Happy Mother’s Day weekend to all of you who are, or who have, mothers.
(I think that covers everybody.)
I couldn’t think of a better way to start this weekend than with a quiz on pregnancy discrimination, lactation...more
The Working Families Flexibility Act of 2017 passed the House this week, 229-197. I honestly do not understand why Democrats are opposed to this legislation. I discussed the details of the bill in this post in April....more
An article in Monday’s New York Post discussed misunderstandings that can arise in the workplace based on use of “chat” apps and their associated emoji. A woman interviewed for the article said that she had messaged her...more
I recently complained that Amy Dickson, author of the “Ask Amy” syndicated advice column, had given some poor (or at least premature) employment law advice to a reader. Apparently, a number of her readers expressed similar...more
Last week, I wrote about a study describing how certain timekeeping systems could create wage and hour liability through, among other things, making it easy to “cheat” and providing no transparency when changes are made....more
Does your timekeeping software make it harder for you to comply with wage and hour laws — and to defend yourself in a wage and hour lawsuit?
A study recently published in the Yale Journal of Law and Technology says that...more
(DEAR READERS: I know that using “Bermuda Triangle” to refer to issues involving the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Family and Medical Leave Act, and workers’ compensation is corny, trite, stale, and overdone. But I’m...more
As we reported early this morning, the full U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit decided in Hively v. Ivy Tech Community College of Indiana that the prohibition in Title VII against discrimination based on “sex”...more
The full U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit ruled yesterday that sexual orientation discrimination is indeed prohibited “sex discrimination” within the meaning of Title
The decision was issued in the case of...more
DEAR READERS: Before you accuse me of legal malpractice, take a look at tomorrow’s date.
Habit 1: Discriminate, retaliate, harass — have a ball! There’s a new sheriff in town, with a more employer-friendly,...more
It was a bleak and frigid night on I-88 somewhere in northern Illinois. The icy wind whipped across the flatlands, grazing the endless rows of white, brittle remains of lastScreen Shot 2017-03-23 at 6.09.47 PM year’s corn...more
This latest decision from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit on sexual orientation discrimination is weird. A panel of the court found 2-1 in Evans v. Georgia Regional Hospital that the plaintiff did not have...more
Remember the Garbage Pail Kids from the ’80s? I have had an inspiration that will make my fortune! I’m going to create a set of collectible “HR Horribles”™ trading cards, representing the employees who make Human Resources...more
This should have been an open-and-shut case. For the employer, that is, not the employee.
Lufkin Industries, Inc., had an employee, William Fisher, who was a 55-year-old African-American. One day, Mr. Fisher got into a...more
A jury socked it to a Wisconsin employer last year in a Family and Medical Leave Act case, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit recently affirmed.
Well, I take that back. The Seventh Circuit didn’t affirm...more
How can an employer best prevent workplace harassment from occurring, and deal with it effectively when it occurs? What would the EEOC say employers should do?
This is my third and final installment on the proposed...more
Last week, I shared with you what I didn’t like about the proposed Enforcement Guidance from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on workplace harassment.
Well, this is warm-and-fuzzy week. Moving on to the parts of...more
Last week, I talked about why documentation is so important as part of an employer’s legal defense.
Today I’d like to talk about what good documentation should contain. Some of these are so obvious as to be almost...more
Documentation. What a pain! You have so many more important things to do. But taking the time to document is a good practice that may save you a lot of grief later.
I know that most of you already know what I’m about to...more
Which means the rule will be enforced starting day after tomorrow, December 1.
Judge Sam A. Lindsay of the Northern District of Texas found in TEXO ABC/AGC, Inc. v. Perez that the plaintiffs challenging the rule had failed...more
Feeling whipsawed?
Last summer, I reported on the Hively v. Ivy Tech decision, in which a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit ruled that discrimination based on sexual orientation is not...more
Employers should beware of being too quick to believe an employee who accuses a co-worker of wrongdoing. If the accuser has an illegal motive (such as discrimination or retaliation), and if the employer is “negligent” in...more
I assume everyone has heard by now about Gretchen Carlson’s sexual harassment lawsuit against Roger Ailes, head of Fox News.
I read the lawsuit yesterday, and some of the things that Mr. Ailes allegedly said struck me as ....more
These will be really quick takes, since there are so many of them, on the proposed Enforcement Guidance on National Origin Discrimination issued this week by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. (The actual document...more
A semi-recent article in the New York Post — “The Corporate ‘Cure’ for Sexual Harassment Only Feeds the Disease” — cited a couple of studies that allegedly proved that sexual harassment training is worse than doing nothing...more