In yesterday’s Advisor we looked at a few examples of recent wins for employers in the courts concerning federal discrimination lawsuits. Today, we present another example. Regardless of the type of claim that comes your way, having good documentation and following the rules can usually protect you, as it did in these cases.
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Thorough Documentation Defeats Bias Claim
Myron Mintz, an African-American, began working at Caterpillar Inc., in 2005. A few years later he became a manufacturing engineer.
Mintz was evaluated four times a year, as well as once at the end of the year. These performance reviews determined whether he would get a raise. In 2011, Mintz moved to a different building and began working under a new supervisor. Under this new supervisor, Mintz’s performance reviews went downhill due to a large amount of costly mistakes on Mintz’s part. He was given counsel by his supervisor to help reduce these mistakes. The situation worsened. Mintz continued to get low ratings and, as a result, had to at first have monthly performance sessions and additional training, and then have weekly meetings and performance sessions.
Minimizing retaliation claims is crucial for your peace of mind. Start on Thursday, October 1, 2015, with a new interactive webinar—Retaliation Claim Prevention: HR’s Training and Intervention Keys to Avoiding EEOC Attention. Learn More
Mintz believed that his poor ratings and the fact that he had been placed on an action plan were due to his race and were in retaliation for being the only African-American engineer in his department. Because of this, Mintz filed a race discrimination and retaliation claim against Caterpillar under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Mintz had to prove that he was a member of a protected class, that he suffered an adverse employment action, that he was meeting his employer’s legitimate expectations, and that the employer treated similarly situated employees not in the protected class (i.e., a comparator) more favorably.
Mintz couldn’t show there were any employees with similar grief and change order issues who were treated more favorably by Caterpillar. His claim for race discrimination failed for this reason. With regard to the retaliation claim, the 7th Circuit said there was no connection between Mintz’s complaint of race discrimination in May 2011 and his adverse year-end performance review in February 2012. The passage of time between the two events—9 months—suggested there was no connection between them.
The Takeaway. For purposes of litigation, the company was able to establish its expectations, how Mintz had failed to meet them, and the actions the company took to address the problems in a timely manner. Once again, due diligence and documentation saved a company from a costly discrimination claim.
These companies got it right when they were taken to court. Of course, it would be easier if they were able to avoid court altogether!
As an HR manager, you need to learn the many ways retaliation claims arise, the laws that protect employees from adverse actions, and strategies to promote training and intervention—so you can create a company culture that is free of retaliation.How to get there? Fortunately there’s timely help in the form of BLR’s new webinar—Retaliation Claim Prevention: HR’s Training and Intervention Keys to Avoiding EEOC Attention. In just 90 minutes, on Thursday, October 1, you’ll learn everything you need to know about minimizing the risk of retaliation claims.
Register today for this interactive webinar.
Want to protect yourself from retaliation claims? Join us Thursday, October 1, 2015, for a new interactive webinar, Retaliation Claim Prevention: HR’s Training and Intervention Keys to Avoiding EEOC Attention. Earn 1.5 hours in HRCI Recertification Credit and 1.5 hours in SHRM Professional Development Credit. Register Now
By participating in this interactive webinar, you’ll learn:
- Laws under which employees may lodge retaliation claims against your organization
- How you can unwittingly retaliate, even when your employee complains about something that isn’t even illegal or wrong
- HR mistakes concerning requests for accommodation and sanctioned leave
- Case studies of employers successfully sued for retaliation, so you know precisely what not to do
- Steps you can take to avoid retaliation and minimize your legal risks
- And much more!
Register now for this event risk-free.
Thursday, October 1, 2015
1:30 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. (Eastern)
12:30 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. (Central)
11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. (Mountain)
10:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. (Pacific)
Approved for Recertification Credit and Professional Development Credit
This program has been approved for 1.5 credit hours toward recertification through the Human Resource Certification Institute (HRCI) and 1.5 credit hours towards SHRM-CPSM or SHRM-SCPSM.
Join us on Thursday, October 1, 2015—you’ll get the in-depth Retaliation Claim Prevention: HR’s Training and Intervention Keys to Avoiding EEOC Attention webinar AND you’ll get all of your particular questions answered by our experts.
Train Your Entire Staff
As with all BLR®/HR Hero® webinars:
- Train all the staff you can fit around a conference phone.
- Get your (and their) specific phoned-in or e-mailed questions answered in Q&A sessions that follow the presentation.