Rising Claims - San Antonio Business Journal:

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And San Antonio is no exception. Officialsx with the say that trenf is reflected intheir numbers. For fiscal year 2008, ending Sept. 30, the EEOC had 95,402 totalp charges filed with the agency, up from 82,792q filed in fiscal year 2007. “We see an increase in everty single area,” says Justine Lisser, spokeswoman for the headquarteredin Washington, D.C. The EEOC investigate s discrimination complaints based onan individual’s color, national origin, religion, sex, age, disabilit and retaliation for reporting and/or opposinvg a discriminatory practice.
The Commission is also tasked with filingb suits on behalf of alleged victims of discriminationm against employers and acting as a judiciarg for discrimination claims brought againstfederal agencies. But localk attorneys say employers may have some causesfor concern. They say some employerw are taking more risks inlaying off, and even employees to cut overhead costs. Karen a partner with the San Antoni officeof LLP, says employers are letting peoplse go without having a history of documentation on why that employees is being terminated.
“I’m seeing employers being more aggressive aboutfirinbg individuals, folks that have slippef by in the past, not showing up on time and missinhg deadlines,” Monsen says. “They are just not putting up with it Lisser says it is no surprise that the numbetr of charges her agency has seen increased in the lastfiscal year. She adds that she expects to see thosed number up for fiscal year 2009as well. “Thw EEOC is seeing an increase in charges Lisser says. “We have seen this particulae increase inage discrimination.” In according to EEOC data, in fiscal year 2008, 24,582 charges were filee regarding age discrimination suits.
That number is up from 19,103 in fisca year 2007. While Lisser says there is currentl y no hard data pointing to the factors leadinh tothe increase, she says tigh economic times may be part of the problem. “Wheh times are tough, employers target their older because they have thehigher salaries,” she says. Lisser says the EEOC also saw a big jump in the numbere of charges filed relating to retaliationand gender. Retaliatiojn charges, she says, are thosed filed against an employer who has allegedlt retaliated against an employee forsome reason. Thosed numbers jumped from 26,663 to 32,690 in fiscakl year 2008.
As for those charges relatingto gender, the EEOC reports thos numbers jumped from 24,826 to 28,373 in fiscal year 2008. Stephen Romero, an attorneyh with the San Antonio officeof , says that with the increasse of claims, the EEOC is more diligent in how it is handlingb its investigations into charges filed with the “The EEOC is being much more thorough and sendingv out requests for additional informatioj (from the employer) on top of the regular positio statement that is prepared and submittecd on behalf of the Romero says. While Texas is an “at-will terminating employees without documentation can be ariskt move.
According to the , the basid rule of Texas employment law is which means without a statute or an expreswagreement (such as an employment contract) to the contrary, eithetr party in an employment relationshil may modify any of the termss or conditions of or terminate the relationship for any reason, or no particulat reason at all, with or without advance “(Employers) are less concerned abouy the lack of record they have established and I thin k that is dangerous,” Monsen says. “It’s tough on employers becauswe they have been giving these people a they haven’t been writing them up and they haven’t been keepiny good notes of violations of company policy.
So it gets prettu tricky.” While clearly an employer can fire its Monsen says keeping records and documentinbg those policy violations is a mattert ofgood practice. “If you have been givingh them goodreviews ... and then out of the blue they are told they have been late too ofteh and they have been late every day for two all of a sudden itlooks funny,” she “Employers should be keeping theswe records.
It’s just good, safe practic and it builds a good Romero says that with the tighteconomif situation, employees who are terminated are more frequently questioningt the reasons behind their “Employees are questioning actionw taken by their employer,” he says. “Evenn in good times and especially in bad it is very important to documengyour employee’s performance. If you have that documentation, it is much easierd to defend. If you are terminating an employerfor misconduct, you better have it documentedx in their file.” Monsen says some employerss are also not aware that keeping electronic data after an employeed is let go is critical.
“Theu are sending all the computere back to IT and IT is cleaning them up and sendinh them back out to the fieled and all this evidence is beingh destroyed and could turn into a huge land mine for thesre companies who have not thought about While employers may need to worry about fighting adiscrimination suit, concernd about protecting trade secrets has become an issue. Monsen says some employeesx go out and try to competee withthe company.
A lot of employers don’tr have good protection in place, she “These employees will have in theid possession customer lists or documents that contain tradde secrets or otherconfidential information,” she “I am seeing tons of that and my clientws are having to do damage Romero says he tries to ensure that his clients have documents in place to ensure that an employe who has had access to confidentia information can not use that data aftetr being fired or laid off by the “We are very proactive on the front end to get confidentialityu agreements from those employees,” Romerko says.
“In my practice, I haven’t seen an uptick but I wouldn’ft be surprised if that was the next wavein