New York Employment Lawyer Blog

Mark V. Hurd was forced out of his position as the CEO of Hewlett-Packard yesterday after an investigation revealed “inappropriate conduct.” The investigation did not confirm violations of Hewlett-Packard’s sexual harassment policy. It did, however, reveal that Mr. Hurd had committed a series of indiscretions, including: failing to disclose a personal relationship with Jodie Fisher, an HP marketing consultant, that constituted a conflict of interest, submitting inaccurate expense reports, and misusing company assets.

The investigation demonstrated that Mr. Hurd had a close relationship with Ms. Fisher and often had private dinners with her, which he paid for with company funds. The New York Times estimates that he misrepresented up to $20,000 of personal expenses.

Potential employees were disqualified from temporary jobs with the 2010 Census Bureau in New York City for their criminal background. Civil rights groups are bringing a lawsuit in response to their discriminatory practices, alleging they violated the Civil Rights Act. Applicants with a previous arrest are required to provide official records regarding the matter within 30 days to challenge the information. This is required of any applicant with even the most insignificant criminal background. Applicants could be disqualified simply for being picked up as a suspect in a crime.

The Census Bureau’s policy on applicants with a previous arrest has been criticized before, yet they have not made any changes to ensure they are treating potential employees fairly.

More information is available here.

A Queens police officer has filed a sexual harassment suit against the New York City Police Department. She claims that a sergeant had asked her out several times, and when she rejected these advances, she alleges that he retaliated against her. “Almost every day he mentioned my lips, he said he was attracted to my shape and rubbed up against me,” the officer claims.

The tipping point came after an New York City Police Department talent show in which the officer was a participant. During the performance, she had a wardrobe malfunction and her pants accidently slipped off. Subsequently, the alleged perpetrator obtained a copy of the video of the performance and showed it to other officers on a laptop computer.

The officer also claims the New York City Police Department engaged in retaliation, which is illegal under New York employment law. She alleges that management took no action protect her from the sexual harassment and that the offender was allowed to take out his frustration on the youth programs the plaintiff ran - even taking away the police van used to transport kids. The plaintiff was eventually transferred out of the youth officer job. She now hopes to find relief through the judicial system.

Recently release job figures show that the unemployment rate has held steady at 9.5 percent for the past three months, and many are not optimistic that it will improve in the second half of 2010. The economy recently suffered another blow as 143,000 temporary census jobs came to an end, bringing the net total of jobs lost in July to 131,000.

It seems that instead of hiring new employees, companies are expecting more of their current workers, as evidenced by the one-tenth of an hour increase in the average workweek and 4 cent raise in hourly pay.

A ruling by the California Supreme Court makes it easier for employees to get their discrimination claims heard in court. Under the old rules, a lawsuit could be tossed out if the employer proves that the discriminatory comments were “stray remarks.” This ruling allows discrimination cases to be heard by a jury even if the comments are made by employees who are not in a position to fire, or if the comments happened long before the decision to fire is made.

In this claim, a 54-year-old employee alleges that he was fired because of his age. He says that executives called him an “old man,” said that he wasn’t a good “cultural fit,” and that his ideas were “too old to matter.” The company claims that he was fired due to poor performance.