EMPLOYMENT LAWYERS COLUMBUS, OHIO

Quid pro quo sexual harassment involves a manager or supervisor demanding sexual favors in return for continued employment or career opportunities. The other type of sexual harassment involves unwelcome advances, touching, or assault. Obvious displays of pornography and offensive discussions of sex can also be legally actionable.
Generally, to support an employment lawsuit, sexual harassment must be “severe and pervasive.” That is, the behavior must consist of more than gentle teasing, and it must usually occur more than once. Importantly, touching or assault does not need to be proven to support a sexual harassment claim. To speak with an experienced Columbus sexual harassment lawyer, call The Friedmann Firm. LLC at 614.610.9755.

At The Friedmann Firm, our Columbus employment attorneys work on behalf of employees to secure and enforce compensation packages and severance agreements. We also help employees understand non-compete clauses and nondisclosure agreements that employers insert into employment contracts.

The Columbus-based wage and hour lawyers at The Friedmann Firm are dedicated to ensuring all workers in Ohio get paid at least the minimum wage. We also do our best to force employers to pay overtime to eligible employees, and we stand up for victims of wage theft.

Employers can wrongfully terminate an employee for discriminatory reasons or in retaliation for engaging in protected activity. Wrongful termination is a term that describes an illegal termination, generally. Since Ohio is an at-will state, you can be terminated for any reason, at any time or for no reason at all. There are several reasons for termination that are not wrongful. The only exceptions to the at-will doctrine are discrimination and retaliation, which constitute wrongful termination. If you have been unfairly fired, get advice from a Columbus employee rights lawyer about your options.

The FMLA allows employees who have been employed by the same employer for one year or have worked 1,250 hours to request and use up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave for their own serious medical condition or to care for a relative that has a serious medical condition. FMLA leave is also available for childbirth and adoption. Additional unpaid leave can be requested for caring for an injured service member returning from military duty.

Employees have undeniable rights to report discrimination and cooperate with investigations into discrimination or alleged legal and ethical violations. They also have rights to request accommodations, request and use leave, and demand the payment of fair wages and earned overtime.

Employers are not allowed to punish or fire employees for exercising their rights. Common forms of retaliation include reducing pay and benefits, denying promotions, reassigning workers to dangerous or low-status jobs, and firing. If you’ve done the right thing and reported workplace injustices, and an employer has retaliated, contact Columbus retaliation attorney at The Friedmann Firm. LLC for a comprehensive case evaluation.

The federal Equal Pay Act was passed in 1963 to ensure that men and women who do essentially the same jobs for the same employer receive the same pay. Nearly 50 years later, companies and agencies continue engaging in sex and gender-based pay discrimination. If you are not being paid equally to workers of the opposite sex in your workplace, call the employment attorneys in Columbus, Ohio.

The term “hostile work environment” is a term that is misunderstood by the vast majority of employees. Most importantly, a hostile work environment MUST be based on a protected class like age, race, gender, sex, religion, disability, military status or national origin.If it is not, it is not a hostile work environment.

Ohio employment law attorneys at The Friedmann Firm stand up for employees for reporting violations of the law. We take special interest in cases involving the False Claims Act, which prohibits fraud under government contracts.

Three major employment protections exist for workers who suffer from disabilities:

• Employers are required to consider making reasonable accommodations for employees and job
  applicants who request them, if the accommodation would not be an “undue burden” upon the
  employer;
• Employers cannot deny job opportunities to people who they suspect of having a disability,
  and
• Employers cannot discriminate or treat someone badly because they have a disability or the
  employer perceives them to have a disability, according to the Americans with Disabilities
  Act (ADA).

Also, while employers are allowed to set physical requirements for a position, those requirements must be clearly related to the actual performance of job-related tasks. For example, an employer cannot make lifting 20 pounds an essential function of a position that involves no lifting, just because it knows a disabled individual in that position cannot lift 20 pounds. Terminated or denied employment due to disability in Ohio? Call our Columbus employment attorneys now.