Middlesex County in New Jersey Settles Second Sexual Harassment Suit in a Year

New Jersey – Middlesex County has agreed to pay $1.59 million to settle a sexual harassment suit filed against the sheriff department. This is the second settlement of a lawsuit against this department in less than a year.

The former sheriif’s sheriff’s officers, Joan Ivan and Angel Jazikoff, filed the lawsuit in 2006 claiming they were subjected to years of sexual propositions, innuendo and lewd offensive behavior.

Ivan and Jazikoff will receive a total of $727,500, and an additional $837,500 in attorney’s fees will be paid by the county.

Last May, Middlesex County agreed to pay nearly $1 million to settle a sexual harassment lawsuit that five female sheriff’s officers filed against the county and the sheriff’s department.

Houston Construction Company Must Pay for Religious, Race and National Origin Discrimination

HOUSTON – Pace Services, L.P., a Houston-area construction company will pay $122,500 and provide additional remedial relief to resolve a discrimination lawsuit. The EEOC had charged that Pace Services discriminated against Mohammad Kaleemuddin because he is of the Islamic faith and of East Indian descent, and against 13 other employees because they are black or Hispanic.

The EEOC’s lawsuit asserted that a Pace supervisor referred to Kaleemuddin as “terrorist,” “Taliban,” “Osama” and “Al-Qaeda.” Kaleemuddin’s complained, but Pace never took action to stop the harassment, which continued up to the day when the supervisor fired him. This type of name-calling and harassment was not limited to Kaleemuddin, as African American and Hispanic workers made similar complaints.

Under the terms of the consent decree settling the suit, Pace Services will pay $61,250 in relief to compensate Kaleemuddin. An additional $61,250 will be distributed among the other non-Anglo employees who were also harassed. In addition to the monetary payments, the decree directs that Pace’s owner shall provide a signed letter of apology to Kaleemuddin, that the manager alleged to have made many of the racist remarks be prohibited from ever working again for Pace, and that Pace provide employee training designed to prevent future discrimination and harassment on the job.

New Fact Sheet Clarifies Unpaid Internships

The U.S. Labor Department has released a fact sheet that provides guidelines for determining when business can use unpaid interns. The fact sheet outlines six criteria that must be met to be exempt from paying interns minimum wage. They are:

1. The internship, even though it includes actual operation of the facilities of the employer, is similar to training which would be given in an educational environment;
2. The internship experience is for the benefit of the intern;
3. The intern does not displace regular employees, but works under close supervision of existing staff;
4. The employer that provides the training derives no immediate advantage from the activities of the intern; and on occasion its operations may actually be impeded;
5. The intern is not necessarily entitled to a job at the conclusion of the internship; and
6. The employer and the intern understand that the intern is not entitled to wages for the time spent in the internship.

For the full fact sheet, visit:  http://www.dol.gov/whd/regs/compliance/whdfs71.htm

Class Action Discrimination Suit Against Wal-Mart Proceeds

A federal appeals court rules that a class-action sex-discrimination lawsuit against Wal-Mart Stores Inc. may proceed. The class now contains more than 1 million women claiming that Wal-Mart paid female workers less than their male counterparts and gave them fewer promotions.

The lawsuit originated with Betty Dukes, who sued Wal-Mart for sexual discrimination in 2001 with six other plaintiffs who accused the company of paying them less than male employees and receiving fewer promotions despite having higher performance ratings and more seniority. The case was certified as a class-action in 2004.

Nearly $4 Million in Back Wages Awarded to Gas Station Employees

PISCATAWAY, N.J. — The U.S. Department of Labor has obtained a judgment against Raceway Petroleum and Nicholas Kambitsis to pay $3.9 million in unpaid overtime wages and liquidated damages to more than 700 of their former and current employees, predominantly gas attendants. Raceway Petroleum Inc., along with its owner Nicholas Kambitsis, will also pay $100,000 in civil money penalties.

