As everyone knows by now, the federal government shut down at 12 a.m. after the House and the Obama Administration failed to reach agreement on the Affordable Care Act. Essential activities, such as law enforcement, air traffic control, and Social Security payments, will continue as usual. But non-essential activities, which would include most of what our employment-law agencies ...

Who should get harassment training, and why?

Executive Team? Of course. These are the leaders. If they don't set an example, then the company is in trouble. And it's hard for them to set an example if they don't know a little bit about workplace harassment and their responsibilities.

Managers? Of course.

HR? What, are you kidding?

Front line supervisors? Absolutely. These folks are the

Mother's Day is long past, but you'd never know it -- in employment law, this has been the Week of the Moms. Here's a roundup - tell us what you think!

First up: Title VII's ban on pregnancy discrimination includes discrimination based on lactation or the need to express milk. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit* has held in a lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity ...

Remember that Supreme Court decision involving alleged retaliation based on an oral complaint of violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act? The plaintiff in the case is now going to get a jury trial.

In its 2011 decision in Kasten v. Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics Corp., the Supreme Court found that an informal, oral complaint could be "protected activity" under the FLSA 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.

All right, kiddies. My posts over the last few weeks have been juicy and entertaining. (Or as juicy and entertaining as employment law can get.) But summer is over, and it's time to buckle down.

"I h8 school!"

The Supreme Court of the United States (aka "SCOTUS") began its new term this past Monday, and it will be reviewing at least four employment cases, as well as two non-employment cases ...

"Now, you know it's up to you whether or not you want to just do the bare minimum . . ."

I guess Joanna didn't need more than 15 pieces of flair, after all.

Did you know that three out of four federal appellate courts say that, if a disabled employee needs a transfer as a reasonable accommodation, you must normally give the disabled employee preference over better-qualified non-disabled ...

What should an employer do about "anonymous harassment"?

Last Friday, I said I'd devote an entire post to a decision from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit* that didn't take too kindly to Chrysler Corporation's response to complaints from an employee about anti-Semitic and national-origin-based notes and graffiti.

*The Seventh Circuit hears appeals from federal ...

If we don't laugh, we'll cry, right? In honor of Phyllis Diller, the queen of the one-liners, who died this week, and her counterpart, the great Henny Youngman, here is the latest labor and employment news - all in one-liners, of course.

"A bachelor is a guy who never made the same mistake once."

"Take my federal agencies -- please!" The National Labor Relations Board has taken the position ...

I know you're all poring over the Affordable Care Act, now that we have to comply with it, and trying to decide whether Chief Justice John Roberts is an evil turncoat, or a hero, or a "double agent" for the ACA's opponents . . . or for its advocates. (That's the trouble with those darned double agents.)

The heck with all that. Consider this a study break. Here are five ADA reasonable ...