Workplace Discrimination

• Proposed Law Offers Employees Protection

  Linda Chalat | January 18, 2012 4:09 PM | 0 CommentsDenver, CO

  On January 11, 2012, Sen. Carroll and Rep. Fischer introduced SB 12-003 – Concerning the use of consumer credit information by employers. This proposed law would establish the purposes for...

• Medical Pot User May Have Benefits Go Up In Smoke

  Linda Chalat | September 12, 2011 4:26 PM | 0 CommentsDenver, CO

  A recent decision from the Colorado Court of Appeals has decided that a medical marijuana user who is fired for a positive drug test result is not eligible for unemployment compensation benefits. In...

• Spud Seller Supers Think They Are Studs

  Linda Chalat | October 05, 2010 4:48 PM | 0 CommentsDenver, CO

  The Spud Seller Inc., a potato wholesaler in the San Luis Valley, allowed a supervisor in the packaging plant to sexually harass female workers over an extended period after management was first...

• Most Employment Lawsuits Brought By Individuals

  Linda Chalat | June 11, 2010 12:42 PM | 0 CommentsDenver, CO

  News of large groups of plaintiffs suing corporate employers are common, like those cases against WalMart which have received wide media attention. But the American Bar Foundation has issued a study...

• Idaho mine accident causes man to lose arm

  Staff Writer | January 31, 2007 10:39 PM | 0 CommentsDenver, CO

  Monday morning worksite accident at a phosphate mine in southeast Idaho caused a man to lose his harm, according to a report from the Associated Press.The victim of the accident is currently in a Salt Lake City hospital intensive care unit as physicians attempt to save his leg. The accident is being investigated by the Mine Safety Health Administration. The Smoky Canyon Mine excavates more than...

• Do You Know? The Use of Polygraphs for Employees

  Staff Writer | October 12, 2006 8:36 PM | 0 CommentsDenver, CO

  Employers are often tempted to ask an employee to take a lie detector test if the employer believes that an employee has stolen the employer's property. However, the Employee Polygraph Protection Act, a federal law found at 29 U.S.C. § 2001-2009, restricts an employer's use of polygraphs, and provides remedies for a violation of the restrictions regarding the use of lie detector tests.

• Employer's Discriminatory Intent

  Staff Writer | August 31, 2006 1:54 PM | 0 CommentsDenver, CO

  If an employer is accused of discriminating in violation of Title VII, a powerful source of adverse testimony can come from ex-employees. The 10th Circuit Court of Appeals has long held that "the testimony of other employees about their treatment by the defendant is relevant to the issue of the employer's discriminatory intent." Spulak v. K Mart Corp., 894 F.2d 1150, 1156 (10th Cir. 1990); see...

• Equal Pay Act Violation

  Staff Writer | August 31, 2006 9:51 AM | 0 CommentsDenver, CO

  An employer accused of an Equal Pay Act violation may be held liable, without a showing of intent. If an employer pays persons of different sex differently and is alleged to have done so on the basis of sex, the employer must prove one of the following: 1) a seniority system; (2) a merit system; (3) a pay system based on quantity or quality of output; (4) a disparity based on any factor other...

• Case of Pay Discrimination

  Staff Writer | August 30, 2006 1:48 PM | 0 CommentsDenver, CO

  In Mickelson v. New York Life Insurance Co., the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals held in favor of an employee who claimed that she had been discriminated against with respect to pay. The Court noted that there are two ways a plaintiff can proceed on a claim of salary discrimination: on a theory of intentional discrimination on the basis of sex in violation of Title VII, or on a theory of wage...

• Subjective Hiring or Promotion Criteria

  Staff Writer | August 30, 2006 11:40 AM | 0 CommentsDenver, CO

  An employer can use objective criteria or subjective criteria to determine whom to employ or promote or terminate. An employee's failure to meet the objective criteria generally terminates claims of discrimination and can result in summary dismissal of the plaintiff's claims. However, the failure to meet subjective criteria is generally not fatal to the plaintiff's claims. In such a case, the...