Discrimination Training/Discrimination Free Workplace

In Kolstad v. American Dental Association, the Supreme Court impressed upon employers the need to offer comprehensive workplace harassment and anti-discrimination training. The Court ruled that employers could be liable for punitive damages in cases brought under the primary federal anti-discrimination statute, Title VII, if the employer acted with “malice” or “reckless indifference” to the employee’s rights.

However, the court ruled that proactive employers could avoid punitive damages if they
could show that it had made “good faith efforts” to prevent harassment through anti-discrimination training. In defining what would be considered “good faith efforts,” the Court stated,

“Employers are encouraged to adopt anti-discrimination policies and to educate their
personnel on Title VII’s prohibitions."

Who Should Take this Discrimination Training Course?

All levels of supervisors, managers and human resource professionals should consider anti-discrimination training.

Discrimination Training Course Content

Global Compliance's online discrimination training course, Discrimination-Free Workplace, teaches supervisors and managers how to deal with some of the more complicated equal employment opportunity issues that they are likely to encounter in the workplace. The course focuses on issues that have seen a surge in litigation in recent years. For example, the course includes interactive scenarios that address the following topics:

• English-Only Rules. Can I ask employees to only speak English on the job? If so, under what circumstances?
• Religious Proselytizing. Must I allow employees to discuss religion in the workplace? If so, under what circumstance?
• Race, National Origin and Religion. How can I ensure that discussions of terrorism or other political issues do not lead to claims of race, national origin, or religious harassment?
• Disability and Age. If an employee's job duties are limited because of a disability, what do I tell other employees about the limitations? How do I ensure that jokes do not lead to age discrimination claims?
• Gender and Pregnancy. What can I discuss and not discuss with an employee who informs me that she is pregnant?
• Retaliation. How do I avoid retaliation claims? How do I fairly evaluate someone for a promotion who has previously complained about discriminatory conduct?
• Reporting. What are my responsibilities for preventing and reporting workplace harassment and discrimination? What do I do if a customer or vendor harasses or discriminates against an employee?