Over 25 witnesses testified during three weeks of trial before a jury in the United States District Court, District of New Jersey. Some employees described working as many as 100 hours a week. For part of the period covered by the lawsuit, Raceway deducted up to two hours of breaks daily. Many of the employee witnesses testified that they got less than one-half hour of break time each day. The consent judgment resolves a lawsuit filed by the department in 2006 which alleged that, between June 2002 and December 2009, Raceway and Kambitsis, violated the Fair Labor Standards Act by failing to pay their employees time and one-half their regular hourly rates when they worked in excess of 40 hours in a workweek, and by failing to keep accurate time and payroll records.

In addition to paying the back wages and liquidated damages, the company must retain an independent monitor to ensure FLSA compliance and train employees on their rights under the Act, install a mechanical or electronic timekeeping system that accurately records employee hours at each of its gas stations and provide professional training on the proper use of the time clocks in languages understandable to the employees. Within ninety days, a supplemental judgment will be submitted for the court's approval which will provide the names of the employees owed back wages and liquidated damages, the amounts due each employee, and the schedule for their payments.

The FLSA requires that covered employees be paid at least the federal minimum wage as well as one and one-half times their regular rates of pay for hours worked over 40 per week. Additionally, the law requires that accurate records of employees' wages, hours and other conditions of employment be maintained. The federal minimum wage for covered, nonexempt employees is $7.25 per hour.

IRS Cracks Down on Independent Contractors vs Employee

The Internal Revenue Service has launched a new program to crack down on the misclassification of employees and workers. The program will randomly examine 6,000 companies over the next three years to identify misclassified employees

Employee status and independent contractor status are governed, in part, by tax law. A primary factor in determining independent contractor status lies in the degree of control the worker has over their work hours and how the work is performed.

Texas Mayor and Mayor Pro Tem Face Sexual Harassment Charges

The Flower Mound Police Chief Kenneth Brooker has filed a sexual harassment complaint against the mayor and mayor pro tem.

Brooker states in the claim that he witnessed Mayor Jody Smith and Mayor Pro Tem Jean Levenick walk up to a police officer in the Town hall lobby before a city council meeting.

The Dallas Morning News reports that Brooker saw “the officer suddenly jump and mutter something like, ‘I guess I got my Christmas goose early this year’."

Brooker questioned the officer about the incident the following day and learned that the two city leaders pinched him on the behind as they stood on either side of him. The incident was recorded on the security cameras and released to the Dallas Morning News under the state’s open records laws.

An independent investigation found that the women's conduct "did not rise to the level of sexual harassment." However, both women "acknowledged that their actions, while intended to be in fun, were not appropriate workplace conduct," according to an investigation report.

Obama Administration Limits Contract Bidding

The White House has finalized an Executive Order  that promotes the use of Project Labor Agreements (PLAs) on federal contracts, giving federal agencies the authority to now require contractors be unionized to bid on large federal construction projects. PLAs are pre-hire, collective-bargaining agreements with unions that establish the terms of a large contract.

PLAs require that all bidding contractors to pay union wages and benefits while preventing non-union contractors from participating in the bidding process. While the ruling is not a mandate, it does encourage agencies to require unions on projects with more than $25 million of federal funding.

McMillan’s Home Care Sued Over Pay Practices

A class action lawsuit filed against McMillan’s Home Care alleges the home health agency never paid overtime to employees and that the company falsified and/or misreported pay data. The suit also claims that employees were required to clean their own uniforms and pay for supplies.

Home health aide is a growing occupation, but the majority of workers are underpaid and often don’t receive proper pay for overtime, according to the New York Department of Labor.

Oregon Court Rules on Medical Marijuana in the Workplace

The Oregon Supreme Court has ruled that employers don’t have to accommodate employees who test positive for marijuana use, even if they have a medical marijuana card. This ruling allows employers to enforce zero-tolerance drug policies. The courts in California and Washington have recently issued similar rulings.

Emerald Steel Fabricators hired Anthony Scevers in 2003 as a temporary employee. Scevers temporary employment was terminated and was informed that a permanent position was not an option when he revealed he smoked marijuana because of nausea, stomach cramps, and vomiting. Scevers fiiled a complaint with the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries claiming discrimination under state disability law. Scevers’ was initially awarded $45,000 in lost wages, benefits and emotional suffering, until the Supreme Court ruling.

