Connecticut Employment Law Blog Insight on Labor & Employment Developments for Connecticut Businesses

Tag Archives: discipline

Progressive Discipline Policies: What They Are And Understanding Risks and Benefits to Them

By Daniel Schwartz on Posted in Discrimination & Harassment

"Progressive Discipline" is a policy or practice that, over the years, has fallen out of favor with some employers. What is it? It’s a practice — found also in some collective bargaining agreements — that typically provides a multi-step disciplinary process for many employment policy violations: a verbal warning, a written warning, a suspension, and… Continue Reading

Corrective Action Memorandum Not a Contract, Says District Court

By Daniel Schwartz on Posted in Litigation, Wage & Hour

UPDATED 2/10/09 Sometimes, by coincidence, two unrelated decision get released in close proximity to one another that they bring some greater clarity to the law. Yesterday, I discussed a Connecticut Superior Court case that found that certain discussions did not create an employment contract and that the employee was properly classified as "at-will". Earlier this… Continue Reading

What Ever Happened To…That Ethics Case with the Anonymous Letter?

By Daniel Schwartz on Posted in Litigation

It has been several months since my last update on the matters involving former state Ethics Chief Alan Plofsky and the strange case of the lawyer who penned an anonymous letter complaining of Mr. Plofsky. (For background on the matters, you can find my prior posts here.) The developments have been slow to occur, but… Continue Reading

New EEOC Guidance Raises Questions About Post-Termination Duty to Accommodate in Connecticut

By Daniel Schwartz on Posted in CHRO & EEOC, Discrimination & Harassment, Human Resources (HR) Compliance, Laws and Regulations, Litigation

Nearly six months ago, a landmark ruling by the Connecticut Supreme Court held that Connecticut’s anti-discrimination laws required employers to provide a reasonable accommodation to disabled workers, much like the federal counterpart, the ADA. As I noted in an earlier post about the case, Curry v. Allen S. Goodman, Inc., the Court suggested that the employer had a… Continue Reading

Whatever Happened to….That Lawyer Who Penned an Anonymous Letter?

By Daniel Schwartz on Posted in Litigation

As I’ve mentioned before, sometimes cases hit the headlines for a day only to disappear into oblivion. But thanks to some followup reporting, there’s one story that we can give an update on. Readers may recall a post from May of this year about a state attorney, Maureen Duggan, who wrote an anonymous letter about the state’s Ethics Chief,… Continue Reading

Firing Instigators in Employment Fights – Second Circuit Shows Some Support For Employers

By Daniel Schwartz on Posted in Litigation

The sad reality is that, on rare occasion, some employees will revert back to their middle school days and behave like a couple of children. Some will even resort to physical fighting. In such a case, employers are faced with a difficult question — can I punish one employee more than other if I think they "started" it?… Continue Reading

Disciplining Employees for Fighting; Asking What Is Similar Conduct and What is Similarly Situated?

By Daniel Schwartz on Posted in Discrimination & Harassment, Human Resources (HR) Compliance, Litigation

As cases go, Smith v. Connecticut (D. Conn., Jan. 9, 2008) (Bryant, J.) will not rank up there in the annals of legal history.  (Even the name of the case sounds generic.)  Moreover, when you read the facts, the case doesn’t scream "precedent".  The Smith case, however, reinforces the notion that consistently applied disciplinary policies are… Continue Reading

For Human Resources Issues, Keep It Simple – Like Middle School Students

By Daniel Schwartz on Posted in Human Resources (HR) Compliance

Earlier this week, I had the privilege of judging various middle school mock trials that the Connecticut Consortium for Law and Citizenship Education sponsors. Students "try" a case with lots of items you’d see in a regular trial — opening statements, direct and cross examination of witnesses and closing arguments.  I’ve done this for almost… Continue Reading

Consistently Applied Policies and Discipline Are Cruicial to Avoiding Discrimination Claims

By Daniel Schwartz on Posted in Discrimination & Harassment, Human Resources (HR) Compliance, Litigation

Disciplining employees for violations of company policy is, as a general rule, a good thing for an employer to follow.  However, when a company disciplines employees differently for the same offense, perceptions of discrimination (rightly or wrongly) can creep in. A new case released this afternoon from the United States District Court illustrates that.  In… Continue Reading