Last week, we talked about 20 things an employer should ask itself before terminating an employee. In the interests of fairness, here are 10 things that an employee should ask before suing an employer. You should know that I generally don't believe that lawsuits are the best way to resolve problems. (I realize that there are exceptions.)

BEFORE YOU GO ON, PLEASE READ THIS!!!! I ...

So you think you're ready to terminate an employee. Are you really?

Here are 20 questions that every employer should ask itself before going ahead with a termination. If you think I've missed anything, please feel free to add your own in the comments.

GETTING STARTED

No. 1. Is the employee covered by a collective bargaining agreement? If so, make sure that whatever you do is consistent ...

Last week I heard David Lopez, General Counsel of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, speak about EEOC litigation developments at the annual North Carolina/South Carolina Labor and Employment Law conference.

The EEOC has been litigating like a house afire, so I knew you would want to hear what he had to say. Mr. Lopez - who reads this blog and likes it! - gave me permission to ...

One of the marks of a good trial lawyer is knowing when to sit down and shut up.

Maybe these lawyers knew that, and were just desperate.

CorpCar Services of Houston (Texas) lost a racial harassment lawsuit filed by two employees based on a dancing gorilla (played by a white woman) who was hired to "entertain" at a mandatory safety meeting. The gorilla's schtick included referring to her ...

Four quick thoughts on the Ashley Madison hack:

1. Should you post anything on the internet that you wouldn't want to see on the front page of the New York Times? "No" used to be standard advice, but that isn't practical any more. I do online banking, but that doesn't mean I want my financial information all over the internet. Nor my credit card information, which is stored with ...

The Marchuk v. Faruqi law firm sexual harassment case has been "amicably resolved." Now, what will we gossip about?

(To see why I'm disappointed, go here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here. Apparently, I wasn't just "following" this case - I was stalking it.)

After the verdict that pleased no one, both sides had appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second ...

Riddle me this:

Employee sues her boss for sexual harassment. Case settles for $127,500, and she has to agree to confidentiality and non-disparagement.

About nine years later, boss becomes an internet pariah for allegedly poaching a beautiful and beloved lion in Zimbabwe. Somebody in the media finds out about the sexual harassment settlement (how'd they do that, if it was ...

As you know, I strongly disapprove of use of the "N" word in the workplace. I don't think African-Americans should say it, and I really, really don't think people who aren't African-American should use it.

Well, this weekend President Obama used the "N" word, and he didn't say "the 'N' word." In a podcast interview with comedian Marc Maron, the President was quoted as saying,

Racism ...

We have reached the fifth and final of our five harassment "must-haves": No retaliation.

It should be easy to avoid retaliation, right? Because retaliatory conduct is intentional - you can't "accidentally" retaliate against someone. You can't "negligently" seek payback.

To retaliate, you have to work at it.

Of course, that would make life way too simple. Employers can ...

It's the moment of truth! (Dum-dum-DUM!)

Two weeks ago, we talked about harassment "must-haves" 1 and 2: a good, plain-language policy, and training. Last week, we talked about "must-have" 3: the investigation.

Now it's time to talk about "must-have" 4: a fair, legally defensible determination of what happened and what action to take.

During the investigation phase, you wanted to ...