Wrongful Discharge
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University of Virginia Whistle-Blower Gets $819,000 Jury Award
Weihua Huang claimed he was retaliated against after he complained about Ming D. Li's misuse of federal research grants for a project on the genetics of nicotine and addiction.
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Former Assistant Football Coach McQueary Files Whistle-Blower Suit Against Penn State
McQueary alleged that Penn State terminated his employment as assistant football coach because of his cooperation with Pennsylvania Attorney General investigators.
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EEOC Sues Texas Restaurant Chain for Pregnancy Discrimination
Maryann Castillo, who worked at Bayou City Wings from 2008 to May 2011 as a server, bartender and manager, was laid off allegedly due to her pregnancy, according to the lawsuit.
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Ex-Morgan Stanley Smith Barney Exec: I Was Fired for Whistle-blowing
Clifford Jagodzinski alleged in a complaint filed last month that his firing in April by MSSB was “an action for unlawful retaliation under the Dodd-Frank Act,” as well as claims under state law.
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Worker Who Tested Positive for Cocaine Use in Injury Probe Entitled to Back pay, Fees: Court
The decision in Amanda Skipton v. S & J Tube Inc. upholds a 2011 district court finding that S&J failed to follow Iowa law permitting an employer to conduct a drug test when investigating workplace accidents that lead to injuries.
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Worker's Sleep Disorder Discrimination Claim Reinstated
Feldman filed suit against his employers on charges including violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act, and with engaging in retaliation once he returned to work.
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Trucking Firm Ordered to Reinstate Whistle-Blower, Pay $315,000
The award reflects $280,000 in back wages and interest, $15,000 in compensatory damages and $20,000 in punitive damages, OSHA said. The federal agency does not release the names of employees involved in whistle-blower complaints.
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EEOC Files Charges Against Burger King in Workplace Attire Dispute
Ashanti McShan was assured she could wear a skirt to work, but when she arrived at work for orientation, store management told her she could not do so, and she was told to leave the store. McShan is a Pentecostal Christian, a denomination that requires women to wear only skirts or dresses.
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'Great Texas Lactation Case' Debates Whether Breast-Milk Pumping Is a Pregnancy-Related Condition
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is acting for a Texas mother who was fired days after she asked her employer about a room to pump breast milk. A judge ruled that after the woman gave birth the former employee 'was no longer pregnant and her pregnancy-related conditions ended.'
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Racism Lawsuit Targets Mercedes-Benz Store
A lawsuit filed in federal court in New York charges that Burnell Guyton, 54, and Andre Grammer, 44, both black, found racist graffiti on several occasions in a bathroom stall used by employees.
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Former Wells Fargo Employee Says Company Fired Him Over Daughter's Cancer Costs
According to a lawsuit filed Aug.
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Court Dismisses Discrimination Suit Filed by Christian School Teacher
The federal district court ruling said the court had stayed briefing on St. Peter's motion to dismiss the case pending the Supreme Court's decision.
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Security Guards Awarded $89.7M in Rest-Break Class Action
At issue in the litigation was that guards were given 'on-duty' breaks during which they were required to keep their cellphones or pagers on.
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Staffing Firm Settlement Results in $11.4 Million Charge
Cases involved include groups of employees, but the named plaintiffs in the three cases were Mark Laffitte, Isabel Apolinario and Van Williamson. All cases were filed in California Superior Court.
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Hotel Groups to Settle EEOC Harassment Suit
The EEOC said female employees were subjected to the constant use of racial slurs and derogatory sex-based and racial comments.
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Racial Discrimination Lawsuit Against Humana Reinstated
Kathryn Keys' employment was terminated by Humana Inc. in June 2008, citing a 2006 negative performance assessment and ignoring a 2007 favorable performance appraisal, according to the ruling.
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Supreme Court to Clarify What Constitutes a Supervisor in Harassment Cases
The court accepted the case June 25 and has ruled on the issue previously under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
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Home Depot Reaches Settlement in Firing of National Guardsman
The Justice Department has reached a $45,000 settlement with Home Depot Inc. to resolve charges it violated federal law when it terminated an Army National Guard soldier's employment.
