A state-by-state review of court cases pertaining to workplace rights.
Select your state from the map below or from this list. (If your state does not have any court cases, then the page will not scroll down when you click on the state.)
Indiana
Police and fire unions sue City of Indianapolis over alleged contract violations
Source: Liz Gelardi, Fox Local News
Date: September 9, 2014
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. (Sept. 9, 2014) – The men and women who protect and serve the Circle City are caught up in a battle over health insurance. The city's police and fire unions filed lawsuits against the city over changes to health insurance plans. Lawyers for the unions accuse city officials of violating union contracts.
Finish Line Faces Bias Suit on Behalf of Ex-Worker
Source: Dana Hunsinger, Indianapolis Star
Date: December 28, 2010
A federal discrimination lawsuit was filed Monday against The Finish Line, alleging the Indianapolis-based athletics retailer violated federal law when it fired a worker because of her physical disability.
Fast Food Restaurant Owner to Pay $150K in Sexual Harassment Suit
Source: The Tribune-Star, The Tribune-Star
Date: November 1, 2010
Sidal Inc., owner of several Terre Haute fast food restaurants, will pay $150,000 to settle a sexual harassment lawsuit brought by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
Restaurant Owner Pays $150K for Sex Abuse of Teens
Source: AP, Chicago Tribune
Date: October 28, 2010
A federal agency says the owner of several Terre Haute fast-food restaurant will pay $150,000 to settle a sexual harassment lawsuit.
Whistleblower Awarded $215K in Firing
Source: Gitte Laasby, Post-Tribune
Date: September 23, 2010
The settlement, approved Wednesday, is believed to be the largest amount an employer has paid for violating whistleblower protection laws under state statute in the recent history of the Indiana Department of Labor.
Supreme Court awards DePuy employee worker's compensation after 12 year battle
Source: Niki Kelly, Journal Gazette
Date: May 17, 2006
Anthony Farmer once promised that he would spend 20 years fighting his worker's compensation case against DePuy Inc. if he had to. The estimate wasn't far off. Nearly 12 years after he was assaulted by a co-worker, the Indiana Supreme Court on Wednesday awarded Farmer the disputed $78,000 worker's comp claim plus an extra 10%. DePuy argued that Farmer's injuries didn't arise out of his employment because the attack wasn't related to work. They insisted it was the result of "horseplay." Wednesday's ruling said a participant in horseplay isn't entitled to worker's compensation but an innocent victim of horseplay is. "It was the principal of the thing," [Farmer] said. "We didn't ask for anything more than the bills we need to cover. That's the way the laws are set up. I'm going to be injured the rest of my life and there's nothing I can do about it."
EEOC suit accuses job firm of age bias
Source: Fred Kelly, Indianapolis Star
Date: October 1, 2004
The federal government is suing a leading Indianapolis employment-search company that it claims refused to recommend people for jobs because of their age. The age-discrimination lawsuit filed this week in U.S. District Court in Indianapolis alleges that Protis Executive Innovations would not refer job seekers who were 40 years old or older to clients. The company denies the charges. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed the suit following a two-year investigation.
Jillian's to pay $360,000 to settle gender-bias suit
Source: Associated Press, Indianapolis
Star
Date: August 14, 2004
The Jillian's restaurant chain will pay $360,000 to settle a lawsuit that accused it of discriminating against men by hiring only women as servers, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission said Friday. The EEOC had sought to make the suit a national class action against the entire Jillian's chain, but in July U.S. District Judge Sarah Evans Barker limited it to [an] Indianapolis restaurant. Jillian's agreed to prepare gender-neutral job descriptions, train its managers in laws about gender-based hiring and report complaints alleging discrimination to the EEOC as part of the settlement.
Disabled worker awarded $4.6 million
Source: Fred Kelly, Indianapolis Star
Date: June 23, 2004
A federal jury has awarded $4.6 million to a Kokomo [Indiana] woman who claimed auto-giant DaimlerChrysler refused to let her do certain jobs because she is physically disabled. "The jury intended to send a message to corporations that they cannot discriminate against someone because they are disabled," said lawyer Richard Darst, who represented Melinda K. Young in the case. Three years ago, Young filed a lawsuit alleging that DaimlerChrysler denied her and other qualified handicapped workers jobs in different departments at the Kokomo plant. The suit also claimed retaliation because she filed a discrimination complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in 1998.