The Oregon Supreme Court’s opinion stated, "Under Oregon's employment discrimination laws, employers are not required to accommodate an employee's use of medical marijuana."
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Read “The Impact of Medically-Prescribed Marijuana in the Workplace” by Michelle Reid for more on this topic.

Census Hiring Practices under Fire

The U.S. Census Bureau is being sued by several groups for discriminating hiring practices. The Wall Street Journal has reported that “job applicants claimed the Census Bureau was unlawfully screening out minorities by requiring all applicants to provide court documents related to an arrest, whether or not it resulted in a conviction.”

The Census Bureau has hired 48,000 temporary workers to assist in collecting population data, and could hire an additional 10,000 employees.

Sonic Drive-In Settles EEOC Sexual Harassment Suit

DALLAS, Texas – A Sonic Drive-In in Grapevine, Texas, has agreed to settle a sexual harassment lawsuit for $31,000. The EEOC filed suit that charged SDI of Grapevine with subjecting a 17-year-old carhop to a sexually hostile work environment created by the general manager of the restaurant.

According to the EEOC, the General Manager, who was in his mid-20s at that time, subjected a car hop, an academic standout in High School, to unwanted sexual conduct. The harassment by the manager included puckering his lips as if to give her a kiss and telling her how a woman should perform oral sex on a man. When she would ask her GM to review her receipts so she could leave, he told her that he would do so in exchange for oral sex. the car hop provided the EEOC with information that when she would bend down to put on her roller skates at the beginning a shift, the manager would grab her head and push it down in an attempt to simulate oral sex.

After the employee’s mother reported the conduct to company officials, the defendant failed to conduct a proper investigation and did not appropriately discipline the manager, even though the company found that he had engaged in “harassing behavior.”

In addition to the monetary award, SDI of Grapevine is enjoined from further discrimination on the basis of gender, including sexual harassment, and from retaliating in any way against person for reporting or complaining about discriminatory practices. Further, the company will take corrective measures for the next five years, including anti-harassment training and notice posting. The company will also place in the manager’s personnel file a written notice stating that a young worker has alleged sexual harassment, including forced physical touching, and that any further complaints will be fully investigated according to defendant’s procedures and, should there be evidence to support such claims, he shall be subject to immediate termination.

Federal Court Rules For EEOC In Age Bias Suit Against Minnesota Department Of Corrections

MINNEAPOLIS – A federal judge in Minneapolis has ruled that the Minnesota Department of Corrections (DOC) violated federal age discrimination law by maintaining an early retirement incentive plan (ERIP)  that reduced benefits for persons over age 55.

Under the ERIP, an employee who retired at age 55 would get employer contributions for health and dental insurance until age 65, but an employee who retired after age 55 would get no such employer contributions towards health and dental coverage.

In its age discrimination lawsuit against DOC, the EEOC contended that the incentive plans contained in collective bargaining agreements for DOC employees violate the ADEA because they facially discriminate based upon age. The EEOC asserted that these agreements constituted arbitrary age discrimination, and the agency sought judgment against the DOC, including unions as nominal parties, so that the collective bargaining agreements could be revised to remove the provisions.

The court ordered the parties to complete discovery on the damage issues, and following submission of damage claims, stated that it will enter judgment for the EEOC.

New IRS Form to Confirm Qualified Employee’s Under the HIRE Act.

The IRS has released a new form (Form W-11) for use by employers to claim the special payroll tax exemption under the Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment (HIRE) Act. The new law requires that employers get a statement from eligible new hires, certifying under penalties of perjury, that he or she was unemployed during the 60 days before beginning work, or worked fewer than a total of 40 hours for anyone during the 60-day period. The Form W-11 will meet those requirements.

Though employers need this certification to claim both the payroll tax exemption and the new hire retention credit, they do not file these statements with the IRS, but instead retain them along with other payroll and income tax records.

