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The Employer Handbook BlogWhen Your Emails Make the Case… for the Other Side
Flamethrower messages torpedo an ADA claim in this no-nonsense ruling from a federal appellate court. Continue reading
Articles Posted in Retaliation
Fired Over $15. Or Was It the HR Complaints?
Fired Over $15. Or Was It the HR Complaints?
A laundromat worker reimbursed herself $15 from the register for a taxi fare—something she claimed was standard practice with a receipt. Three days later, she was fired. But because she had just complained about racial harassment, disability discrimination, and unpaid wages, the timing raised red flags.
The Second Circuit said a jury should decide whether she was fired for taking the $15—or for speaking up. Continue reading
Equal Pay, FLSA, and a $3.27M Verdict: Jury Sides with Fired Chief People Officer in Her Retaliation Case Against A Law Firm
You’d expect a company to listen when its Chief People Officer—especially one with nearly three decades of labor and employment law experience—raises concerns about compliance. Instead, this employer—a law firm—reassigned her shortly thereafter and fired her within the week of returning from bereavement leave. A jury just awarded her $3.27 million for retaliation.
Retaliation Risks After Accommodation Requests: Lessons from an ADA Case
Denying a reasonable accommodation request can be risky—particularly if the employer provides little explanation or fails to meaningfully engage in the interactive process. But what’s even riskier? Terminating the employee just a few weeks later.
Cue the lawsuit. Continue reading
Burned by the Tape: When Secretly Recording Work Meetings Gets You Fired
Employees might think pressing record is harmless—especially when trying to document what’s said in a heated meeting. But one Director of Social Services found out the hard way that secret recordings—even legal ones—can land employees on the unemployment line. Continue reading
Retaliation, Racial Slurs, and HR Failures: An Employer’s Roadmap to a Jury Trial
Title VII, the federal antidiscrimination law prohibiting race discrimination, is not a general civility code. An aggrieved employee must establish that they were subjected to behavior based on their race that was severe or pervasive enough to interfere with their working conditions. As we learned yesterday, no rational person would countenance the claims of a white employee offended about discussions and initiatives focused on antiracism and racial justice.
Conversely, a recent decision from the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals serves as a lesson for employers on unlawful racial harassment, retaliation, and HR missteps.
Slurs, Stereotypes, and Grease?!?
No, Your Religion Doesn’t Justify Workplace Bigotry—And, No, the Supreme Court Won’t Save You
Some people seem to think the workplace is their personal soapbox, where they can broadcast whatever pops into their heads—no matter how offensive, misguided, or just plain dumb. One former employee learned this the hard way when he posted an anti-LGBTQ+ comment on the company intranet, mistakenly thinking it was an anonymous survey response. His employer quickly shut that down, and so did the courts. When he appealed all the way to the Supreme Court, hoping for a lifeline, the justices responded yesterday with a firm “no thanks.”
Turns out, the highest court in the land had better things to do than entertain a “my bigotry is protected” argument. Continue reading
Not Digging Deep Enough? The Dangers of Mediocre Workplace Investigations
In a recent employment discrimination case, the plaintiff, a Black employee, claimed his termination following a workplace investigation into complaints about his conduct at work, was racially motivated. The employer tried to dismiss the case, but failed. Find out why and I’ll throw in a few takeaways about the importance of conducting fair and unbiased workplace investigations. Continue reading
No Laughing Matter: How a Comedian’s Racist and Sexist Jokes Led to a CFO’s Retaliation Claim
I just had to write about a federal court decision from earlier in 2024 that I finally got around to reading. It serves as a critical reminder for employers: All complaints about a hostile work environment must be taken seriously—even when they involve a comedian hired to entertain at a company event. Continue reading