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 verbal tiff with his 31-year-old white supervisor, and the supervisor called him "Boy." Mr. Fisher was offended and complained to the company's vice president of Human ...

I presented a webinar this past Wednesday for the Clear Law Institute on the topic of pregnancy and lactation accommodation. As most of our readers know, many state and local governments are passing laws requiring that pregnant women be reasonably accommodated on the job rather than being forced to take medical leaves of absence until after the baby is born. And we are starting to see some ...

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 ...

It has been a long time since we talked about the Family and Medical Leave Act, but a couple of interesting and noteworthy decisions came out this week from Way Out West.

Our first case, from a federal district court in Oregon, answered the following question:

Can an employer require a doctor's note every time an employee takes intermittent FMLA leave?

YES

NO

C'mon! Even if he's an abuser?

UPDATE (7/2/13): 

This week's Supreme Court decision in United States v. Windsor, striking down Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act as unconstitutional, should simplify administration of spousal leave requests under the Family and Medical Leave Act in states that recognize same-sex marriage. Employers will have to grant job-protected FMLA leave in more circumstances than ...

How much do you really know about the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act? Here's a quick quiz:

Which of the following is an unlawful request for "genetic information"?

1. "Our company requires a post-offer, pre-employment medical examination that includes a complete genotype. We will need to verify that you have all 46 chromosomes but no extras. And any mutations will ...

NOTE: I apologize for the delayed posting. Our blogging platform was having technical difficulties for much of the day on Friday, so I decided to wait until Monday to post this to make sure you saw it!

In my last post, in response to the bombings at the Boston Marathon, I talked about some ways that employers can prevent violence in the workplace and even avoid hiring the type of employee who ...

Another set of FMLA regs, effective today! Par-TAY!

Last week I vented about the continuous congressional tweaking of the Family and Medical Leave Act, which necessitated the issuance of new FMLA regulations. Here is a copy of the new regs, which were published in the Federal Register on February 6 and take effect today.

"NEW FMLA REGS!!!! GO WILD!!"

Here are some links at the Department ...

Dear Congressperson:

I know you are busy, but I am hoping you can take a few minutes out of your sequester stuff to help with the Family and Medical Leave Act, as amended by the National Defense Authorization Act of 2008, as amended again by the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2010, as amended yet again by the Airline Flight Crew Technical Corrections Act of 2010.

Here's ...

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 ...