Management’s Workplace Blog – Information and Insights for Employers
Employers (most of them, anyway) understand that they must protect their employees from harassment by their co-workers or supervisors. A recent case, Freeman v. Dal-Tile Corp., provides a reminder that they must also protect their employees from harassment by outsiders.
The employer, Dal-Tile, did a significant amount of business with another company, VoStone. The…
It dumbfounds me how creative people can be in coming up with new ways to harass others. Take, for example, the recent case of Royal v. CCC&R Tres Arboles, LLC, which involved a complaint of sexual sniffing. Yes, sniffing. Like a dog.
A female employee worked as an apartment complex leasing manager for only…
Hugging and kissing are not typically considered professional conduct in the business world (unless you’re from France) – but is it harassment? A recent federal case, Lozosky v. Keystone Business Products, Inc., provides support for that most sophisticated of legal defenses, “It’s not harassment, your Honor. It’s European.”
Patricia Lozosky was employed by…
We all know that stereotyping can be unfair and sometimes just dumb. But expecting people to be manly men and girly girls can actually get you into legal trouble. Sex-stereotyping can be the basis of a claim under Title VII, which prohibits discrimination and harassment because of sex, among other things. A recent example of…
Most companies know that it is critical to have a harassment policy. The U.S. Supreme Court has held that an effective harassment policy can help an employer avoid liability, where the policy is communicated to employees but the employees fail to follow the policy’s complaint procedure. The communication and content of the policy is essential…
Two recent harassment cases are attention-getters because they illustrate the potentially high stakes damages to which employers are exposed.
The EEOC recently announced a final judgment of over $1 million against Whirlpool Corporation, which dropped its appeal to the U. S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit in Ohio in a sexual and race…
Many employers are aware that, before filing a discrimination lawsuit in federal court, an employee must file a timely charge of discrimination with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. The charge filing, which must occur within 180 days of the allegedly discriminatory act (or 300 days where there is a state agency with whom the charge…
A cautionary tale about workplace relationships comes out of Pittsburgh this week
The sordid story involves the – now former – CEO of Highmark, 58-year-old Dr. Ken Melani. A well-respected figure in the community, Dr. Melani was riding high – CEO of a major, national company, and a $4.3 million dollar salary to boot. But,…
