A reader, who has asked to remain anonymous, suggested that I write about employees who make "stupid" complaints about discrimination, harassment, or other allegedly unlawful treatment.

The following is a fictionalized email, but it accurately presents the spirit of her concern.

Dear Robin,

I am a Human Resources director for a government employer. You won't believe this, but I ...

An article by Lauren Weber and Rachel Feintzeig in Tuesday's Wall Street Journal caught a lot of attention -- it was about companies that have made the decision to do without a Human Resources function.

The idea drew some positive response on Twitter:

HR stifles innovation and bogs down businesses with inefficient policies and processes. http://t.co/5cGRIwHaxR

— Mike Brice ...

Now that the Supreme Court has decided that the retaliation provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act apply, not only to employees of publicly-held companies, but also to employees of contractors who do work for publicly-held companies, I thought it might be helpful to review exactly what type of activity is protected under the SOX. To keep you awake, I'll address this in "FAQ" format ...

February is Black History Month, and in honor of this special time, our Employment Law Blog Carnival will feature some of the many, many great African-American musical artists.

We'll start by going back to the turn of the last century, with Scott Joplin, the King of Ragtime. While a child in Texarkana, young Joplin taught himself to play the piano in a white-owned home where his mother ...

Do you believe Chris Christie?

I thought the Governor did pretty well in his press conference yesterday, apologizing forthrightly for the George Washington Bridge debacle*, and taking decisive action against the allegedly guilty parties who had not already tendered their resignations.

*The Governor's Deputy Chief of Staff, Bridget Anne Kelly, allegedly conspired with New Jersey ...

Can a guy sue for sexual harassment?

I haven't read Archie comics in years, but as a kid, I loved the Riverdale gang.

America's typical teenagers. So clean! So wholesome!

Well, that's the fiction. Real life at Archie Comics Productions of Mamaroneck, New York, seems to be more like this 1954 MAD satire of Archie (WARNING: violent, criminal, and sexual innuendo that may be offensive to some ...

I'm sure you have heard that Thanksgiving Day and the first day of Chanukkah will occur on the same day this year, creating the hybrid holiday, "Thanksgivukkah." And, according to Buzzfeed (do they have any expertise on this subject?), the two holidays will not simultaneously occur again for 70,000 years. How about that!

In honor of the occasion, here are eight things in the ...

How's everybody weathering the shutdown? Kinda quiet right now.

The calm before the default.

But at least the federal courts are still open. Most of you have probably heard by now about the ruling from a federal court in New York in Wang v. Phoenix Satellite Television saying that an unpaid intern can't sue for sexual harassment under the City's Human Rights Law because she's not an ...

Here's a little Friday quiz for you -- no grading, and answers appear below -- on the subject of retaliation.

After you take the quiz, stay tuned for the story that inspired me to write about this.

RETALIATION QUIZ

1. Approximately how many labor and employment laws have anti-retaliation provisions?

A. All of them

B. Three - Title VII, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and the Age ...

Watch out -- if you show your a** too much, you may not win your retaliatory discharge case.

A federal judge in New Jersey granted summary judgment to an employer in a Title VII retaliation case. Happens all the time. But this plaintiff -- we'll call him "Ryan," because that's his name -- was fired after he had signed an affidavit supporting a co-worker's discrimination claim against the ...