post.
TAKEAWAY: Make sure your workplace is professional – or at least remains within legal bounds. Don’t wait until you have to prove in court that it is.
York, Pennsylvania 17403