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Version 2001.1 has been expanded to cover diversity issues and discrimination in all forms. Program consists of:

With more and more mobile phones being used in today’s environment, we are increasingly finding ourselves encountering individuals that are on the phone and driving. They seem to be oblivious to their surroundings and create a hazard on the road.

With the law as it pertains to cell phone usage still in its infancy, there are two cases that every employer should take note of and take the appropriate steps to control this situation when employees are working. One case has been settled the other is still pending.

The first case involved an employee of Solomon Smith Barney who was on the cell phone on a Saturday night speaking with a client. This makes it working time. A motorcyclist was struck and killed by the employee while on the cell phone. Settlement $500,000. The employer was alleged to be a partly to blame for the crash.

The second case is still pending in California where an attorney, with Cooley Goodard, was involved in a hit-and-run death of a teenager. The claim is for $30 million dollars. The attorney was on her cell phone at the time of the accident talking with a client.

Your company should have a policy covering the use of wireless devices; i.e., cell phones, PDAs, etc. is a necessary aspect in the application of safety rules as well as proper procedures. The safety issue is by far easier to show negligence on the part of the employee and then show that the employer has done nothing to educate and train employees in the proper use of these devices.

Court Decrees Failure to Train Managers an 'Extraordinary Mistake'

In response to an advertisement for a sales position, Anthony Mathis, an African American with 24 years of car sales experience, left an application at Phillips Chevrolet. When Mathis did not hear from the company, he left a second application. Each application form contained the standard language that the dealership was an equal opportunity employer and would not discriminate on the basis of age, race, and other protected categories. The forms also asked for a date of discharge from the military, which Mathis listed as 1959. This information allowed the court to conclude that the dealership's hiring managers knew Mathis was older than 40.

The dealership never interviewed Mathis. It did, however, hire seven new salespersons, all white and all younger than Mathis. Mathis filed suit in the U.S. District Court of the Northern District of Illinois, claiming that he was denied a job due to age and race discrimination in violation of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

On its own terms, the Phillips case applies only to the award of liquidated damages under the ADEA. However, courts routinely harmonize the standards applied under various major federal EEO laws. The Phillips' key holding that an employer's inaction regarding training shows willful disregard for the law will likely be applied broadly to all areas of harassment and discrimination law.

Whom to train? All managers who influence employment decisions should receive mandatory managing the law training. Training only those people who have final authority to make employment decisions such as hiring and terminations is probably not adequate. Courts have not hesitated under the right facts to find liability for discrimination by lower level supervisors who influence the employment decision.

Employers must ensure that their training programs are designed and delivered by experts in the relevant fields. Proper instructional design techniques must also be followed to ensure that employees truly "get the message."
By implementing a complete and adequate series of managing the law training programs, employers can help avoid an "extraordinary mistake" that leads to liability. Doing so will also help avoid many of the workplace problems that lead to litigation.

Questions or assistance regarding rights and obligations under USERRA should be referred to the Veterans Office.

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