We have reached the fifth and final of our five harassment "must-haves": No retaliation.

It should be easy to avoid retaliation, right? Because retaliatory conduct is intentional - you can't "accidentally" retaliate against someone. You can't "negligently" seek payback.

To retaliate, you have to work at it.

Of course, that would make life way too simple. Employers can ...

It's the moment of truth! (Dum-dum-DUM!)

Two weeks ago, we talked about harassment "must-haves" 1 and 2: a good, plain-language policy, and training. Last week, we talked about "must-have" 3: the investigation.

Now it's time to talk about "must-have" 4: a fair, legally defensible determination of what happened and what action to take.

During the investigation phase, you wanted to ...

Last week, I posted about harassment "must-haves" for employers, and talked in detail about the first two: a good policy, and training. This week I'd like to talk about "must-have" no. 3 - a prompt, thorough, and fair investigation.

PROMPT. "Prompt," in the context of a harassment investigation, means that you act as soon as you reasonably can, and if you have to delay, you have a very ...

This is a first. I don't think I've ever agreed with Antonin Scalia and Ruth Bader Ginsburg at the same time. What's the world coming to?

In a nutshell, the Supreme Court decision in EEOC v. Abercrombie means this: if an employment decision is motivated by religion - even if the employer does not actually know the religious need of the individual - then the employer may be liable ...

Maybe it's just me, but workplace harassment issues seem to come in waves -- I'll go months, or even a year, without an issue, and then WHAM! everybody has a "situation," or at least they need to get their preventive training done.

Right now, we're in a bit of a "flash flood," so I thought it might be a good time to review the basics, with some updates.

WHAT ARE THE FIVE HARASSMENT ...

Thank you to all who sacrificed your lives serving our country.

Male attorneys, it's not a good idea to use the "V" word when referring to your female adversaries, and you might even be sanctioned for it.

(Chill! I'm not talking about that "V" word.)

Have you ever heard of the word "virilism"? Neither had I. But apparently it's a real thing: the appearance of male secondary sex characteristics in a female. (Males can have the condition, too, but it's ...

Is that "random" drug test selection really random?

Many employers -- particularly, those in the transportation industry -- use third party vendors to do the random selections for federally mandated drug and alcohol tests. I think it's a great idea, because it prevents employees from claiming that they were selected for "random" testing in a not-very-random process.

Generally ...

Are harassment and retaliation lawsuits all going to the jury now? Are employers doomed? Are the plaintiffs' lawyers popping the champagne corks? Is the EEOC dancing for joy?

The employment law world is abuzz about last week's racial harassment/retaliation decision from my own U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. (Many thanks to an attorney friend who emailed a ...

Is "digital native" the latest code term for "young"?

A hot topic for the past few days, after an article on the subject appeared in Fortune, has been whether it's discriminatory for an employer to specify in recruiting that it's seeking to hire "digital natives." A "digital native" is someone who was born into the digital world, which supposedly means people born in 1990 and later.