labor lawAdivision of labor law center

A recent court ruling highlights the danger of employers claiming an employee was “laid off” when, in fact, the employee was terminated for another reason.

Historically, many employers have made the mistake of claiming that they were merely “laying off” a troublesome employee. However, with today’s prevalence of lawsuits for wrongful termination, that tactic can backfire.

In a recent case before the 8^th Circuit Court of Appeals, a rental car company branch manager, Terri Wallace, was laid off 15 days after she complained that her supervisor was sexually harassing her.

Wallace dropped the sexual harassment suit before it reached the jury.  

However, under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, it is illegal to retaliate against an employee who files a sexual harassment complaint in good faith. In this case, “good faith” means without the intention of fraud.

The employer, DTG Operations, Inc., initially claimed that Wallace was part of a company-wide lay off due to economic reasons. (more…)

Every employer should be aware of the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act or GINA, which was signed into law by President Bush on May 21, 2008. This law makes it illegal to discriminate against employees in hiring, firing, job placement, promotion or other employment decisions based on an individual’s genetic profile.

According to Francis S. Collins, M.D., PhD., director of the Human Genome Research Institute,  under GINA “No one will need to fear their DNA is going to be used against them.”  Dr. Collins adds, “This law will protect everyone with DNA—and that is all of us.”

GINA also prohibits (more…)