350 women sued Mitsubishi Motors for offensive sexual remarks and actions; awarded $34 million.
Enron filed bankruptcy - paid $150 million in severance and vacation pay to 4,500 employees who lost jobs.
$27 million in attorneys' fees awarded in Microsoft benefits class action suit.
Ralph's Supermarkets, a division of the Kroger Company, paid nearly $9 million when a supervisor harassed a series of women.
IT IS RAINING lawsuits on companies; a flood of employment litigation cases make headlines almost everyday. Employees sue the employers at the drop of a hat, sometimes for the most bizarre reasons. To add to this, company laws champion the employees and court judgments swing mostly in favour of the `wronged' employee. More often than not, US companies find themselves slapped with huge jury verdicts. There have been stray cases in India too.
The business pays the price as such litigation can have a devastating bearing on the bottom line. According to recent figures from Jury Verdict Research, the median amount of monetary damages that employers are paying out in employment law cases is $200,000; often court verdicts exceed even $1 million! Add attorney's fees and other defence costs and there is nightmarish trouble in store.
Prevention is always better than cure...
The stakes are high indeed. A lawsuit can hit anyone at anytime with dreadful consequences. An employer can no longer afford to feel secure and say, `this cannot happen to me. So why bother with preventive action?' Then, is it not better to adopt anticipatory procedures to cover all eventualities? After all, investing in prevention may have its expense, but it is nothing compared to the cost of deterring, responding to, losing, or even winning a full-blown court case! So, recognise these potential hot buttons that scream, `Caution: Lawsuit ahead' to anyone who is paying an iota of attention.
1. Acts of violence in the workplace
2. Physical injury to or death of an employee due to unsafe surroundings
3. Discrimination on the basis of race, colour, religion, age, gender or disability
4. Harassment - whether sexual or otherwise
5. Wrongful termination, demotion and discipline
The company is held liable if it fails to investigate complaints made by employees. Moreover, the company has to pay punitive damages even if it is unaware of the act.
Keep yourself safely out of court
Problems can and will always arise. This does not mean that the company cannot limit or avert the consequences. The solution is within reach. Here's how to keep a lawsuit from falling right into your lap.
Draft a strict set of guidelines and procedures that spell a zero-tolerance policy towards any type of discrimination or harassment. Incorporate the canons in a comprehensive employee handbook and distribute it to the employees to enjoy a strong litigation posture.
1. Educate all employees as to what conduct is acceptable and (more importantly) what's not.
2. Initiate in-house victim complaint procedures and encourage employees to report misbehaviour.
3. Courts uphold that a timely and thorough investigation can be a critical defence in employment litigation. Promptly investigate complaints to determine what actually happened.
4. Adopt a dispute resolution policy and train managers in crisis management procedures to effectively deal with issues and expediently resolve complaints as and when they arise.
5. Ensure that employees are terminated for lawful reasons and not wrongly discharged at will.
6. Provide a safe and healthy workplace that is free of dangers by eliminating recognised hazards due to equipment, chemicals, radiation and the like.
7. Adopt strategic security measures such as video surveillance, metal detectors, identification badges, proper lighting, etc. to nip potential attacks in the bud.
8. Train employees to spot perpetrators of violence or harassment; protect themselves as well as what action to take when such behaviour is spotted.
9. Screen for unfit employees by engaging in thorough reference and background checks. Employ thorough screening procedures during hiring employees to reduce the possibility of latent aggressive behaviour.
10. Cultivate an environment of trust, respect and dignity with free flow of communication.
Even after exercising all possible and reasonable care to nip problems before they occur or lead to lawsuits, if litigation still seems inexorable, cover your back by getting hold of the best attorney in the business that money can buy!
Enron filed bankruptcy - paid $150 million in severance and vacation pay to 4,500 employees who lost jobs.
$27 million in attorneys' fees awarded in Microsoft benefits class action suit.
Ralph's Supermarkets, a division of the Kroger Company, paid nearly $9 million when a supervisor harassed a series of women.
IT IS RAINING lawsuits on companies; a flood of employment litigation cases make headlines almost everyday. Employees sue the employers at the drop of a hat, sometimes for the most bizarre reasons. To add to this, company laws champion the employees and court judgments swing mostly in favour of the `wronged' employee. More often than not, US companies find themselves slapped with huge jury verdicts. There have been stray cases in India too.
The business pays the price as such litigation can have a devastating bearing on the bottom line. According to recent figures from Jury Verdict Research, the median amount of monetary damages that employers are paying out in employment law cases is $200,000; often court verdicts exceed even $1 million! Add attorney's fees and other defence costs and there is nightmarish trouble in store.
Prevention is always better than cure...
The stakes are high indeed. A lawsuit can hit anyone at anytime with dreadful consequences. An employer can no longer afford to feel secure and say, `this cannot happen to me. So why bother with preventive action?' Then, is it not better to adopt anticipatory procedures to cover all eventualities? After all, investing in prevention may have its expense, but it is nothing compared to the cost of deterring, responding to, losing, or even winning a full-blown court case! So, recognise these potential hot buttons that scream, `Caution: Lawsuit ahead' to anyone who is paying an iota of attention.
1. Acts of violence in the workplace
2. Physical injury to or death of an employee due to unsafe surroundings
3. Discrimination on the basis of race, colour, religion, age, gender or disability
4. Harassment - whether sexual or otherwise
5. Wrongful termination, demotion and discipline
The company is held liable if it fails to investigate complaints made by employees. Moreover, the company has to pay punitive damages even if it is unaware of the act.
Keep yourself safely out of court
Problems can and will always arise. This does not mean that the company cannot limit or avert the consequences. The solution is within reach. Here's how to keep a lawsuit from falling right into your lap.
Draft a strict set of guidelines and procedures that spell a zero-tolerance policy towards any type of discrimination or harassment. Incorporate the canons in a comprehensive employee handbook and distribute it to the employees to enjoy a strong litigation posture.
1. Educate all employees as to what conduct is acceptable and (more importantly) what's not.
2. Initiate in-house victim complaint procedures and encourage employees to report misbehaviour.
3. Courts uphold that a timely and thorough investigation can be a critical defence in employment litigation. Promptly investigate complaints to determine what actually happened.
4. Adopt a dispute resolution policy and train managers in crisis management procedures to effectively deal with issues and expediently resolve complaints as and when they arise.
5. Ensure that employees are terminated for lawful reasons and not wrongly discharged at will.
6. Provide a safe and healthy workplace that is free of dangers by eliminating recognised hazards due to equipment, chemicals, radiation and the like.
7. Adopt strategic security measures such as video surveillance, metal detectors, identification badges, proper lighting, etc. to nip potential attacks in the bud.
8. Train employees to spot perpetrators of violence or harassment; protect themselves as well as what action to take when such behaviour is spotted.
9. Screen for unfit employees by engaging in thorough reference and background checks. Employ thorough screening procedures during hiring employees to reduce the possibility of latent aggressive behaviour.
10. Cultivate an environment of trust, respect and dignity with free flow of communication.
Even after exercising all possible and reasonable care to nip problems before they occur or lead to lawsuits, if litigation still seems inexorable, cover your back by getting hold of the best attorney in the business that money can buy!
P. A.
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