This & That Tuesday: Age, Hiring, and Disability Discrimination

September 2, 2014

 

Here is the latest issue of “This & That” Tuesday. I hope you find it to be informative and useful.

 

Announcements

You can always check out my website for upcoming speaking engagements that are guaranteed to be of value to business owners or for a list of topics that I can speak on at Chambers, Clubs, Business Associations, etc. More details about the events, topics and Human Resources 4U, in general, can be found on my website.

 

Upcoming Events

September 22, Mt. Sac (Walnut), How to Build a Salary Structure & Merit Pay System, Click here for more information.

 

September 29, Mt. Sac (Walnut), Cal-OSHA & IIPP Basics, Click here for more information.

 

October 6, Mt. Sac (Walnut), Coaching to Improve Performance, Click here for more information.

 

October 13, Mt. Sac (Walnut), How to Create and Conduct a Formal Discipline Discussion, Click here for more information.

 

October 20, Mt. Sac (Walnut), Cal-OSHA & IIPP Basics, Click here for more information.

 

Ruby Tuesday Pays $575,000 to Resolve Age Discrimination

Ruby Tuesday, Inc. will pay $575,000 and provide significant equitable relief to settle a class age discrimination lawsuit filed by the EEOC. The EEOC alleged that Ruby Tuesday engaged in a pattern or practice of age discrimination against job applicants who were 40 years of age or older at six of the chain's restaurants.

 

The restaurant chain also failed to preserve employment records, including employment applications, as required by the ADEA and EEOC regulations, the EEOC charged.

In addition to the $575,000 in monetary relief, the three-and-one-half-year consent decree resolving the lawsuit enjoins Ruby Tuesday from engaging in future age discrimination or retaliation and provides substantial non-monetary relief at the affected Ruby Tuesday locations.  

 

Among other things, Ruby Tuesday, Inc. will:

• Implement numerical goals for hiring and recruitment of job applicants age 40 and older at the affected locations;
• Review its job advertisements to make certain they do not violate the ADEA's prohibitions against age discrimination;
• Conduct audits, including random reviews of hiring decisions, to ensure non-discrimination and compliance with the terms of the consent decree;
• Evaluate the job performance of people with hiring authority for the six stores named in the consent decree and set their compensation (including bonuses), in part, based on their degree of success in helping Ruby Tuesday achieve its goals of ensuring that its recruitment and hiring practices provide equal employment opportunities for people who are 40 or older;
• Designate a decree compliance monitor for oversight of compliance with the requirements of the ADEA and the terms of the consent decree;
• Provide extensive training on the requirements of the ADEA and the consent decree to the decree compliance monitor, human resources personnel and hiring authorities of the six stores named in the consent decree; and
• Report to the EEOC and keep records about its hiring practices and compliance with the consent decree.

 

Bay State Milling Company Pays $80K to Settle Hiring Discrimination

Bay State Milling Company, a major flour and grain producer, will pay $80,185 and furnish other relief to settle an age discrimination suit filed by the EEOC. The EEOC's suit charged that Bay State Milling Company discriminated against Gary Legore, a qualified applicant, when the hiring manager for the Indiantown, Fla., vacancy, rejected him for the position because of his age.  The hiring manager informed Legore of the company's desire to hire a younger individual for the job. The company ultimately hired a 22-year-old with less experience than Legore. 

 

The consent decree settling the lawsuit, approved by the court includes mandatory training for the hiring manager, interviewing officials and the company's human resources department, with an emphasis on age-related discriminatory practices and age sensitivity.  The decree also provides for a number of reporting requirements which subject the company to additional monitoring by the EEOC for a period of two years.  The monetary award includes back pay and liquidated damages.

 

Alorica Pays $135,000 to Settle EEOC Disability Discrimination Suit

Alorica Inc., a telesales and data services company that acquired Ryla Teleservices, Inc., will pay $135,000 to settle a disability discrimination lawsuit brought by the EEOC. According to the EEOC's suit, Ryla Teleservices violated federal law by firing a customer service representative diagnosed with bipolar disorder and depression, from its Kennesaw, Ga., facility rather than accommodate her disability.  In an effort to treat her disability, the employee took short-term disability leave, and later requested that her leave be extended for an additional four weeks.  Rather than providing the reasonable accommodation of granting the extension, Ryla denied the request and terminated the employee. 

 

The EEOC alleged that such conduct violated the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) which requires employers to make reasonable accommodations for employees with disabilities as long as the accommodations do not cause an undue hardship. 

 

The consent decree settling the suit, in addition to the monetary relief, includes provisions for equal employment opportunity training, reporting and posting of anti-discrimination notices.  In the suit and consent decree, Ryla and Alorica denied any liability or wrongdoing.

 

Factoids

• 164 million work hours are lost each year due to dental problems (Surgeon General)
• A company loses more than $14,000 for every job that stays open more than 3 months.

 

Positive Feedback and Teams

• Top performing teams had a positive to negative feedback ratio of 5 to 1
• Bottom performing teams had a positive to negative feedback ratio of 1 to 3

 

Quotes

“In the end, it’s not the years in your life that count. It’s the life in your years.”
~Abraham Lincoln~