Legal Question in Civil Rights Law in Georgia

Re: employment question

I advise you NOT to request (and certainly not to require!) that your employee change her name in the fashion that you suggest (from Khalilah to Khalil). If you were to do so, your employee could claim that your actions were discriminatory, based either upon her national origin, religion, or even gender (... Khalil Gibran was a famous MALE Lebanese poet - - would you force a female emplyee to change her name from "Stephanie" to "Steve"?...). Remember: It is always legal for you to make an employment decision based upon performance. Thus, if she is not performing well, you will have a bona-fide (genuine) work-related reason for either terminating her employment or transferring her to a position for which she might be more suited. However, if you takes steps to compel her to change her name, and performance is still slack, any adverse job action - even IF based on performance, could be seen as a PRETENSE because of the perception (arising from your compelled name-change request, or action) that you had a discriminatory motive. DON'T DO IT. If she is not working out, counsel her to try to get her to improve her performance. This counseling could include rhetorical questions (e.g., "Is there any reason why customers might not be purchasing from you? Any thing you think you might do or say differently to increase sales or poerformance?). If the employee VOLUNTARILY decides to take steps to make her appearance/name more comforting to clients, that is HER business, and you will not be held liable for such a decision.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Most Federal EmplOyment Discrimination laws (e.g., age, sex, race, skin color, national origin, religion, etc.) do not "kick-in" until your company has FIFTEEN (15) OR MORE EMPLOYEES. Thus, If your company has LESS THAN 15 employees, you may not have to worry about violating such laws. State-based employment laws may still apply, but they are far less onerous for employers. Having said that, it is NEVER a good idea for an employer to take ANY adverse employment action against any employee for any reason other than a performance or conduct-based reason.

... Jim Zito. [email protected]