Quirky Questions

Real Life Employment Law

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A New Question Every Week

Nearly every day, executives and managers, and the in-house counsel and Human Resources professionals who work with them, are confronted with unanticipated questions regarding the workforce. Just when they think they have "seen it all," along comes a new and often stranger scenario involving an odd twist to an area they thought they fully understood. These individuals often find themselves back at square one when trying to construct an appropriate response and devise a creative solution to the problem presented. Sometimes these "Quirky Questions" can be resolved easily; other times, they implicate practical and legal issues that are not immediately apparent.

This Quirky Employment Questions Blog addresses unanticipated questions regarding the workforce.

We encourage you to submit your thoughts and reactions to the questions presented. We also encourage you to submit questions that you would like to see addressed, subject to these guidelines.

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When a Disclosure Form Must “Stand Alone”: Recent Cases Hold Companies Liable for Including Too Much on FCRA Disclosures

When a Disclosure Form Must “Stand Alone”: Recent Cases Hold Companies Liable for Including Too Much on FCRA Disclosures

 

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Let’s face it. The hiring process involves mounds of regulations, disclosures, authorizations, and then more disclosures. The last thing an employer – or applicant – wants to see is a higher stack of documents filled with legal jargon. Should employers then consolidate disclosures and authorizations to simplify the hiring process? Not when doing a credit check pursuant to the Fair...

POSTED IN Background Checks, General, Hiring
Workplace Language and Hostile Environment Claims

Workplace Language and Hostile Environment Claims

 

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It is one of the nightmare scenarios for any HR Department or in-house employment counsel: A white employee directing crude, vicious, racially charged slurs at a coworker of color. Perhaps the most inflammatory of such racial epithets is so toxic that it is typically no longer even spelled out in judicial opinions; it is simply the “n-word.” But employees do...

POSTED IN Race Discrimination
It May Be A New World For Sexual Harassment, But Many Old Rules Still Apply

It May Be A New World For Sexual Harassment, But Many Old Rules Still Apply

 

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In the weeks since allegations began to surface regarding the sexually predatory behavior of movie mogul Harvey Weinstein, sexual harassment allegations (sometimes admitted and sometimes disputed) against powerful, prominent men have been a daily feature of the headlines, involving Oscar-winning actors, sitting and would-be senators, talk show hosts, and numerous other high profile figures. Allegations against the both the current...

POSTED IN Litigation Issues, Retaliation, Sexual Harassment
“Hope I don’t get AIDS. Just kidding. I’m white!”: How to get yourself fired for a Facebook post

“Hope I don’t get AIDS. Just kidding. I’m white!”: How to get yourself fired for a Facebook post

 

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Social media has created a minefield of concerns for both employees and employers. The news is full of stories of employees documenting their questionable off-duty conduct on social media, or posting comments containing racist or derogatory remarks. Often, the employer—or sometimes, the rest of the online community—will demand that the employee be fired. In such a scenario many employers may...

POSTED IN At Will Employment, Social Media
Don’t Make a Habit of it, but Sometimes, Ignorance IS Bliss

Don’t Make a Habit of it, but Sometimes, Ignorance IS Bliss

 

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As a general rule, of course, Human Resources Departments and company management want to be – and should be – well-informed about issues in the workplace, including employees unhappy enough to have raised claims of discrimination or harassment. If key people at the company are unaware of such complaints, the employer might leave itself open to charges of sloppiness, indifference,...

POSTED IN Litigation Issues, Retaliation
Refusal to Transfer an Employee as an Adverse Employment Action; or, How Life Imitates 1950s Movies

Refusal to Transfer an Employee as an Adverse Employment Action; or, How Life Imitates 1950s Movies

 

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In the classic 1955 movie, Mister Roberts, Henry Fonda plays Doug Roberts, a frustrated Naval officer aboard a supply ship in a backwater area of the Pacific during World War II. Roberts desperately seeks a transfer to a combat ship more directly involved in the war, but he is continually – and maliciously – turned down by Captain Morton, portrayed...

POSTED IN Litigation Issues, National Origin Discrimination
For Any Lawful Reason: Firing an at-will employee under dubious circumstances need not lead to liability if the reason for the firing was not illegal

For Any Lawful Reason: Firing an at-will employee under dubious circumstances need not lead to liability if the reason for the firing was not illegal

 

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A recent decision from the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals highlights the distinction between firing an employee for personal or politically expedient reasons (which may be entirely legal) and firing an employee because of his or her protected status or for exercising protected rights (which is typically illegal). The decisive question answered in this case was can an employer terminate...

POSTED IN At Will Employment, Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), Retaliation
It ain’t Over ’til it’s Over (and Even Then, it Might not Be Over): How long can the EEOC Continue Investigating – after Issuing a Right-to-Sue Letter?

It ain’t Over ’til it’s Over (and Even Then, it Might not Be Over): How long can the EEOC Continue Investigating – after Issuing a Right-to-Sue Letter?

 

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EEOC charges are a fact of life for employers.  Even with comprehensive equal employment policies, top-notch human resources personnel, and a great workplace culture, many employers will at some point encounter a charge of discrimination or retaliation.  While any charge is an unwelcome event, the stakes increase even further if the EEOC decides to take the employer to court.  The...

POSTED IN EEOC, Investigations
If a Whistleblower is Just Playing the Same Old Tune, Does the Law Protect Him?

If a Whistleblower is Just Playing the Same Old Tune, Does the Law Protect Him?

 

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Some of the trickiest employment decisions can involve employees who have made accusatory complaints against the company they work for. Many state and federal laws protect “whistleblowers” who try to bring to light illegal behavior by their employers. But in many instances employers legitimately wonder whether the complaint was made in “good faith,” or just to stir up trouble, or...

POSTED IN Whistleblower Claims