Category: HR Management & Compliance

There are dozens of details to take care of in the day-to-day operation of your department and your company. We give you case studies, news updates, best practices and training tips that keep your organization fully in compliance with ever-changing employment law, and you fully aware of emerging HR trends.

News Notes: EEOC Launches New Employer-Based Mediation Program, Investigations Web Page

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has announced the implementation of a voluntary mediation pilot program in which private-sector bias charges filed with the EEOC will be referred back to an employer’s internal dispute resolution program. To participate, the dispute resolution program must be voluntary and free to employees. 

News Notes: Court Throws Out One-Sided Arbitration Agreement

When Municipal Resource Consultants (MRC) tried to compel former employee Nicholas O’Hare to arbitrate a wrongful discharge and age-bias lawsuit, O’Hare contended the mandatory arbitration provision he signed wasn’t fair. The agreement required him to arbitrate all claims against the company, while it permitted MRC to file a lawsuit against him for injunctive relief. A […]

News Notes: Hastily Drawn Settlement Agreement Amounts To Expensive Mistake

Orange-based Bergen Brunswig Corp. dashed off a settlement offer to its former president, Donald Roden, to resolve a wrongful-discharge lawsuit. Theoffer stated only that Roden would receive a $5 million lump sum plus attorney’s fees, and his retirement and other benefits would be continued. After Roden signed the agreement, Bergen Brunswig claimed it had intended for Roden’s […]

News Notes: Half-Million-Dollar Slander Verdict For Employee Accused Of Theft

A recent verdict provides a good reminder ofwhy it’s important to listen to and follow up on employee complaints. A juryawarded maintenance technician Bob Haist $500,000 on his clam that his managerat Chula Vista–based Goodrich Aerostructures slandered him by accusing him infront of his co-workers of stealing from the company. Haist’s co-workers alsoallegedly watched managers […]

News Notes: Government Reports Decline In Lost Workdays From Injury And Illness

Since 1992, according to the U.S. Bureau ofLabor Statistics, the number of lost workdays because of work-related injuriesand illnesses has steadily declined. The decrease from 2000 to 2001 was 7.6percent. And strains and sprains, which generally account forabout four out of 10 injuries involving lost workdays, declined by 34.5 percentfrom 1992 to 2001.

Arbitration: Mandatory Arbitration OK for Wrongful Termination Claims–but Only if Agreement Is Fair; Make Sure Your Agreements Will Hold Up in Court

The California Supreme Court has decided that its landmark ruling in 2000 that required mandatory arbitration agreements to contain certain fairness protections for employees isn’t just limited to discrimination and harassment claims. We’ll explain the court’s new opinion.

Disability Bias: California Provides Broader Protection than the ADA for Employees with Physical Disabilities; What You Should Know

Over the last few years, the U.S. Supreme Court has issued several rulings narrowing the definition of what constitutes a disability under the federal Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Now, the California Supreme Court has ruled that California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) affords workers broader protections than the ADA.

Sexual Harassment: Favoritism Toward Paramours Doesn’t Support Discrimination Lawsuit by Other Female Workers

An employee discovers her boss is having a sexual relationship with a co-worker. Then, when the co-worker gets favorable treatment, including questionable promotions, the employee comes after you, charging that the boss’s favoritism amounted to sex discrimination and created a hostile work environment. Open-and-shut case for the employee? Maybe not, according to a new decision.

Family and Medical Leave: Accompanying Ill Spouse to Funeral Doesn’t Qualify for Protected Leave, Court Rules

Arnulfo Gradilla worked as a sheet metal assembler at Riverside County-based Ruskin Manufacturing. When his father-in-law died, he received permission to take two or three days off work to accompany his invalid wife to the funeral in Mexico. Gradilla’s wife had a serious heart condition that was exacerbated by stress.