U of I loses $1.4 million in lawsuit

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CyCloned

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Oct 18, 2006
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Robins, Iowa
I think the key is that they didn't keep records. There was no documentation that she was doing a bad job. That's on Iowa.

Pretty much everyone I know that lives in IC or is part of the U of IA had no idea what she did, beside complain about how she was treated.
 
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jsb

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Pretty much everyone I know that lives in IC or is part of the U of IA I no idea what she did, beside complain about how she was treated.

Do random fans even really know what assistant ADs do? Doesn't mean they aren't doing their job.
 
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carvers4math

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Mar 15, 2012
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Don't they also have a male employee suing them for discrimination? Seemed like I remember them as discriminating against both genders.
 

dirtyninety

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Oct 6, 2012
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Performance reviews are so critical in so many ways, and so many supervisors hate doing them and gloss over them. I am dealing with a situation right now where I have had to do very strict documented performance review followed by performance improvement plan before I can terminate, in a right to work state. The attorney says I can fire the person, but I need to do all of the above in case there is a lawsuit to protect my organization. Most supervisors don't want to put in the time to do documentation, and hence therein lies the problem.

In a myopic, wonkish way you are correct...but the bigger picture is that we have a society that is Dilberty and becoming more Dilberty....yes, I know that is not a word. If you can see beyond the daily gladiatorial office politics, this wasteful sinecure work is worse than parasitic....it is draining to the larger economy. 1968 under John F. Kennedy's vision, we--we being I assume anyone who could have made that jury pool--put homosapiens on the moon. Now.....we document. And market. And try to find personal injury attorneys to make sure we are treated "fairly". And fill out an entire dead sequoia of paperwork everytime we go to see the doctor.
 
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CloneFan65

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Apr 11, 2006
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But anyone who manages people should know that.
Hell, I've run basic summer camps and I know that.
Anyone who works at a state funded institution in a position of authority should absolutely know that.
The only people that U of Iowa should blame are themselves.

Especially at public universities. I work at a public college and when we are hiring we have to be diligent in documenting the reasons why we didn't choose to hire the other candidates for fear of being sued. You can imagine how much documentation you would need to fire someone.
 
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runbikeswim

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Oct 23, 2014
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Did anyone see this article? If it is true, this would make me happy!.

http://www.denofgeek.com/us/tv/bett...-breaking-bad-epilogue-vince-gilligan-reveals

In a myopic, wonkish way you are correct...but the bigger picture is that we have a society that is Dilberty and becoming more Dilberty....yes, I know that is not a word. If you can see beyond the daily gladiatorial office politics, this wasteful sinecure work is worse than parasitic....it is draining to the larger economy. 1968 under John F. Kennedy's vision, we--we being I assume anyone who could have made that jury pool--put homosapiens on the moon. Now.....we document. And market. And try to find personal injury attorneys to make sure we are treated "fairly". And fill out an entire dead sequoia of paperwork everytime we go to see the doctor.

I don't disagree. The pendulum has swung way too far in this country to individual rights over the good of the collective. The problem is, everyone agrees except when it impacts them.
 

Entropy

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Oct 27, 2008
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Especially at public universities. I work at a public college and when we are hiring we have to be diligent in documenting the reasons why we didn't choose to hire the other candidates for fear of being sued. You can imagine how much documentation you would need to fire someone.
Serious.
I just finished running a hiring committee for a temporary 1 year position at the college, and the amount of documentation we have to maintain and utilize, not to mention how the interviews have to be conducted (not just asking the same number of questions, but all the way down to asking the same question in the same way) is surprisingly rigid if you've never been through it.

All documentation is turned over to HR when completed.

I'm really surprised that U of Iowa lacked documentation. Complete oversight by the leadership there.

Edit: As far as firing someone, that requires a huge amount of documentation. I've been on that end too, although as a colleague and not a supervisor. I was asked to document issues I saw with some courses regarding faculty behavior (continuously late, cancelling last minute due to low attendance, etc.) and it took 5+ years of this behavior to be able to get higher admin on board with firing the professor. It may seem wasteful, but it's such a strong case that it makes it incredibly difficult for a suit to be brought against the college.
 

Cycsk

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Especially at public universities. I work at a public college and when we are hiring we have to be diligent in documenting the reasons why we didn't choose to hire the other candidates for fear of being sued. You can imagine how much documentation you would need to fire someone.


I thought Barta was intentionally not putting things in writing or emails to "protect himself." Guess that didn't work out so well.
 

ArgentCy

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Jan 13, 2010
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Especially at public universities. I work at a public college and when we are hiring we have to be diligent in documenting the reasons why we didn't choose to hire the other candidates for fear of being sued. You can imagine how much documentation you would need to fire someone.

Just remember people that the harder you make it for companies or anyone to fire an employee, you are doing exactly this and make 2x harder to hire anyone. Regulations and laws that are supposedly there to help end up choking off the economy.
 

CTTB78

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Apr 7, 2006
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.... I am dealing with a situation right now where I have had to do very strict documented performance review followed by performance improvement plan before I can terminate....

Ah, yes, the 'performance improvement plan'. I guess those HR professionals can't call it the 'termination plan'.
 

Cycsk

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Just remember people that the harder you make it for companies or anyone to fire an employee, you are doing exactly this and make 2x harder to hire anyone. Regulations and laws that are supposedly there to help end up choking off the economy.



I think we are already seeing a shift to "contracted work" from "hired jobs" for lots of reasons, but included is the increased liability related having employees.