A federal district court recently ruled that a police department complied with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) when it required a bomb squad technician to undergo a fitness-for-duty exam. Their justification? The city had an objective basis for the fitness-for-duty exam request. In this case, the technician was experiencing hand…
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Washington has a new law intended to prevent the sexual harassment or assault of certain isolated workers. The law applies to every hotel, motel, retail, security guard entity, or “property services contractor” that employs a custodian, security guard, hotel or motel housekeeper, or room-service employee who spends a majority of their working…
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On June 4, the Oregon legislature passed SB 726, which will (1) extend the statute of limitations from 1 year to 5 years for complaints and civil lawsuits related to harassment and some types of discrimination; (2) restrict the use of nondisclosure (NDA), nondisparagement, and no-rehire agreements; and (3) require…
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Question: As an HR manager, I’m concerned about sharing legal advice that I receive on behalf of the company. What are the rules around this? Answer: All parties to an attorney-client communication made for the purpose of providing or obtaining legal advice must take steps to protect confidentiality. If you or someone else…
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A drug store pharmacist who had been employed by a company for 34 years was terminated for threatening to use a gun at work, not because of his age or for reporting discrepancies in the store’s drug inventory, ruled a federal district court in California. A coworker reported to HR that the…
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Question: An employee in a consensual, romantic relationship with a manager in another department has started complaining about “harassment,” which is really just her coworkers teasing her about the relationship. She’s also complaining that they’re having “problems” in the relationship which is spilling over into hostile treatment at work by the manager. The owner is ready to terminate her for continuing to bring her drama into the workplace. Are there any legal concerns we should consider?
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Question: I just completed a harassment investigation. We verified that harassment occurred and terminated the harasser. Everyone seems to know what happened and tensions are high in our small office. What else can I do?
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Question: We have a “no fault” attendance policy which assigns points for absences, tardies, and early departures. Employees are disciplined and eventually terminated if they reach a certain number of points. We know we have to allow exceptions for legally protected time off, but what if it’s unclear whether an absence is protected?
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A federal appeals court confirmed a jury award of $250,000 against a grocery store whose female employee was stalked by a male customer at work. The employer ordered the customer to avoid the employee, but failed to ensure the customer complied. For the next 13 months, the customer continued following the…
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Question: To avoid workplace injuries, we require all employees to be 100-percent healed without any medical restrictions before they return to work after an illness or injury. We think this is an important policy to protect employee safety, but recently heard it might be unlawful discrimination. Is it?
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