The HIRE Act created two new tax benefits designed to encourage employers to hire and retain new workers. As a result, employers who hire unemployed workers this year (after Feb. 3, 2010, and before Jan. 1, 2011) may qualify for a 6.2-percent payroll tax incentive. In addition, for each unemployed worker retained for at least a year, businesses may claim a new hire retention credit of up to $1,000 per worker when they file their 2011 income tax returns.

Accenture Sued for Discrimination Over Background Checks

NEW YORK – Accenture, a global management consulting firm, is being sued on claims that their background checks discriminate against African Americans and Latinos. The lawsuit accuses Accenture of rejecting or firing qualified candidates who have criminal records, even if the criminal history has no bearing on the individual’s ability to perform the job.

The lawsuit claims that “the Supreme Court and the EEOC have recognized that overly broad restrictions on hiring individuals with criminal records are discriminatory and illegal.”

Roberto J. Arroyo, of Morristown, N.J., worked as a contract technical support employee for Accenture for nearly a year and a half when he was offered regular employment, subject only to the results of a background check. After the background check revealed that Arroyo was convicted of vehicular homicide after driving while intoxicated nearly a decade earlier, Accenture withdrew the job offer and terminated Arroyo’s employment as a contract worker.

The lawsuit seeks to force changes in Accenture hiring and retention policies, and to restore Arroyo as a contract employee with back pay and benefits, along with litigation costs.

Workers Encouraged to Seek Wage Rights

The Department of Labor is encouraging low-wage and immigrant workers to report employers who are breaking wage and hour rules. Labor Secretary Hilda Solis launched a campaign called “We Can Help” asked workers to report their employers if they suspected pay violations.

The wage and hour division of the Labor Department recently hired more than 250 additional investigators and is rolling out bilingual public-service announcements as part of a publicity campaign. The push is not limited to low-wage and immigrant workers, but is targeted for these groups because the Department identifies them as  most vulnerable.

Workplace Flexibility a Focus of the White House

WASHINGTON, DC – The White House recently held a Forum on Workplace Flexibility to open the discussion about the importance of creating workplace practices that allow for more flexibility in the workplace for workers and their families. The President, along with labor and business leadersand policy experts shared their ideas and strategies for making the workplace more flexible, allowing employees to meet work demands but not sacrificing family responsibilities.

President Obama, during his campaign, committed to expanding FMLA along with offering incentives to employers who expand flexible work arrangements.

Employers first became interested in creating flexible workplaces to attract skilled employees, primarily professional women who left jobs because they struggled to balance work and family demands.

EEOC Sues RJB Properties and Blackstone Consulting for National Origin Discrimination, Sexual Harassment and Retaliation

CHICAGO – The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed suit against RJB Properties, Inc. and Blackstone Consulting, Inc., charging that the companies discriminated against Hispanic employees because of their national origin, sexually harassed a male employee, and retaliated against employees who objected to the discrimination against Latino employees.

RJB, based in Orland Park, Ill., provides facilities management and janitorial services. RJB’s president is Ronald Blackstone, and his son, Joe Blackstone, is president of Blackstone. Blackstone, based in Los Angeles, provides janitorial and food services. The EEOC’s lawsuit arose out of charges of discrimination filed by 14 employees who worked for RJB as janitors or supervisors. Blackstone is named in the suit because a vice president of Blackstone supervised the employees at RJB and directed or participated in the alleged discrimination against them.

According to the EEOC’s complaint, RJB and Blackstone fired at least six Hispanic employees because of their national origin. They also subjected Latino employees to harassment and different terms  and conditions of employment by subjecting them to derogatory names and comments, forcing them to do more work than non-Latino employees, subjecting them to greater scrutiny and stricter work rules than non-Hispanic employees, and denying them overtime.

The EEOC alleges that a male employee was sexually harassed and that he was fired for refusing to submit to his supervisor’s sexual advances. In addition, the EEOC claims that RJB and Blackstone retaliated against employees who objected to the discrimination, including two African American supervisors who refused to fire Hispanic employees.

The EEOC is seeking relief for the 14 employees who filed discrimination charges, as well as a class of employees who were discriminated against because of their national origin or retaliated against for objecting to such discrimination. The EEOC filed suit after first attempting to reach a voluntary settlement through its conciliation process.

