Site Map - Hiring \ Employment Issues

06/24/2008 - A North Carolina appeals court has ruled that an employee who lied about his physical ability during a job interview may not collect workers’ compensation. The plaintiff, who applied for a job that was physically strenuous, claimed that he had never had a back problem and had never filed for workers’ compensation. However, the plaintiff had a history of back problems, had filed two workers’ compensation claims, and had been deemed by doctors to be unfit to perform heavy-duty work.

06/23/2008 - A plaintiff need not present an expert witness to prove that a company’s background screening program is unreasonable.

06/23/2008 - Need a career? By 2012, Frost & Sullivan estimates the number of information security positions will increase by 10 percent.

05/28/2008 - The California Supreme Court has ruled that, under state law, an employee cannot hold a coworker liable for retaliation. The court ruled that while individual workers can avoid making bad decisions, they cannot be held responsible for company policies that might create harassment or discrimination.

05/28/2008 - Need a job? A new survey says the demand for IT security skills is fast outpacing the supply.

05/27/2008 - There’s a wide gap between the IT security skills that companies seek and those that candidates have, according to a survey by the Computing Technology Industry Association.

04/29/2008 - An impolite, unpleasant, and volatile woman does not deserve workers’ compensation for the psychological damage she incurred at work, an appeals court ruled, because she brought it on herself.

04/28/2008 - Whistleblowers deserve protection.

03/28/2008 - Reviews should focus not on past problems but on how the worker can improve and plot a career path with the company.

03/27/2008 - A federal appeals court has ruled that an employee who suffered a breakdown after a stray dog found its way into a warehouse where she was working can pursue her claims against the company. The employee filed a lawsuit arguing that the company violated her rights under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) when it fired her after the incident. The court agreed that the employee’s actions, which included irrational behavior and anxiety, should have alerted the company that she might be suffering from a serious mental health condition.

03/27/2008 - Contract employees assigned to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) can pursue their lawsuit against the agency over stringent new background screening rules. The court ruled that the new requirements raise privacy issues and do not seem to further the government’s legitimate interests because they target low-risk employees as well as those in more sensitive positions.

03/27/2008 - A federal appeals court has overturned a circuit court’s sexual harassment verdict in favor of a fast food restaurant. In the case, the appeals court ruled that the owner of the business could be held liable for the actions of the restaurant manager who fired a teenage employee after she refused to date him and then blocked her access to information she needed to report the incident.

03/27/2008 - A new Oklahoma law (formerly H.B. 1927) would require that special advocates—those appointed by the court to represent the best interest of a child—undergo a criminal background check.