Buy me some peanuts and Cracker Jack, baby!

The other day, I tweeted about an age and disability discrimination trial going on in Los Angeles (thanks to Law360, whose coverage made me aware of the case).

T.J. Simers, a notorious well-known former sports columnist for the Los Angeles Times, has sued the owners of the Times, contending that he was let go in 2013 because of his age (then in his ...

I've been vacationing by the shores of Gitche-Gumee this week, so I'm trying to give myself a little blog-cation as well. Here are some entertaining and controversial legal or employment-related developments from the news before I left. With apologies to John Oliver, let's just call it "Last Week Today." (Hey! I'm on vacation!)

If you have a poor performer, is it better to make a clean break and fire him, or is it better to prolong his (and your) agony?

That is obviously a biased question, but some employers will do almost anything to avoid firing an employee, including the following:

• Nothing
• Issue 8 bazillion warnings but never act on them
• Offer a demotion, or a transfer to a less demanding job
• Let the employee ...

Last week, I posted about harassment "must-haves" for employers, and talked in detail about the first two: a good policy, and training. This week I'd like to talk about "must-have" no. 3 - a prompt, thorough, and fair investigation.

PROMPT. "Prompt," in the context of a harassment investigation, means that you act as soon as you reasonably can, and if you have to delay, you have a very ...

NOTE: As I breathlessly reported last week, the EEOC has issued its long-awaited proposed rule on employer wellness programs and the Americans with Disabilities Act. (Here is a nicer copy than the one that was available then.) Brian Magargle, who knows a lot more than I do about the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act and the Affordable Care Act, and I are ...

Thanks very much to David Phippen from our Metro D.C. Office for letting me get some depositions taken this week and allowing me to republish his analysis here.

As we have previously reported, the National Labor Relations Board in recent years has put employee handbooks and policy manuals under a magnifying glass, searching for any provision that might, in its view, violate the ...

Where are we these days with respect to mind-altering substances and the workplace? Here's the latest, with the "substances" discussed in alphabetical order. This blog post is guaranteed accurate™ for at least the next five minutes.

ALCOHOL. Alcohol is legal, which means that it is generally recognized as the most abused of substances. Employers can prohibit its use in the ...

Religious accommodation, the Oscars, non-competes, social media, Brian Williams versus Bill O'Reilly, workplace violence, and inspirational employees -- we have it all today! Here are some links about recent news and court cases involving the workplace, followed by some points for discussion if you'd like to comment.

Supreme Court justices seem to side with hijab-wearer ...

You may remember that I stirred up some contentiousness a few weeks ago when I suggested that employers should not challenge unemployment claims except in the worst cases. So I hate to bring it up again (not really -- I like debates in the comments!), but I received a very good question from an attorney reader a while ago, and he gave me permission to run his question here.

Ms. Shea,

I ...

Should an employee performance review be one big love letter?

Maybe so, according to Rachel Feintzeig, who wrote in Tuesday's Wall Street Journal, "Everything Is Awesome! Why You Can't Tell Employees They're Doing a Bad Job." The idea is that many employers are getting away from providing constructive criticism in performance reviews and are "accentuating the positive."

My ...