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Pregnancy Discrimination: Huge Verdict For Teacher Who Wasn’t Rehired After Principal Said She Wouldn’t Want To Work; How To Manage Pregnant Workers To Avoid Lawsuits

By Jennifer Carsen Sep 1, 2001 HR Management & Compliance

Updated: May 18, 2015

Nina Hagan was hired under a one-year teaching contract at St. Martin of Tours, a Catholic elementary school in Los Angeles. She received a glowing performance evaluation her first semester. But, she claimed, after the principal discovered she was pregnant, her work situation deteriorated and she wasn’t rehired for the next school year. Now a […]

Sexual Harassment: Supervisor Fired For Crude Remark Wins $1.2 Million; When Can You Fire A Harasser?

By Jennifer Carsen Sep 1, 2001 HR Management & Compliance

Updated: May 18, 2015

Frank Lemon, the service manager for Fresno-based heavy equipment distributor J.M. Equipment Co., was fired without warning for making a sexually explicit remark to a female employee. Lemon sued, arguing that the company had until then tolerated a pervasive atmosphere of vulgar language and sexually charged conduct and that he was really terminated because J.M. […]

Safety: 10 Guidelines For Using Cell Phones While Driving

By Jennifer Carsen Sep 1, 2001 HR Management & Compliance

Updated: May 18, 2015

It’s important to instruct employees who make work-related phone calls from their automobiles how to use the phones safely to avoid causing potentially tragic accidents. Here are some safety guidelines recommended by the American Automobile Association and the California Highway Patrol:

News Notes: EEOC Suspends Rule On Retiree Medicare Bridge Coverage

By Jennifer Carsen Sep 1, 2001 HR Management & Compliance

Updated: May 18, 2015

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has rescinded a policy under which the agency viewed employer-sponsored health plans that were reduced or eliminated on the basis of age or Medicare eligibility as violating the federal Age Discrimination in Employment Act. The agency acted after receiving input from employer and labor groups suggesting that the rule discouraged […]

Trade Secrets: Staggering Fines For High-Tech Company That Stole Sensitive Information; 5 Steps To Minimize Disclosure Risks

By HR Daily Advisor Staff Sep 1, 2001 HR Management & Compliance

Updated: May 19, 2015

Former employees who make off with your trade secrets can spell disaster for your business. Once confidential information is in a competitor’s hands, the damage is done and may be impossible to reverse. Now a case involving Fremont-based Avant! Corp.—which had to pay huge fines and whose top executives are off to jail—provides a dramatic […]

News Notes: Insurance Adjusters Win $90 Million In Back Overtime

By HR Daily Advisor Staff Aug 1, 2001 HR Management & Compliance

Updated: May 19, 2015

Farmers Insurance Exchange has been ordered to pay $90 million to 2,400 adjusters who claimed they were misclassified as exempt administrative employees and cheated out of years of overtime pay. The record-breaking award by an Alameda County jury could ultimately top $130 million with interest and attorneys’ fees. The adjusters, who make an average of […]

News Notes: Auto Club Ordered To Pay $576,000 On Sexual Harassment Claim

By HR Daily Advisor Staff Aug 1, 2001 HR Management & Compliance

Updated: May 18, 2015

A San Fernando jury has awarded $576,000 to an Auto Club of Southern California employee who claimed she was repeatedly groped and subjected to unwanted attention for two years by a co-worker who was so persistent that he followed her into the women’s restroom. Cheryl Parker said she reported the problem in writing to a […]

News Notes: Court Says Flu Was A Serious Health Condition Under FMLA

By HR Daily Advisor Staff Aug 1, 2001 HR Management & Compliance

Updated: May 18, 2015

  A federal appeals court has ruled that an AT&T account representative who suffered from a bad case of the flu was entitled to FMLA leave because she was unable to work for more than three days and was treated twice. Kimberly Miller sued after she was disciplined and ultimately fired for excessive absenteeism. Although […]

News Notes: Court Gives Green Light To Privacy Suit Over Hidden Cameras

By HR Daily Advisor Staff Aug 1, 2001 HR Management & Compliance

Updated: May 19, 2015

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has given employees at Consolidated Freightways’ Mira Loma terminal the go-ahead to sue their employer under state law for invasion of privacy after video cameras were discovered hidden behind two-way mirrors in men’s and women’s restrooms. The company argued that the case should be thrown out because a determination […]