John Rowe, district director of the EEOC’s Chicago District Office, said the EEOC investigation revealed that RJB and Blackstone fired one supervisor who refused to follow his supervisor’s orders to fire Hispanic employees, and made the working conditions of another supervisor who refused to go along with the discriminatory orders so intolerable that he was forced to resign.

Unpaid Internships May Be Illegal

Federal and state regulators are convinced that many unpaid internships violate minimum wage laws and have began to investigate and fine employers. The Labor Department claims it is cracking down on firms that fail to pay interns properly and is expanding efforts to educate companies, colleges, and students on the law regarding internships.

There are six federal legal criteria that must be met for an internship to be unpaid. Those criteria include that the internship should be similar to the training given in a vocational school or academic institution. The intern should not displace regular paid workers and states the employer “derives no immediate advantage” from the intern’s activities.

Employers are calling for the Labor Department’s six criteria to be updated, because they are based on a Supreme Court decision from 1947, when internships and apprenticeships were production-type work. It is difficult for companies offering internships to meet the criteria that an intern not perform any work to the immediate advantage of the employer. Many employers would like to see that modified to provide mutual advantage to both the worker and the employer.

The rules for unpaid interns are less restrictive for non-profits and charities, because “interns” could be classified as volunteers.

California, and some other states, require that interns receive college credit as a condition of accepting unpaid internships, but federal regulators warn that this does not necessarily free employers from paying interns.

Reverse Discrimination Suit against DeKalb County, Georgia

A jury has awarded more than $180,000 in damages in a reverse discrimination case against Dekalb County in Georgia.  The county’s first black chief executive, Vernon Jones, was accused of attempting to replace whites blacks. Three white former managers in the county’s Parks and Recreation Department claimed they lost their jobs to be replaced by blacks. A fourth former employee, who is black, claimed he suffered from retaliation when he refused to “dig up dirt” on white colleagues. In 2001, when Jones took office, the county had 33 black and 61 white top managers. Five years later there were 60 blacks and 57 white managers, according to trial testimony.

EEOC Sues Lowe's Home Centers for Religious Discrimination

GREENEVILLE, Tenn. —Lowe’s Home Centers committed religious discrimination by requiring an employee to work on his Sabbath, and by harassing and retaliating against the employee, causing him to lose hours, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission charged in a lawsuit. The EEOC also pointed out that while Lowe’s  has an asserted policy for requesting religious accommodations, its workplace  policy and practice was to refuse to accommodate sincerely held religious  beliefs of its employees, in violation of federal law.

According to the EEOC’s lawsuit (Civil Action No. 2:10-cv-00063), Lowe’s Home Center refused to accommodate a current employee of its Morristown, Tenn.,  store after he advised Lowe’s of his sincere religious belief as a Baptist against working on the Sabbath, Sunday. The employee submitted two written requests for a religious accommodation not to be scheduled for work on Sunday.

Lowe’s ignored the request for two months, the EEOC said, and then denied the request because Lowe’s said that it might create a hardship on other employees who might like to have Sundays off. After this employee and others were reduced from full-time to part-time status, Lowe’s refused to allow the employee to apply for open full-time positions because of his sincerely held religious belief against working on the Sabbath.

Religious discrimination violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which requires employers to provide reasonable accommodations for the sincerely held religious beliefs of their employees as long as no undue hardship is posed against the business. The EEOC filed suit after first attempting to reach a voluntary settlement. The lawsuit asks the court to issue an injunction prohibiting this sort of discrimination in the future and enjoin Lowe’s from continuing its policy and practice of refusing to provide a reasonable accommodation to its employees based on sincerely held religious beliefs.

The EEOC also asked the court to order Lowe’s to reinstate the employee to full-time status, providing the requested accommodation. Further, the EEOC asked the court to order the company to provide back pay and compensatory damages for his non-pecuniary losses, including emotional and psychological harm, as well as punitive damages.

Houston mayor issues sweeping non-discrimination order

Houston, TX – The Mayor of Houston has issued an executive order protecting gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender city employees. Mayor Annise Parker’s order replaces one signed by her predecessor, Bill White, which covered sexual orientation and was similar to protections given to employees in Dallas.  The new order extends protection to gender identity/expression.