High Court Rejects Religious Trooper Case
Source: Associated Press, New York
Times
Date: April 19, 2004
The Supreme Court rejected an appeal Monday from an Indiana law officer fired for refusing to work at a casino. The state trooper had said that the gambling enforcement assignment would force him to violate his religious beliefs. Benjamin Endres sued the state and lost. He wanted the Supreme Court to use his case to require law enforcement agencies to accommodate the religious views of employees. Justices refused to take on another religious case. Endres, who is Baptist, said he was not opposed to general casino crime-fighting, but could not go along when the state designated him a full-time gaming officer and ordered him to report to a casino in Michigan City, Ind.
Muslim Flight Engineer Accuses ATA of Bias
Source: Associated Press, Miami Herald
Date: March 4, 2004
A flight engineer has filed a federal lawsuit claiming that ATA Airlines Inc. denied him a promotion to co-pilot because he is a Muslim born in the Middle East. In the lawsuit filed recently in U.S. District Court in Indianapolis, Ziad Elwazan asks a judge to void a June 2002 decision by its chief pilot that bars him from future attempts to become a first officer. Elwazan, 50, was born in Lebanon and is now a U.S. citizen living in Orlando, Fla. Elwazan, who had been a co-pilot earlier in his 20-year ATA career, claims in the lawsuit that he was passed over by younger pilots with less seniority for 15 months after he sought promotion in October 2000.
Casino Aztar Faces Sex Bias Lawsuit
Source: Associated Press, Indianapolis Star
Date: March 2, 2004
A former Casino Aztar supervisor is suing the gaming company for sex discrimination, the Evansville Courier & Press reported. Suzanne F. Jerger of Newburgh claimed in the lawsuit that management retaliated against her after she complained about being pressured to hire large-breasted women as cocktail waitresses. She also claimed she was punished after she investigated a claim that one of the waitresses had been attacked by a casino manager.
Former Hospital Employee Alleges Wrongful Firing
Source: Anita
Munson, South Bend Tribune
Date: October 24, 2003
A Plymouth man has alleged he was fired by a local Catholic hospital after complaining that two married co-workers were having an affair. Calvin Sherk, 39, of Plymouth, has filed employment discrimination charges against Saint Joseph Regional Medical Center with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the Indiana Civil Rights Commission, both in Indianapolis. Through his attorney, Terry Boesch of Valparaiso, Sherk said he was wrongfully fired from his job at the Plymouth campus of Saint Joseph Regional Medical Center on May 19 of this year after he reportedly discovered and opposed a sexual affair between a manager in his department and a co-worker.
Laid-Off Bailiff files bias lawsuit
Source: Fred Kelly, Indianapolis Star
Date: October 17, 2003
A Marion County courtroom bailiff who claims she was laid-off because she is a black woman has sued to get her job back. Constance Andrews has filed a federal lawsuit alleging white men were given preferential treatment for jobs and pay raises. The suit in U.S. District Court accuses the county of discriminating against Andrews, 49, because of race, gender and age. Marion County Court officials deny the allegations. Andrews started working in the courtroom of Superior Court Judge Richard Sallee in 1985 until he retired in November 2000. She was laid-off, but was later hired by Judge Z. Mae Jimison. The suit alleges Andrews was treated unfairly when she came back.
EEOC Settles With DaimlerChrysler, UAW
Source: Associated Press, Newsday
Date: October 2, 2003
DaimlerChrysler AG and the United Auto Workers have agreed to pay a total of $100,000 to 10 employees at an Indiana plant who claim they were denied transfers to other jobs at the plant, officials said. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which announced the settlement Thursday, claimed in the suit that the 10 workers at the Kokomo Transmission and Casting Plant were denied transfers because of workplace restrictions placed upon them as a result of their disabilities.
Religious Discrimination Case Against Gary Ready for Trial
Source: Tim Zorn, Post
Tribune [IN]
Date: August 22, 2003
A former employee at the Genesis Convention Center says he was fired two years ago because he went to church when his boss wanted him at work. Oscar Gonzalez claims his civil rights were violated. His attorney expects to present his case to a federal court jury in Hammond next month. Terry Boesch, of Valparaiso, hopes to win $300,000 in damages ? the maximum for a religious discrimination case ? for Gonzalez.