ConstangyTV's Close-Up on Workplace Law, April edition, is out! Host Leigh Tyson interviews John MacDonald, head of our Princeton (NJ) Office, about employment law issues unique to the financial and investment industries. If you haven't already subscribed to our monthly video series, please do so. And, to save you the trouble of trekking all that way over to YouTube, here is the video:

Our new president has us all hopping . . .

Andrew Puzder's advocacy for franchises makes him a target. Dan Murphy and Jeff Rosin from our Franchise Industry Group talk about the Puzder nomination (he's President Trump's choice for Secretary of Labor) and the groups seeking to block his confirmation. As we've noted a couple of times this week, Mr. Puzder's confirmation hearing, most ...

A panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit ruled this week that obesity is not a "disability" within the meaning of the Americans with Disabilities Act -- even as amended in 2009 -- unless the condition was caused by some underlying physiological disorder.

In addition, if the individual develops a medical condition because of the obesity (such as diabetes or ...

They'll be sorry . . . 

Marriage therapists are now advocating the use of "performance reviews" by spouses, according to an article in Monday's Wall Street Journal. "By taking time to regularly evaluate and review their relationship together," reporter Elizabeth Bernstein says, "partners can recognize what is and isn't working -- and identify goals for improvement -- long before ...

Employers can hope, but that doesn't necessarily mean change.

Tuesday night's Republican rout in the midterm elections was big news, but is it much ado about nothing from an employer's standpoint? Here are a few reasons not to become too giddy (if you were happy about the outcome) or too depressed (if you weren't):

1. Although the GOP will have control of the Senate, it does not have the 60 senators needed to override a presidential veto. So, even though House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), presumably the next Senate majority leader, are saying they'll work to repeal or partially roll back the Affordable Care Act, expect to see an actual vote that is largely symbolic. The President is expected to veto any but the most incremental legislation, and the Republicans won't be able to do anything about it unless they can find six moderate Democrats to join them. Are there any moderate Democrats left after Tuesday?

When I do harassment training, I ask my audiences whether they think employers should ban the "N" word even when it's used by African-Americans among themselves. In my experience, the African-Americans in the audience have been the most vocal advocates for treating everyone equally in this regard. In other words, they argue, the word should be banned for everybody -- not banned for some ...

When it comes to Halloween in the workplace, just call me Scrooge.

A reader writes,

Hi, Robin. I dread the prospect of employees coming to work in inappropriate Halloween costumes. I've seen costumes that are sexually provocative, or that reflect racial or ethnic stereotypes. Some people even say that employers shouldn't have Halloween parties because some employees have religious ...