Litigating Sexual Harassment and Sex Discrimination Cases

Description

Step-by-Step Guidance for Sexual Harassment Litigation

Sexual Harassment and Sex Discrimination continue to be ever evolving areas of the law. Not only have the techniques used by practitioners have changed, but the law itself and the theories of liability have been in considerable flux.

Sexual harassment litigation frequently combines high stakes with challenging facts. Settlements and awards can be large, but witnesses rarely exist, sensitive personal issues can surface, differing federal and state laws regularly overlap, and on-the-spot advice is frequently required. Careful and effective advocacy is essential to success.

Affordable help is available. Aaron Maduff’s Litigating Sexual Harassment & Sex Discrimination Cases leads you step-by-step through problem areas like these:

• Sidestepping statute of limitations traps
• Assessing client’s claims and injuries
• Avoiding removal to federal court
• Opposing summary judgment motions
• Deposing harassers
• Deposing and examining experts
• Proving “he-said, she-said” cases
• Admitting and excluding sensitive evidence

Litigating Sexual Harassment & Sex Discrimination Cases is loaded with useful forms, charts, and checklists that will save you drafting time and help you avoid costly mistakes. You receive sample pleadings, client intake checklists, deposition questions, workplace prevention policies, and much more.

Helpful Tips

• “A related and developing area of the law involves the employer’s liability for sexual favoritism. The EEOC Guidelines on this issue provide that.…”
• “Retaliatory acts by an employer’s management personnel can form the basis for a number of tort claims, e.g.…”
• To assess the reasonableness of your prospective client’s expectations, ask “If we can get your job back, with any back pay, and have the harasser fired or transferred, would that be enough for you?”
• “Be very cautious about cases where the client acknowledges participating in the very conduct of which she now complains. Derrico v. Pinkerton’s Inc., ….”
• “Consider drafting the complaint and sending it to the employer along with your letter and deadline date to be contacted. It will at least insure that the issue goes up a few notches in the hierarchy.”
• “If you plan to name any individual defendants in the civil complaint, you should also name those persons in the administrative charge. Failure to name a defendant in the administrative complaint may result in….”
• “Damages on a defamation claim may be based on elements other than injury to reputation, such as….”
• 3 reasons why you should consider stipulating to a Rule 35 examination.
• “Take precautions to insure that your client is not exposed to unreasonable intrusions into her or his privacy during a mental examination. For example, you may want to stipulate that your client will not be administered.…”
• “The MMPI, which is frequently given by psychologists, contains 566 true/false questions, many of which are objectionable as violative of your client’s right to privacy. See Soroka v. Dayton Hudson Corp. ….”
• 11 questions to ask every expert in a sexual harassment case.
• Remember when deciding whether to depose the examining doctor that the plaintiff waives any privilege she or he may have regarding the testimony of “every other person who has examined the [plaintiff] ….” FRCP 35(b)(2).
• 6 grounds for opposing motions for summary judgment, with supporting authority.
• 13 situations in sexual harassment cases when you should bring a motion in limine, with citations.

Gain complete control of your litigation work-up with Litigating Sexual Harassment & Sex Discrimination Cases’ one-stop task outline approach.

The book’s distinct format combines the benefits of an in-depth treatise—including over 600 pages of insightful practice tips, up-to-date citations, and helpful forms—with a step-by-step “how to do it” outline. Each task is set up in a recognizable 4-step format that clearly explains the “what, why, when, and how” of litigating sexual harassment and sex discrimination cases, making this the only resource you will need on the subject.

You also receive hundreds of tactical practice notes culled from the authors’ years of experience litigating employment cases. Let these insightful suggestions help you plan effective strategies and anticipate your opponent’s moves.

The net result of the book’s powerful new format is a user-friendly, practice-oriented resource that will guide you through the complexities of state and federal employment litigation.

REVISION 25 HIGHLIGHTS

This new edition of Litigating Sexual Harassment & Sex Discrimination Cases is packed with dozens of new case citations and practice tips throughout the book. The highlights include new and expanded coverage of:

THEORIES OF LIABILITY

•  New coverage of the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA) and its ADA-style accommodations for postpartum employees, including the right to a private place to pump breastmilk
• New practice note: when ending a consensual relationship may or may not give rise to a sexual harassment claim, in light of Bostock’s “but for” causation standard
• New case law on hostile work environment claims, including when an employer’s remedial action, though reasonable, still fails to eliminate liability

SETTLEMENT — NEW COMPREHENSIVE COVERAGE

• Full strategic guide to the settlement process: when to settle early, how to prepare your client, and managing the plaintiff’s emotional hurdles
• Mediation tactics: bracketing strategies, the settlement premium, selecting the right mediator, and how EEOC investigators can be uniquely effective as mediators
• New: EEOC mediation backlogs now run six to eight months — and how to use that reality to your client’s advantage
• Sample settlement agreement language: payment allocation, W-9 requirements, Medicare affirmation clause, non-disparagement, no-rehire provisions, and ADEA 21-day/7-day revocation period
• New caution on arbitration: when compelling arbitration backfires on employers, and how the Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act (EFAA) limits that option

FMLA AS A LITIGATION TOOL

• New guidance on using FMLA leave strategically to protect a harassment victim who is still employed — avoiding constructive discharge while building the case

EMPLOYER COMPLIANCE

• New practice note: do not punish employees for making harassment complaints — even seemingly frivolous ones — as it can transform a weak case into a strong one
• State mandatory training requirements, including Illinois’s annual sexual harassment training law and how to access the state’s model program at no cos

AND MORE!