Issues in employment are the most trying for the employee.  There are several problems that may arise in the employment relationship which I am adept at helping employees to resolve with their employers.  The most common employment related accident is the personal injury that results in a Worker's Compensation claim.    Additional work related problems are discrimination in the hiring or promotion process, wrongful discharge, sexual harassment and wage and hour problems, etc.

Worker's Compensation is insurance employers are required to carry, which protects the employee from financial loss due to injury caused in the workplace.    Employees can recover under worker's compensation even if their own unsafe act at work contributed to the accident.  For example, an employee can recover for the loss of an eye, even though that loss was due to the employees own failure to wear safety glasses.  Of course, disciplinary action can possibly take place for that unsafe act, but such action does not affect the employee's ability to be compensated for the accident.   I recommend that employees who are injured o­n the job cooperate fully with their employer during the investigation and treatment process following an injury, but I also recommend that the employee consult an attorney prior to signing documents the company presents after the accident or during the settlement process.

Employment Discrimination can occur in many ways.  Typically, it can be shown through the employer treating o­ne class of persons differently than another.    For example a company cannot consider age, race, color, gender, religion or disability in the hiring process.  Additionally, the company cannot implement policies that tend to discriminate against a certain class.  For example, an arbitrary lifting requirement of 100 lbs. tends to discriminate against women, so the company will have to show that the operation requires such a rule and that no accommodation is available.  There are many tricky issues in the employment discrimination area, so it is best to consult an attorney if you feel you are being treated differently than others due to your class membership.

Sexual Harassment is not always an obvious act such as a supervisor offering desirable job assignments if the employee will sleep with him.  It can also be shown if the environment created is offensive or hostile.  Sexual comments, lewd jokes, etc. can help create such a hostile environment.  Employee do not have to put up with such a workplace environment under any circumstances.  Unfortunately, employees often have to resort to legal action to put an end to the activities causing the hostile environment.