What would you do in these situations?
- An employee brings a magazine to work to read during his break. You later spot it in the employee break room and notice that the page that's opened includes a derogatory reference to persons with AIDS.
- A consultant comes in to do some specialized training with part of your staff. A few days later, one of your employees mentions that she doesn't think the “joke” the consultant told about persons with limited mental capacities was very funny at all.
Are either of these situations any of your business? Yes, Attorney John McLachlan of Fisher & Phillips LLP in Oakland, Calif. advised. Ignoring them, even if they aren't brought to your attention in a formal written complaint, can result in potentially costly violations of the law.
“Employers can be held responsible for materials which appear in the workplace, whether they are truly responsible or not,” McLachlan said, noting that mental disabilities, the HIV virus, and AIDS are all protected categories under the Americans with Disabilities Act.
“Plaintiffs always try to introduce arguably discriminatory materials - the more outrageous the better - to prove that the employer had a discriminatory frame of mind,” he added.
This item was posted with permission from Gempler's ALERT, the newsletter of Ag/Hort safety and employment law compliance.