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Responding to a surge of discrimination complaints from employees of Middle-Eastern descent following the events of Sept. 11, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has released two new fact sheets to answer questions about the employment of Muslims, Arabs, South Asians and Sikhs. One fact sheet is geared toward employers, the other for employees. The […]
Typically, workers’ compensation is the only remedy for an employee who is injured on-the-job. But a California Court of Appeal now says that if the injury stems from your not reasonably accommodating an employee’s disability, the employee can bypass workers’ comp and sue you for damages. Disabled Employee Injured At Work Marilyn Bagatti was an […]
Under federal Department of Transportation rules, professional drivers who operate vehicles weighing more than 10,000 pounds must be DOT certified. United Parcel Service had a policy of only hiring individuals for driving positions who had this certification. Based on this rule, UPS turned down an employee who couldn’t meet DOT standards because she was deaf. […]
Norman Hutton, a diabetic who worked for Portland, Ore. based chlorine manufacturer Elf Atochem North America Inc., sued for disability discrimination after he was terminated following a series of on-the-job hypoglycemic episodes. Elf claimed it didn’t have to keep Hutton in his job because his condition created a direct safety threat to the workplace—and now […]
All employers, including state and local government agencies, will have to accommodate nursing mothers’ needs at work under a new law Gov. Davis has signed. A.B. 1025 takes effect Jan. 1, 2002. Meeting Breastfeeding Workers’ Needs Under this new measure, you must provide a reasonable amount of break time to accommodate an employee who desires […]
Under California anti-discrimination law, a disabled employee typically has only one year from the date of a firing, demotion or other wrongful employment action to file a lawsuit. But now the California Supreme Court has ruled that disabled workers may be able to sue for discrimination incidents that occurred many years earlier. We’ll tell you […]
Nina Hagan was hired under a one-year teaching contract at St. Martin of Tours, a Catholic elementary school in Los Angeles. She received a glowing performance evaluation her first semester. But, she claimed, after the principal discovered she was pregnant, her work situation deteriorated and she wasn’t rehired for the next school year. Now a […]
Employment law in California is changing fast. And unless you stay on top of new requirements, your policies and procedures could be out of date—and you could be headed for a lawsuit. To help you stay out of trouble, we’ve put together a list of key compliance issues you can review to determine whether you’re […]
Kevin Terry, a customer service representative at a Time Warner Entertainment Company office in Fayetteville, Ark., suffered from nocturnal epileptic seizures. His supervisor, Jane Foster, accommodated his condition by allowing him to arrive after the usual starting time and stay later in the evening to make up the missed time. But when angry co-workers complained […]
Many employers try to combat workplace bias with diversity programs that emphasize company commitment to respecting differences, such as sexual orientation. But suppose an employee refuses to participate in a diversity training program, citing religious or political beliefs. Can you discipline the worker? In a recent case, an employer faced just this situation. We’ll provide […]