The Most Common Workplace Lawsuits

Many employers assume that they are good to work for because they have not broken employment laws. However, this is not always the case.

Some employers may even be surprised to learn that they have broken the law. This is because they may have failed to keep up to date with employment laws.

Let’s take a look at some of the most common workplace lawsuits and how to avoid them.

Harassment

Harassment tends to be associated with small statements as well as hostile actions. hkm.com and other attorneys exist to help those on the receiving end get justice.

One of the best ways to deal with harassment is to train people. This is possible by:

• Creating and distributing employee handbooks on the subject
• Ensuring that supervisors and managers regularly review the handbooks
• Disciplining anyone who violates any guidelines and rules

Personal Injury

No employer wants a personal injury lawsuit brought against them. However, this type of lawsuit is one of the most common.

Lawsuits such as this are preventable. However, every year almost 3 million instances of recordable injury in the workplace occur.

Ideally, all employers will do what they can to keep employees safe.

For example, they may need to:

• Ensure every employee has adequate personal protection
• There are plenty of warning signs and physical barriers if required
• Employees are fully trained to use equipment and tools
• Equipment and tools are in good working order and safe to use

Overtime

The laws surrounding overtime can be quite tricky. Overtime is not always tracked and the laws surrounding it are not always fully understood. The FLSA (Fair Labor Standard Act) is a federal law that sets some requirements.

Knowing the ins and outs of this law can help to prevent lawsuits. It can also reassure employers that they’re adequately monitoring overtime.

Discrimination

Discrimination lawsuits are one of the most common types of lawsuits. Many people have threatened and followed through with a lawsuit based on one or more of the following:

• Age
• Gender
• Race
• Color
• Disability
• Religion
• Sexual orientation
• Genetic information
• Familial status
• Citizenship
• National origin
• Pregnancy
• Veteran status

The above factors are federal or state-protected classes. Those who discriminate against the classes can find themselves in court.

Wrongful Termination

Wrongful termination is not something that can bring about a lawsuit. However, it is a term that’s typically used to describe a cause of indirect and/or indirect action. It’s the action taken that can result in the wrongful termination of an employee.

Not all work contracts state that employment will be continued. However, an employee will need to prove that there was not a legal basis for their termination.

The above lawsuits are some of the most common in the workplace. Thanks to the emergence of workplace laws, employees are now further protected.

Incidences do still occur. Incidences are likely to continue to occur until every employer is fair and happy to keep everyone safe.