BUS 670 Final Paper Already Started, with outline and sources provided

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© 2011. Volume 41, Issue 1. HR Specialist: Employment Law (ISSN 1934-1652) is published monthly by Business Management Daily, 7600A Leesburg Pike, West Building, Suite 300, Falls Church, VA 22043-2004, www.theHRSpecialist.com. Customer service: [email protected], (800) 543-2055. Printed in the U.S.A. at $192 per year.

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4 HR Specialist: Employment Law • January 2011 www.theHRSpecialist.com

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HR Specialist continues to add to its roster of state-specific Employment Law newsletters. To view sample issues of all available states, go to www.theHRSpecialist.com/states.

ALABAMA: Paul Myrick, The Kullman Firm ALASKA: Liz Pifke Hodes, James Juliussen, Davis Wright Tremaine ARIZONA: L. Eric Dowell, Ogletree Deakins ARKANSAS: Dan Herrington, Friday, Eldredge & Clark CALIFORNIA: Joseph Beachboard, Ogletree Deakins COLORADO: Andrew Volin, Sherman & Howard CONNECTICUT: Pamela Moore, McCarter & English DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA: Nancy Delogu, Littler Mendelson FLORIDA: Ralph Peterson, Beggs & Lane GEORGIA: R. Read Gignilliat, Elarbee Thompson HAWAII: Jeff Portnoy, David Banks, Cades Schutte ILLINOIS: David Ritter, Neal Gerber Eisenberg INDIANA: Charles Baldwin, Matthew Effland, Ogletree Deakins KANSAS: Kathy Perkins, Kathy Perkins LLC KENTUCKY: William Becker, Frost Brown Todd LOUISIANA: Michelle Craig, Leslie Lanusse, Adams and Reese MARYLAND: Mark Swerdlin, Shawe Rosenthal MASSACHUSETTS: Jonathan Keselenko, Foley Hoag MICHIGAN: Fred Batten, Clark Hill MINNESOTA: Carl Crosby Lehmann, Gray Plant Mooty MISSISSIPPI: T. Michael Cronin, Adams and Reese MISSOURI: Ira Blank, Lathrop & Gage NEW JERSEY: Sandro Polledri, Genova, Burns & Giantomasi NEW MEXICO: Whitney Warner, Moody & Warner NEW YORK: Louis DiLorenzo, Bond, Schoeneck & King NORTH CAROLINA: Brian Clarke, Stephen Dellinger, Littler Mendelson OHIO: Jon Hyman, Kohrman Jackson & Krantz PLL OREGON: Jathan Janove, Stacey Mark, Ater Wynne PENNSYLVANIA: Susan Lessack, Pepper Hamilton SOUTH CAROLINA: David Dubberly, Nexsen Pruet TENNESSEE: Jeffrey Smith, Adams and Reese TEXAS: Michael Fox, Ogletree Deakins VIRGINIA: Declan Leonard, Albo & Oblon WASHINGTON: Steven Winterbauer, Winterbauer & Diamond WEST VIRGINIA: Roger Wolfe, Jackson Kelly WISCONSIN: John Patzke, Brigden & Petajan Find all attorney contact information at www.theHRSpecialist.com/Attorneys.

It doesn’t take much to start a federallawsuit. However, you can help prevent hiring lawsuits with one simple tactic: Have two company representatives sit in on interviews. Then have both reps deliver the news when you have to tell an applicant she wasn’t selected.

As this case shows, that extra effort can be insurance against a nasty “he said/she said” lawsuit.

Recent case: Nafiseh Safi worked for Royal Jordanian Airlines and retired at age 55. Later, she applied for open positions with the airline, but wasn’t hired.

Safi sued, claiming her interviewer told her directly that she was too old for the job. Safi alleged that the airline then hired women in their 20s.

The interviewer denied making any such statement and said he rejected Safi because she was argumentative and abrasive, qualities he saw as liabilities in customer service positions like the one Safi sought.

Nonetheless, the court said the case could go forward since it was essentially one person’s word against another’s. (Safi v. Royal Jordanian Airlines, No. 08-C-7365, ND IL, 2010)

Final note: A couple of years ago, the U.S. Supreme Court made it harder for applicants and employees to win age discrimination lawsuits. Rather than show that age was one of the fac- tors in the company’s decision, people must now show it was the sole reason.

From a practical standpoint, that means plaintiffs must have direct proof of age discrimination—like the alleged statement in this case.

When all the interactions in the hiring process are one-on-one, appli- cants may feel like they can get away with stretching the truth, when they file a lawsuit and during litigation. But if you have two representatives present, that makes it much harder for applicants to lie … and for a court to believe it.

Strength in numbers: Lawsuit-proof your hiring process with double-team interviews

Employers have an obligation to createa workplace environment free of sex- ual and other illegal harassment. That means managers and supervisors should always consider “what if” before they push employees into difficult situations.

In this case, for example, supervi- sors probably didn’t think ahead what could happen if male firefighters were ordered to drive a firetruck in a gay pride parade.

Recent case: John Ghiotto and three other members of the San Diego Fire- Rescue Department were ordered to drive and ride on a firetruck as part of the city’s annual LGBT Pride Parade.

As they rode the truck, some members of the public behaved badly, exposing themselves, making sexual comments and generally making the four fire department employees feel very uncom- fortable. For example, some parade

spectators called out for the men to show their “hoses.”

They sued, alleging that when the fire department assigned them to ride in the parade, it knew they would become tar- gets of sexual harassment.

A jury agreed and ordered the city to pay between $5,000 and $14,200 to each of the firefighters—plus more than $500,000 in costs and attorneys’ fees. (Ghiotto, et al., v. City of San Diego, No. D055029, Court of Appeal of California, 2010)

Final note: In this case, the em- ployees were not providing essential services. They probably would have had no case if they had been called to the scene of a fire and were harassed as they carried out their duties. Instead, their claim was that their employer essentially set them up for ridicule and harassment.

Beware setting up employees for possible embarrassment

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