Termination, Harassment, Corporate Counsel

Terminating Employees For “Bad Faith” Harassment Complaints Fraught With Peril

Sherman & Howard L.L.C. on 8/14/2018

In EEOC v. HP Pelzer Auto. Sys., the U.S. District Court denied the employer’s motion for summary judgment on a retaliation claim. The employer received a complaint that its HR manager had made two offensive, sex-related,...more

Good Faith Belief in Employee’s Wrongdoing Serves as Defense Against Retaliation Claim

Maynard Nexsen on 7/25/2017

A recent Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals ruling may offer employers in North and South Carolina another defense against an employee’s retaliation claim: No liability for adverse action against an employee based on the...more

Sweet Justice! Dismissal of Bully's FMLA Claim Proves Employers Can Safely Terminate an Employee on the Heels of FMLA Leave

Franczek P.C. on 9/8/2016

I hate bullies. Back in 4th grade, Sister Mary Demetria, OSF, told us that “hating” someone was a sin. I’m convinced Sister never met a bully. Forgive me, Father, for I have sinned. Cause, you see, whenever I...more

Fourth Circuit Says Failure to Replace Employee Does Not Defeat Discriminatory Termination Claim

Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP on 7/26/2016

When a terminated employee alleges that her firing resulted from discrimination or retaliation, employers often dispute those claims by noting that the employer never hired anyone to take the terminated employee’s position....more

Fourth Circuit Finds Rebellious Behavior by Subordinates Insufficient to Constitute Hostile Work Environment

Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP on 6/2/2016

Most hostile environment harassment claims brought under Title VII involve allegations of offensive conduct by the plaintiff’s supervisors or co-workers. In a few situations, the employee alleges that his or her subordinates...more

Something is Rotten at the Pork Roll Company … and it’s not the Pork Rolls: Flatulent Employee (and his Wife) Bring Claims for...

Mintz - Employment, Labor & Benefits... on 10/14/2015

Is passing gas now protected by our anti-discrimination laws? Over the past several years, we have written extensively about the possibility of obesity discrimination lawsuits becoming the next wave of disability...more

NLRB Finds That Employer Improperly Disciplined Employee Who Obscenely Grabbed His Crotch in Front of Female Co-Worker

Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP on 7/14/2014

On July 3, 2014, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) handed down a decision in the case of Consolidated Communications d/b/a Illinois Consolidated Telephone Co. and Local 702, Int'l Brotherhood of Electrical Workers,...more

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