Workplace Discrimination

• Northwest Flight Attendants Threaten Strike

  Staff Writer | August 05, 2006 11:25 PM | 0 CommentsDenver, CO

  The AP reports that flight attendants with Northwest will begin unannounced strikes on August 15 at 9:01 p.m. CDT if Northwest does not stop the imposition of a new contract on employees. Questions remain about the legality of such a strike. Airline law and bankruptcy code may be challenged in court as Northwest 2005 bankruptcy allows new contracts to be established. They believe that not only...

• A Pretext for Discriminatory Motivation

  Staff Writer | July 21, 2006 6:29 PM | 0 CommentsDenver, CO

  When handling a termination or a disciplinary situation, it is critical that the manager or supervisor remain calm and professional, or the employer may have problems explaining the "business reason" for the employer's action when discriminatory motive is claimed. In Zamora v. Elite Logistics, Inc., decided June 5,2006, the 10th Circuit looked to the supervisor's responses, which were rude and...

• Employee Termination and Discriminatory Intent

  Staff Writer | July 20, 2006 6:28 PM | 0 CommentsDenver, CO

  An employer cannot "rubber stamp" the decision of a bigoted manager to terminate an employee, and then claim lack of discriminatory intent when the employee files suit claiming discrimination. In EEOC v. BCI Coca-Cola Bottling Co., decided June 7, 2006, the 10th Circuit recognized that an employer must hear both sides of the story and conduct an independent investigation of the grounds for...

• Title VII Sex Discrimination Claim v. Performance(2)

  Staff Writer | July 07, 2006 10:58 AM | 0 CommentsDenver, CO

  The Court first explained that in making a reverse discrimination claim, an employee must show that the employer is actually discriminating against the majority - a fairly unusual occurrence. The Court concluded that Argo could not establish reverse discrimination in this case. Instead, Blue Cross showed that it hired many men for the same position and that it had employed Argo in the...

• Title VII Sex Discrimination Claim v. Performance

  Staff Writer | July 06, 2006 10:55 AM | 0 CommentsDenver, CO

  Sometimes, it really is all about performance. Or, in the words of Judge McConnell of the Tenth Circuit, "This case presents an especially weak Title VII sex discrimination claim."The Plaintiff, Griff G. Argo, worked as an Individual Enrollment Specialist ("IES") for the Defendant Blue Cross Blue Shield of Kansas, Inc. ("Blue Cross"). Although he was an effective worker for several years, his...

• Retaliation Claims Under Title VII

  Staff Writer | June 29, 2006 4:45 PM | 0 CommentsDenver, CO

  On June 22, 2006, the United States Supreme Court rendered entered a new, sweeping decision concerning retaliation claims under Title VII, which gives victims of retaliation greater protection than victims of actual discrimination. In Burlington Northern & Santa Fe Railroad v. White, an opinion authored by Justice Breyer, the Supreme Court decided for the first time that an employer may be...

• Sexual Harassment in the Workplace

  Staff Writer | April 19, 2006 9:35 AM | 0 CommentsDenver, CO

  There is an urban myth, that a claim for hostile work environment can encompass any kind of behavior in the workplace, from compliments about one's dress or hair to rude behavior to bosses or co-workers who are always angry or boorish. This is simply not true. Federal and state civil rights laws do not impose a general civility code; simple teasing, offhand comments, and isolated incidents,...