August 2003
WIN AT WORK MONTHLY
A Community Service of DON D. SESSIONS, A PROFESSIONAL LAW CORP., Employee Rights Attorneys
Win at Work	Employee Rights Update
WHYNOTTERS “The next time you’re in a meeting, look around and identify the Yesbutters, the Notnowers, and the Whynotters. Whynotters move companies,” according to a Fortune 500 corporation. Yesbutters look for excuses. It will take too long. We’ve never done it before. It’s not in my job description. We might fail. We’ve done it another way for years. No one else is doing it like this. It’s not my problem. Notnowers procrastinate opportunities. I don’t have time now. I need to sleep on it. A committee needs to study it more. I’m already working overtime. Other projects have higher priority. I’ll get back to you. Whynotters challenge the status quo. Let’s give it a try. The sky’s the limit. We need to get out of our rut. Change is fun. I can do it. We’ll never know if we don’t try. Thanks for believing in me. So if you want to succeed at work, be a whynotter. Why not?	PROVING DISCRIMINATION Proving discrimination has become easier! The U.S. Supreme Court recently ruled that an employee does not need to provide direct evidence of discrimination in a mixed motive wrongful termination case. The 2003 decision of Desert Palace Inc. v. Costa involved disparate treatment of a female warehouse worker. The female worker was treated differently by her employer and could prove that she received additional discipline because of her gender. Although she had an acknowledged disciplinary record, a jury found that gender bias was partially responsible for the termination decision. The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals and finally the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the jury’s decision. It has now become easier for an employee to allege discrimination without direct evidence. Circumstantial evidence can be sufficient to enable the employee to be successful unless the employer can show a legitimate business reason for the termination that would prevail in the absence of a discriminatory motive. Peter W. Taylor, Attorney
Update on our attorneys: Both Pat Turner and Don Sessions had great news for their clients in recovering substantial six-figure sums in a number of cases. Approximately 500 of our published articles were bound in multiple volumes for use by our clients in our lobby.
Look for our answers to employees’ questions in the “Life and Work Q & A” column of the Orange County Register’s "Business Monday" magazine. E-mail us at dds@job-law.com to have your address added or removed from our monthly mailing list. For more employee rights information or for past issues of Win at Work Monthly, click here for our website, job-law.com; here to order our book, Employee Rights in California; or contact our office directly at 23456 Madero, Suite 170, Mission Viejo, CA 92691, (949) 380-0900, (800) 774-7494, mailto:info@job-law.com. The Win at Work portion of Win at Work Monthly is from our ongoing syndicated column which appears in the Los Angeles Times’ “Career Builder Magazine” and elsewhere. Win at Work Monthly is intended for general information and should not be construed as legal advice or opinion. Readers in need of legal advice should promptly retain the services of an attorney. ©2003 by Don D. Sessions.