by Stephen D. Hans | Jan 17, 2018 | Business Attorney, Employment Defense Attorney, Employment Discrimination
Q&A that Applies to Sexual Harassment in Small Business Environments If you are a small business owner, you may wonder how to protect your small business from sexual harassment and resulting claims that put your business at risk. Here are some questions and answers (Q&A) that are a good place to start when dealing with sexual harassment. This Q&A relates to harassment by supervisors: Who is considered a supervisor? Any individual who has the authority to recommend tangible employment decisions affecting the employee is a supervisor. Tangible employment decisions include significant employment actions that change an employee’s status, such as: Hiring Firing Promotion Demotion Work assignment Undesirable reassignment Significant benefits changes Compensation decisions When are employers liable for a supervisor’s sexual harassment? Whenever a supervisor engages in harassment that results in a tangible employment action, the employers are always liable. When no tangible employment action occurs, employers are still liable unless they can show the following: They took reasonable care to prevent and promptly correct sexual harassment. The employee reasonably failed to complain to management or failed to otherwise avoid harm. What steps should employers take to prevent and correct sexual harassment? Employers need to establish policy that prohibits harassment, put it in writing and pass it out to all employers. Employers should create procedures for making complaints and notify employees. When a business is sufficiently small that the owner is regularly in contact with all employees, the employer does not have to put policies in writing. Employers can tell employees at staff meetings that harassment is not allowed, that employees should report harassment immediately and they can even...
by Stephen D. Hans | May 10, 2017 | Business Attorney, NY Defense Discrimination Attorney
Recently, Fox News has been high profile in the media for discrimination lawsuits brought by employees who are alleging sexual harassment and racial discrimination. The most shocking news report that hit the media and rocked the nation was about the firing of Bill O’Reilly due to sexual harassment allegations. Bill O’Reilly Discrimination Lawsuits Based on Sexual Harassment According to The New York Times , Fox settled complaints brought by five women who alleged Bill O’Reilly had sexually harassed them. The network launched an investigation into O’Reilly and discovered multiple women had reported inappropriate behavior that involved him. The Murdoch family, which controls 21st Century Fox, decided the outcome, and in particular, Rupert Murdoch and his sons James and Lachlan arrived at their decision after the internal investigation. They paid $13 million to settle the women’s complaints. O’Reilly’s termination came during his visit to Italy where he met Pope Francis at St. Peter’s Square in the Vatican. O’Reilly’s Rebuttal CBS News reported that O’Reilly denied the sexual harassment allegations and has said he is confident the truth will come out. He said when it does, he expects everyone to be as shaken as he is. More Lawsuits Against Fox News The Washington Post reported that more employees have filed lawsuits against Fox News, and one of these lawsuits includes racial discrimination. A total of 13 current and former employees took separate legal actions against the news media outlet and alleged years of “hostile racial discrimination.” Emmy-winning reporter Kelly Wright was among eleven of these people who filed a class action lawsuit against the network in the NY Supreme Court. All...
by Stephen D. Hans | Jul 8, 2016 | Business Attorney, Employment Discrimination
Salient Points about the Carlson-Ailes Sexual Discrimination Lawsuit The media is full of reports about the lawsuit Gretchen Carlson, former Fox anchor woman and television host brought against Fox News CEO Roger Ailes. Ms. Carlson claims that the chairman of Fox News, Roger Ailes terminated her employment because she refused to go along with his sexual advances. After she complained about being discriminated against as an anchorwoman in the newsroom, she alleges that he demoted her to a less prestigious position, reduced her salary, curtailed her on-air appearances and declined to renew her contract last month. She is seeking compensatory damages for sexual harassment and retaliation. According to The New York Times , Ms. Carlson described Mr. Ailes as a serial sexual harasser and the network as a boy’s club environment. What Makes This Case Stand Out from Other Discrimination Cases What sets this case apart from other cases is the fact that Mr. Ailes holds such a prominent position in the media. He claims the allegations are false, are a retaliatory action for not renewing Ms. Carlson’s contract and called the lawsuit defamatory. Ailes’ corporate boss, Rupert Murdoch supports him in the defense against the allegations. The lawsuit names Mr. Ailes as the sole defendant and not Fox News network. Tactics Being Used in the Case Ms. Carlton’s legal team has employed various strategies in handling the case, notwithstanding the use of the media to do the following: Distribute copies of the complaint to reporters across a variety of disciplines Twitter thanks offered by Ms. Carlson for outpouring support Hashtag: #StandWith Gretchen Prominently post information about the lawsuit...
