Practical HR Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
The worst-case scenario for any claim involving an employment-related decision is the “smoking gun” piece of evidence that destroys the case. It could be a notation in an interviewer’s notes that the applicant was “old” or a supervisor’s note indicating that the recently terminated employee “complained about safety issues a lot.” Because you generally have […]
The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments yesterday in Wal-Mart Stores v. Dukes, a massive lawsuit that has been called the largest employment class action in U.S. history. The class of plaintiffs in this case is estimated to include approximately 1.5 million former and current female Wal-Mart employees seeking monetary relief that could amount to […]
By Jonathan C. Sterling As we have reported in the past, transsexual employees may be protected from discrimination, at least in some cases, by federal and state law. The decisions granting that protection have treated such discrimination as a violation of gender or sex discrimination law. However, courts have been reluctant to recognize that transsexual […]
Employers have started hiring again and are often overwhelmed with huge numbers of resumes, even for entry-level positions. Some companies have decided that an effective way to identify the best candidates is to refuse to consider job applicants who are currently unemployed. But a number of human resources professionals, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), […]
Today, in Staub v. Proctor Hospital, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously held that an employer may be liable under the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA) when the discriminatory actions of an employee who doesn’t make employment decisions influence the employment decisionmaker. More specifically, the Court noted, “if a supervisor performs an act […]
The big news last fall from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) was that for the first year in history, retaliation claims had surpassed race discrimination claims as the most filed complaint in 2010. But the sleeper issue employers could be grappling with very soon is a significant increase in age discrimination claims. Recently the […]
When the economy declines, it’s a safe bet that the number of discrimination claims filed against employers will increase. And as we are currently in the worst economic climate since the Great Depression, employment law attorneys weren’t surprised when the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) reported this week that it received an unprecedented number of […]
By Donna Gallant When the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals (San Francisco) affirmed an order certifying the largest employment discrimination class action ever in the United States, Wal-Mart was left facing a class of up to 1.5 million members. Employers were left wondering just how big and powerful these opponents might get. On December 6, […]
Q: I own and operate a business in which physically demanding work is part of the employees’ daily activities. I recently hired several employees who I thought were qualified for the job. However, I quickly learned that they weren’t in good enough health to do what was required of them. This is causing a lot […]
By Alix Herber and Hadiya Roderique Across Canada, human rights legislation prohibits employment discrimination on the basis of age. This applies to all aspects of the employment relationship — job advertisements, application forms, job interviews, hiring decisions, denial of promotional opportunities, and termination decisions. Data from the Ontario Human Rights Commission for 2007-2008 and 2008-2009 […]