The executive order states that the purpose is to “prohibit discrimination and/or retaliation on the basis of sexual orientation and/or gender identity at every level of municipal government, including hiring, contracting and/or access to City facilities and programs/activities.”

Parker designed the order with the goal of providing a work environment free of discrimination and harassment and covers anyone doing business with the city, including Houston’s contractors and vendors as well as employees.

The order states that it’s a violation “to fail or refuse to hire, recruit, appoint, promote or train any individual” based on sexual orientation or gender identity. It’s also a violation “to discipline, demote, transfer, lay off, fail to recall or terminate” or to “or to limit, segregate or classify employees or applicants.”

Parker issued a second executive order, issued the same day, providingdes further protection to the LGBT community by prohibiting racial, ethnic, gender, and other slurs. This order is not limited to verbal communication, but also includes electronic media, specifically: screen savers, posters, cartoons, and drawings.

Any employee violating the policy is subject to disciplinary action, including indefinite suspension. Managers and supervisors that fail to act on allegations of harassment and/or discrimination will also be subject to disciplinary action.

Nebraska Legislation Limits Secret Settlements

Lincoln, NE – The Nebraska Legislature has given final approval to a bill that would end secret settlements paid with taxpayer funds.

After the City of Papillion reached an undisclosed settlement with a female office assistant who filed a claim of sexual harassment against former Mayor James Blinn, The World-Herald initiated an investigation of the deal.

Legislative Bill 742 cites that cities, counties and other government entities must maintain a record of legal settlements over $50,000 or more than 1 percent of the public entity’s annual budget. These settlements must be disclosed on meeting agendas.

State Sen. Beau McCoy of Omaha, chief sponsor of the bill, told the Omaha World-Herald, “Nebraskans deserve to know where their taxpayer dollars are going.”

City employee sues The Colony after false sexual harassment allegations

The Colony, TX – After an investigation of alleged sexual harassment against The Colony’s development services director ended because the accuser recanted all his allegations, the city manager revealed the statements and accusations to other public employees.

Donna Bateman, the accused in the harassment claim, reported to department directors her concerns that the city manager had violated federal law and engaged in criminal conduct by revealing the details of the investigation. Shortly after voicing her concerns, Bateman was terminated.

Bateman has now filed a lawsuit against the city of The Colony, claiming she was terminated for reporting the criminal conduct, a violation of Texas law. Bateman is seeking reinstatement to her former position, compensation for lost wages, reinstatement of fringe benefits and seniority rights, along with actual damages, court costs and attorney’s fees.

IRS Agent Seeks $6 Million In Sexual Harassment Lawsuit

An employee of the Internal Revenue Service has filed a lawsuit alleging sexual harassment. Sarah Klein claims her manager created a hostile work environment and made sexual advances toward her and is seeking $6 million.

The lawsuit claims that the employer offered to transfer her when she complained, but she declined the transfer and was assigned to another manager. Klein states there was never any discipline to the accused manager and that her complaints were not taken seriously.

California Judge Rules Against State Furloughs

The Alameda County Court in California has ruled that the furloughs for state employees violates state law. Gov. Judge Frank Roesch ruled that the forced days off required of most employees of state agencies were in violation of California law setting state employee work weeks at 40 hours.

Gov. Schwarzenegger initially ordered employees to be furloughed for two days a month, affecting 238,000 state employees, exempting only public safety workers. A second furlough order kept some employees of some state agencies from working three days a month. The estimated savings from the three day furlough plan was approximately $1.4 billion a year.

According to the San Francisco Chronicle, Judge Roesch cited that under California law, only individual agencies can limit workers hours, based on the specific needs of the agencies, so across the board furloughs, as ordered by the governor, was a violation.

Gov. Schwarzenegger is appealing the ruling to the California Supreme Court. The Chronicle is reporting that the ruling by Judge Roesch halts the furloughs while the issue makes its way through the courts.