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Pregnancy Discrimination Act Violated When School Fires Teacher for Premarital Pregnancy
According to the May 16 ruling in Jarretta P. Hamilton vs. Southland Christian School Inc., Hamilton, who began teaching at the St. Cloud, Florida-based school in January 2008, conceived a child with her then-fiancé in January 2009. The couple got married the next month.
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Data Bank Focus: Retaliation
U.S. law forbids employers from retaliating against an employee who blows the whistle on discrimination based on age; disability; genetic information; national origin; pregnancy; race or color; religion; sex; or sexual harassment.
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Court: Worker Not Entitled to Free Speech Protections During Employment Duties
An issue in the case was the U.S. Supreme Court's 2006 ruling in Garcetti vs.
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Bill Barring Firms From Requiring Applicant Passwords Awaits Governor's OK
Calls have been growing for federal and state legislation that would bar employers from requiring access to job applicants' social media postings.
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Data Bank Focus On: Occupational Fraud
Occupational fraud—internal theft perpetrated by a company employee, manager, executive or owner—costs organizations on average 5 percent of their annual revenue, according to the latest fraud study from the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners.
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Whistling While You Work
With changes in whistle-blower laws, companies must be even more diligent about protecting workers who speak out.
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Protecting Whistle-Blowers
The Hanford Concerns Council in Washington state was formed according to state mediation laws, and members include company representatives, advocacy group members and independent parties.
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How to Blow the Whistle
In most cases, employees know the right thing to do morally or ethically, but aren't sure how to discuss it. "The primary reason people don't speak up is fear of retaliation and fear of futility," says Mary Gentile, a research scholar at Babson College in Babson Park, Massachusetts.
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Wal-Mart Asks for Texas Gender Bias Suit to Be Thrown Out
Last June, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against a proposed class of some 1.5 million members nationwide in Betty Dukes et al. vs. Wal-Mart Stores Inc., deciding that the class of plaintiffs did not have enough in common to pursue the lawsuit.
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Staffing Firm to Pay $148,000 in Pregnancy Suit
The lawsuit alleged HCS owner Charles Sisson discriminated against Roxy Leger, the company's bookkeeper, when he made offensive comments about her pregnancy and fired her because she needed to take maternity leave following the birth of her son, according to the EEOC.
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EEOC Approves Strategic Plan Through 2016
The agency 'is taking a significant step toward realizing the commission's vision of ending employment discrimination and promoting equal opportunity' in the workplace, EEOC Chair Jacqueline A. Berrien said in the statement.
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Lactation Discrimination Is not Sex Discrimination: Judge
The Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978 amends Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to say discrimination on the basis of pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions constitutes unlawful sex discrimination under Title VII, according to the EEOC.
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Court: Warehouse Can't Fire Contract Workers
A California judge ruled the workers, who are suing the warehouse and staffing provider, would likely be able to prove the firing was retaliatory.
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EEOC Issues Final Rule on Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act Records
GINA, which was signed into law by President George W. Bush in May 2008, protects job applicants, current and former employees, labor union members and apprentices and trainees from discrimination based on their genetic information.
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EEOC Actions, Enforcement Trends Focus of Report on Agency
The report noted that the agency identified combating systemic discrimination as a top priority in a 2006 task force report.
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Retaliation Charges Top EEOC Fiscal 2011 Filings
Sex discrimination charges, which were the second-most frequently filed charge, decreased 1.7 percent in fiscal 2011.
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Nurse's Wrongful Termination Based on Facebook Post May Proceed, District Court Rules
An employee's complaints about working conditions, even where made public such as on a Facebook post, may be protected by state law and form the grounds for wrongful discharge.
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EEOC Sues Wal-Mart for Disability Discrimination
Despite a 10-year-old settlement involving disability discrimination with the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the agency has filed another lawsuit charging Wal-Mart Stores Inc.
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Blockbuster Settles Sex Harassment, Retaliation Suit for $2 Million
The alleged incidents took place in 2004 and 2005, according to the EEOC. They involved seven female temporary employees, four of whom are Hispanic.
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Hertz Sued by Fired Muslim Drivers Alleging Religious Bias, Retaliation
Most drove shuttle rental cars for cleaning and refueling during the work day at Seattle's Sea-Tac Airport, while the remainder drove the vans that carried workers to and from the car transport locations.
