Paul J Cherner's Answers

How concerned should I be about signing a seperation agreement when I actually resigned?

Based on the facts you described, you will be giving up your right to sue in the future with respect to what happened at work during your employment as well as a claim that your were "forced" to quit because you found the sexual situation intolerable or that your medical situation was worsened because of these working conditions.. You will need to honor the provision with respect to what you say about your employment and the conditions you observed. However, you should not be in trouble with...

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Can my employer fire me for being gay under Wisconsin employment and discrimination laws

No. Wisconsin law prohibits an employer from discriminating in employment on the basis of sexual orientation.

Employee's rights against verbal abuse and sexual harassment by employer

You have several issues presented in your question. Sexual harassment is against the law, however, many people use that term for conduct that may not rise to the level of unlawful harassment. A company has the right to use temporary workers whenever it wants to unless there is a union contract that prohibits such usage. If your mother belives that she is not receiving work from her supervisor because she has either complained about sexual harassment and/or rejected sexual advances and has...

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Can an employer yell or swear at you?

Generally yes, unless the swearing contains derogatory remarks based on your age, race, religion, disability, gender or any other categories that are protected by federal law. You can also check with the GA state agency that administers the employment discrimination laws if you believe that the swearing is related to your particular status that may be protected by state law. The courts have stated that the employment discrimination laws are not intended to be a "clean language law." If you...

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Do I have to sign a new non-union attendance/tardiness policy (point system) if it is not given to all non-union personel?

In general, an employer can apply a policy like attendance/tardiness to some, but not all, of its employees, as long as they have a non-discriminatory basis for doing so. They cannot apply it in an unlawful discriminatory way, such as only to employees who are older or all female or all of a minority group and not apply it to others who do not belong to that group. So, for example, they could apply it to their warehouse or shiping employees and not apply it to their office employees. You...

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Can the EEOC send a charging case to mediation without plaintiff's consent

No. Mediation is a voluntary process that requires the consent of all parties. Suggest you send a letter to the EEOC stating that you do not consent to mediation. By the way, you may want to consider mediation as a quick and less exoensive way to resolve your issues. You do not have to agree to any proposals, there willl be no findings made and the mediator will not communicate what was said in mediation to the EEOC investigator.

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Employee privacy rights?

In most states there are not laws which would prohibit an employer from posting this information internally for other employees to see. You can check with the state of Colorado as to whether they have any privacy laws that might prevent this, but if they do that would be unusual as compared to most states.

I am a salaried employee and my salary was based on working 150 hrs at 7.25 an hour..

Your question needs to set forth more information before it can be properly answered, such as what your job is and in what industry and whether the job meets the requirements for being treated as "exempt" from overtime pay requirements under federal and state laws. Also relevant is whether you ever signed an agreement with the company that specifies the number of hours you will work and how you will be paid if your hours fluctuate each week. You may want to contact the federal or state...

Can an employer work you nine hrs with no break at all?

Check with your state department of labor as to what the law is. Most states require that employees receive an unpaid break if they work 8 or more hours a day except in very limited circumstances that are set forth in the state law.

Can you file a sexual harassment suit even if have not filed a formal complaint on harasser? It was a verbal discussion.

Courts will require in most cases that an employee follow their employer's written policy about filing a complaint with their employer first, absent unusual circumstances. Under federal law, you also have to file a charge with the EEOC before filing a lawsuit. I suggest that you contact an experienced employment law attorney in your area who can advise you of the proper procedure to follow, as well as the time deadlines for filing a charge with the EEOC and for filing a lawsuit thereafter....