Managing to Stay Out of Court

The number of employment-discrimination cases in the federal courts has increased by more than 2,000 percent in the past twenty years. This practical guide helps you avoid becoming part of this trend by teaching the specific management skills that will enable you to identify and resolve workplace problems before they escalate into lawsuits.

Detailing eight simple management principles—based on eight corresponding sets of workplace “sins” and “virtues”—Jathan Janove shows how employers can simultaneously improve employee relations, provide workplace leadership, and stay out of court.

Real-life examples and a complete set of tools and exercises will help you identify your own most prevalent management sins, adjust your management style, implement organization-wide changes, and make the all-too-often adversarial manager-employee relationship fulfilling for both parties.Preface
Introduction
Chapter One The First Sin: Managing Like a Beginning Skier
The First Virtue: Weight Forward on Skis

Chapter Two The Second Sin: Dissin’ Your Employees
The Second Virtue: D-I-S’ng Your Employees

Chapter Three The Third Sin: Rationalizing Away Truth
The Third Virtue: Making Honesty the Only Policy

Chapter Four The Fourth Sin: Misguided Benevolence
The Fourth Virtue: E-R-A—Expectations, Responsibility, and Accountability

Chapter Five The Fifth Sin: Falling into the Inconsistency Trap
The Fifth Virtue: Ducks in a Row

Chapter Six The Sixth Sin: Letting Employees Speculate
The Sixth Virtue: Open Information Channels

Chapter Seven The Seventh Sin: Listening Through Your “I”
The Seventh Virtue: Listening Through Your Ears

Chapter Eight The Eighth Sin: Front-of-the-Nose Perspective
The Eighth Virtue: The Big Picture

Chapter Nine
Moving from Sin to Virtue

Conclusion
Ski the Run!

Appendix
Tools to Help You Move from Sin to Virtue
Glossary
Selected Bibliography .
Index"Out of the trenches of employment law comes so much insight and practical wisdom. Every manager and supervisor who studies this will benefit immensely. Marvelous book!
—Dr. Stephen R. Covey, author of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

“A clear-thinking, results-driven management tool... From its keen insights, solid management tips, and recommendations, to its unique, astute, and entertaining perspectives … this book is a must-read for today's management teams.”
—Robert M. Lee, Executive Director, The Institute For Applied Management and Law

"Packed with practical information that will help your organization avoid litigation."
—Jonathan Segal, Wolf, Block, LLP, columnist, HR Magazine “Legal Trends"

“An excellent guide for all levels of management.  I highly recommend it to anyone who desires to improve individual and group skills in working with people—and avoid litigation. Janove's insights are sharp and on-target.”
—Jerry L. Garren, Vice President and Plant General Manager, La-Z-Boy, Inc.

“Following the tenets laid out in [this book] will reduce your company’s exposure to employment litigation—while improving the productivity of your workforce.”
—John Parauda, Managing Counsel, American Express Company
Jathan Janove, Esq., is a principal of Janove Baar Associates, L.C., a law firm that exclusively represents employers. In his practice, Jathan has developed an emphasis on the intersection of employ- ment-law compliance with best-manage- ment practices. In addition to defending employers from workplace claims, Jathan helps them simultaneously obey the law; avoid legal claims; and create positive, productive rela- tionships with employees.