If Joe tells co-worker Mary a dirty joke, Joe is probably in violation of the employer's no-harassment policy, right? And he risks being disciplined, or even fired, right?

Right.

But if Mary sues Joe for sexual harassment based on this one joke, her lawsuit will in all likelihood be thrown out of court, right?

Right.

That's because you can't sue over just any old thing, even if it's annoying ...

UPDATE: On Friday, January 24, 2014, the jury came back with a verdict for Courtney Love, finding that she is not liable for her tweet about Attorney Rhonda Holmes.

Can you be liable for libel based on what you tweet on Twitter?

Well, why the heck not?

You may have read that Courtney Love, widow of Nirvana's Kurt Cobain, vocalist/guitarist/lyricist of Hole, and Mrs. Larry Flynt in The People ...

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 ...

It has been a busy week. Muslim headscarves, tech exec's tweets get him fired, and Lady Gaga is going to trial!

UPDATE ON LADY GAGA (10/22/13): She has settled her case.

Abercrombie gets fitched, and HR doesn't always get it right. I have previously reported on the litigation against Abercrombie & Fitch and its "looks policy" which at one time did not allow head coverings, even if worn for ...

We're having a PRESIDENT'S DAY SALE on people who share too much on the Internet! We are overstocked!

Everything must go, go, go!

"By George! I do not need to know every minute detail of thy life, people! I have a country to father!"

"TMFI"* is not only incredibly annoying, but it's also putting people's jobs in jeopardy.

*Too Much Flippin' Information.

Before I continue, please know that I ...

Happy new year, everybody! Although I've been on vacation, the news never sleeps, and the Mayans were wrong. Accordingly, I have a few items to catch you up on.

"Ha-ha! We were just kidding!"

UPDATE: Thanks to reader John Perkins, SPHR, for the 2013 Mayan Calendar. Most educational!

"Near occasion of sin" is a legitimate ground for termination, Iowa court says. You've probably already ...

Happy Thanksgiving, y'all! I know we have plenty to be miserable concerned about, but that is not my role today. Here, in no particular order, are five labor-and-employment-related things for which I am thankful. (Crabbiness returns next week.)

"Please, sir, may I have some more gruel? Amazing how tasty it is when you're starving!"

1. OK, I am completely serious now. You, my clients, and ...

Well! OK!

It's been an interesting week, hasn't it? Congratulations to President Obama on winning a second term. My Election 2012 coverage would not be complete without some labor and employment prognostications for Obama Administration II.*

*Please do not read these again in 2016 to see how accurate I was. I don't want to be known as the Dick Morris of employment law bloggers.

Remember that one little bone that the National Labor Relations Board threw to employers on social media policies? The guidance was generally atrocious, but in the last memorandum of the Acting General Counsel a policy developed by Walmart was approved and attached.

I've suggested that employers use that Walmart policy as a go-by in developing their social media policies.

Well, now ...

This issue has been coming up a lot lately: What should an employer do when an employee claims that her co-workers' fragrances make her sick?

(I'm not being sexist here -- every time I've had it come up, it was a woman complaining about women's fragrances. For the record, men's fragrances can be annoying, too. When they're not completely irresistible.)

Allow me to specify what I mean by ...