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improvement plan. Though there was objective

evidence that she fell short of expectations, she

was the only female sales person in the group, and

the improvement plan itself set goals that were

higher and more unachievable than the goals set

for her male colleagues. The employer ultimately

settled a claim of gender discrimination with her.

The lesson: a consistent evaluation and warning

system can ensure fairness in the process and protect an

employer from discrimination claims, but creating one to

deal with a specific employee can backfire, and serve as

evidence that the employee was actually singled out

based on her membership in a protected class.

You should also be aware that acts short of

termination can also implicate anti-discrimination laws,

which apply to any adverse employment action. This

11| Rules of the Road