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U.S. Agency Accuses Cargill of Discrimination, Seeks to Halt $60M in Contracts
The OFCCP said it has been unable to secure a fair resolution from Cargill to pay back wages and interest to the rejected job applicants and to extend job offers to at least 167of the affected workers.
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Suit Claims Worker was Fired for Refusing to Wear '666' Sticker
In March 2010, as a company's accidnt-free tally approached the number 666—identified in the 'Revelations' book of the Bible as 'the number of the beast' and a representation of Satan—the employee informed his supervisors that his religious beliefs wouldn't allow him to wear that number.
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EEOC to Hold Public Meeting on Guidance for Age Discrimination in Employment Act
According to background information issued by the EEOC last year, the proposed rule emphasizes the need 'for an individualized, case-by-case approach to determining whether an employment practice is based on reasonable factors other than age.'
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Appeals Court Allows FMLA Suit Against American Medical Association
According to the decision, because of the economic downturn, the AMA decided to eliminate the position of Peter Friedman, the communications campaign manager, because his responsibilities had drastically changed.
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Teacher Alleges Retaliation by School District for Giving Newspaper Interview
A Long Island, New York, elementary school teacher has filed a lawsuit claiming her former employers tarnished her reputation and fired her after she gave an interview to a local newspaper.
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Former Press Box Hostess Sues Indianapolis Colts Over Pay, Work Hours
According to court documents, the woman is seeking class-action status that would include other unnamed hostesses, in part because ‘some, if not most, of the individual group members may not be aware of their rights to wages under federal and Indiana law, or may not, because of financial...
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EEOC Sues Fashion Boutique Delia's for Pregnancy Discrimination
The suspected harassment included constant questioning about some employees' ability to perform their jobs because they were pregnant, recommending they take leaves of absence or forcing them to take maternity leave early.
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Former Financial Adviser Says He Was Fired for Running Gun Ad
A onetime Barron's hotshot adviser files a lawsuit against LPL Financial; Robert Ray Bennie Jr. of Lincoln, Nebraska, also is suing local regulators, including the new North American Securities Administrators Association president.
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Mission Impossible Sustaining Employer-Sponsored Group Health Insurance
Currently employees have no incentive to control their health care costs; they don’t know what the costs are. And because someone else is paying for most of their coverage, they probably don’t care.
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Supreme Court Upholds Arizona Immigration Law on Hiring
Under the Arizona law, employers that intentionally violate the law a second time by knowingly hiring an illegal immigrant can lose their business license.
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Practical Effects of 'Cat's Paw' Ruling in USERRA Case Still Unclear for Employers
The Supreme Court said the ‘singular influence’ test was too restrictive in light of USERRA, which states that an employer may be held liable for discrimination if a person’s membership in the military is a ‘motivating factor’ in the employer’s action.
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NLRB Sues Not-for-Profit in Firing of Workers for Facebook Posts
This isn’t the first time the National Labor Relations Board has weighed in on the discharge of an employee over the use of the popular social media website.
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Employer Liable Under USERRA in 'Cats' Paw' Ruling
Employers should be careful to investigate anti-discrimination claims, rather than simply relying on supervisor’s input, to avoid ‘cat’s paw’ liability.
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Chubb Unit Settles Discrimination, Retaliation Lawsuit
The parties reached an agreement on the case, which was brought in 2010, before a scheduled mediation, resulting in a consent decree that a federal judge in Milwaukee approved on May 3.
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Iranian-Born Worker Can Sue Defense Firm for Bias Over Security Clearance Firing
Hossein Zeinali filed a lawsuit under the California Fair Employment and Housing Act claiming he was terminated because of his race and national origin.
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NLRB Challenges Employers Internet and Blogging Policy After Facebook Posts
The agency alleges that American Medical Response illegally terminated and illegally denied union representation to the employee during an investigatory interview, and maintained and enforced an “overly broad” blogging and Internet posting policy.
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Ex-Financial Manager Claims He Was Fired for Flagging Violations
According to the lawsuit, the reported violations include incidents relating to forgery, fraud, unlicensed sales, unlicensed signing of documents, overcharging for financial planning services, underdelivery of financial planning advice, and breaches of client privacy and data security.
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Why Employers Should Expand Management Training
'Common-law' claims can prove every bit as problematic—and costly—as statutory discrimination claims, so employers should incorporate training in these general areas of the law into their overall management training program.
