If you want to avoid potential liability from a former employee, remember a key maxim: Stick to your story about why you made the employment decision. If an employer shifts rationales for its decision or tries to pile on by...more
9/10/2019
/ Corporate Counsel ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Human Resources Professionals ,
Jury Trial ,
Motion for Summary Judgment ,
Piling-On ,
Pregnancy Discrimination ,
Retaliation ,
Summary Judgment ,
Termination
Usually, once is not enough, at least in the hostile work environment context. Unless, as the court found in Ronnie L. Outlaw v. SBH Services, Inc., it is.
Typically, a single incident of harassment – especially by a...more
In a decision that could have employers rethinking how they offer employees a severance agreement, in McClellan v. Midwest Machining, Inc. the Sixth Circuit held that former employees seeking to void severance agreements do...more
8/21/2018
/ Corporate Counsel ,
Duress ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Equal Pay Act ,
Former Employee ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Pay Discrimination ,
Pregnancy Discrimination ,
Reversal ,
Severance Agreements ,
Severance Pay ,
Summary Judgment ,
Title VII ,
Void Contracts
GINA—that elusive law about employers collecting genetic information that rarely comes up. What if an employee voluntarily shares his genetic history—can he turn around and claim his employer improperly acquired the genetic...more
6/1/2018
/ Appeals ,
Cancer ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Dismissals ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Genetic Discrimination ,
GINA ,
Medical History ,
Medical Leave ,
Summary Judgment ,
Termination ,
Voluntary Disclosure
Employers beware: An employee does not have to use “magic words” to complain about discrimination for it to lay the basis for a retaliation claim. The Sixth Circuit made this point in a unanimous opinion in the case of Mumm...more
3/9/2018
/ Appeals ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Gender-Based Pay Discrimination ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Protected Activity ,
Retaliation ,
Reversal ,
Sex Discrimination ,
Summary Judgment ,
Title VII ,
Wage and Hour
Don’t listen to all the doubters – HR truly can save the day.
A recent federal court decision from the Western District of Tennessee illustrates the point again: prompt and appropriate investigation of a sexual...more