by Stephen D. Hans | Jun 29, 2016 | Business Attorney, Wage and Hour
Minimum Wage Changes and Tipped Employees When a state legislature approves a minimum wage hike, implementing the changes is more complicated for employers with tipped employees than non-tipped employees. NYS minimum wage increases are set to go into effect on December 31 every year, starting with 2016. However, changes are not uniform for the whole state. Minimum Wage Change Schedule The New York State Restaurant Association (NYSRA) has published the full schedule for minimum wage hikes. Increases are scheduled to take place for: NYC business owners with 11 or more employees from 2016–2019 NYC business owners with 10 or fewer employees from 2016–2019 Business owners in Nassau, Suffolk and Westchester counties from 2016–2021 Business owners in other NY counties from 2016–2020 At the NYSRA website, you can see exactly what the wage changes are for minimum wage workers, food service workers and what the tip credits are that go into effect each year, on December 31. Who qualifies as a tipped employee and what is a tip credit? Tipped employees are those who customarily and regularly receive more than $30 per month in tips. Employers can use employee’s tips as a credit against its wage obligation to the employee (“tip credit) or in furtherance of a valid tip pool. (FLSA Fact Sheet) Employers can apply the minimum food server’s wage as long as the food server’s tips make up the difference between the food server’s minimum wage and the current minimum wage. What about time spent on work that generates tips vs. work that does not generate tips? Another consideration in paying food servers is how much time they...
by Stephen D. Hans | Mar 15, 2016 | Business Attorney, Employment Defense Attorney
Video Monitoring Legal? Video cameras provide security for companies against theft, whether theft involving employees, burglaries or robberies. They also allow companies to monitor their employees’ performance. Banks are a good example of businesses that have a high need for video cameras. Parking lots frequently use cameras as well to maintain security and protect employees and customers when leaving to get into their cars. Privacy Rights Clearinghouse points out that there are certain areas where video cameras violate privacy rights, such in restrooms or locker rooms. Various states have laws to protect against this use. New York Labor Law § 203-c , states “no employer may cause a video recording to be made of an employee in a restroom, locker room, or room designated by an employer for employees to change their clothes [.]” Based on this statute, employers cannot use a video recording obtained in locker rooms, restrooms, etc. for any purpose whatsoever. Where violations of the statute occur, courts can award damages and reasonable attorney’s fees and costs to an employee who wins a lawsuit against the employer. However, the law does not apply to law enforcement personnel who use video footage as part of their authorized duties. Stephen Hans & Associates understands the challenges you face as employers and that many different laws apply to employment situations. We are glad to have you consult with us, get answers to your questions, and provide you with effective legal...
by Stephen D. Hans | Feb 23, 2016 | Business Attorney, Employment Defense Attorney
Employers Can Monitor Employees Computer Use? Much like telephone monitoring, for the most part, employers can monitor their employees’ computer use. What types of things can you monitor? Today, computer software exists that enable employers to see what is on the employee’s computer screen and the information stored in terminals and hard disks. Let’s say an employee is surfing the web a lot. An employer can see internet usage and how frequently the employee is accessing emails. Keystroke monitoring is available for employees to evaluate employees with data entry and intensive word-processing. The software indicates the number of keystrokes per hour. Employers can establish standards of acceptable performance based on the number of keystrokes per hour. Often stress-related disabilities show up through keystroke monitoring. For example, employees with carpal tunnel syndrome may not input as much data as other employees without this physical problem. Let’s say an employer suspects an employee is not working very much on the computer and spends a lot of time away from his or her desk, doing other things. Keystroke monitoring can reveal this fact as well. In many situations, you can monitor employees without letting them know they’re being monitored. Even so, when you show the employee the information gathered during a performance evaluation, employees begin to realize they’re being monitored. Due to the fact that businesses own the computers that employees work on, they are free to see what employees are working on at any time. An exception to monitoring an employee occurs when Union contracts limit the employer’s rights to do so. Employees working in the government sector also have a...