US Labor Department orders Tennessee Commerce Bank to reinstate whistleblower and pay more than $1 million in back wages and other relief

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration has ordered Tennessee Commerce Bank in Nashville to reinstate a former corporate officer and pay more than $1 million in back wages, interest, attorney's fees, compensatory damages and other relief. The department found the bank had fired the individual in violation of the whistleblower protection provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.

"Sarbanes-Oxley provides protection to workers who report alleged violations of mail, wire, bank or securities fraud; violations of rules or regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission; or federal laws relating to fraud against shareholders," said Assistant Secretary of Labor for OSHA Dr. David Michaels. "This case clearly shows the department's commitment to ensuring that individuals are provided the protections and relief afforded by the law and sends a strong message that retaliatory actions will not be tolerated."

A complaint filed with OSHA in April 2008 named Tennessee Commerce Bank and Tennessee Commerce Bancorp Inc. as defendants. The complaint alleged that the employee was placed on administrative leave in March 2008 and fired in May 2008 after raising concerns about internal controls, employee accounts, insider trading and other issues. The complainant first raised concerns to the bank's audit committee and later to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and the Tennessee Department of Financial Institutions.

OSHA investigated the complaint as part of its responsibilities to enforce the whistleblower provisions of Sarbanes-Oxley and 16 other statutes protecting employees who report violations of various securities laws; trucking, airline, nuclear power, pipeline, environmental, rail, and workplace safety and health regulations; and consumer product safety laws. Under the numerous whistleblower provisions enacted by Congress, employers are prohibited from retaliating against employees who raise various protected concerns or provide protected information to the employer or to the government. Fact sheets and detailed information on employee whistleblower rights are available online at http://www.osha.gov/dep/oia/whistleblower/index.html.

Kmart To Pay $120,000 To Settle EEOC Age Bias Suit

HONOLULU – Kmart Corporation will pay $120,000 and furnish other relief to settle an age harassment, constructive discharge and retaliation lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). Kmart was charged with discriminating against a 70-year-old pharmacist at a Honolulu store.

According to the EEOC’s suit, over the course  of four years, a pharmacy manager openly professed on several occasions that  the pharmacist was “too old,” “should just retire,” and was “greedy” for  continuing to work at age 70. The manager continued to further humiliate her in writing by stating, “The  pharmacy is no longer your forte” and “You need to retire from pharmacy work now,” in a communication book open to the entire department.

The manager also purposely scheduled her to work on Sundays – knowing that she attended church those days – to encourage her to quit, according to the EEOC. The agency further contended that the victim complained to a district manager, general manager and human resources manager  regarding the age-based harassment, to no avail.

Kmart threatened legal action against the pharmacist using a pretext on an unrelated matter to retaliate against her for her discrimination complaint. The pharmacist finally had to quit to escape the mistreatment.

In June 2009, the EEOC filed its lawsuit claiming that Kmart failed to take remedial action, which forced the pharmacist to resign. The EEOC argued that the harassment and Kmart’s failure to adequately address it were in direct violation of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA).

“Instead of addressing this pharmacist’s legitimate complaints of age discrimination, Kmart made a bad situation worse by threatening her for complaining,” said EEOC Acting Chairman Stuart J. Ishimaru. “Such retaliation only compounds an employer’s culpability.”

In cooperation with the EEOC, Kmart entered into a three-year consent decree which also stipulated that Kmart post a notice on the matter; hire an EEO trainer; review and revise its existing  anti-discrimination policy; provide annual ADEA training to all staff; and ensure that performance evaluations reflect discriminatory misconduct by management staff.

Employers Required to Provide Breaks for Breastfeeding Under Health Care Reform Act

Employers covered by the Fair Labor Standards Act are required to provide reasonable breaks to mothers of children up to one year old for the purpose of breastfeeding under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. This provision was included in an amendment to the FLSA in the Act signed by President Barack Obama on March 23, 2010.

In addition to providing time for breaks, employers are also required to furnish a private space, other than a restroom, for mothers to express milk. This provision does not apply to employers with fewer than 50 employees if its requirements would “impose an undue hardship causing employers significant difficulty or expense.”