Well, it's that time of year again - what are you thankful for? Here are some Human Resources and employment law matters for which I am thankful. Please feel free to add your own in the comments.

I'm thankful that I'm not Trey Gowdy. The Republican Congressman from South Carolina and chair of the House Benghazi Committee is not out, but he's definitely down -- for the moment. He's ...

Last week I heard David Lopez, General Counsel of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, speak about EEOC litigation developments at the annual North Carolina/South Carolina Labor and Employment Law conference.

The EEOC has been litigating like a house afire, so I knew you would want to hear what he had to say. Mr. Lopez - who reads this blog and likes it! - gave me permission to ...

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!)

Feel free to debate and discuss in the comment ...

This is my "Labor Day" post. (hehe)

Yahoo's CEO Marissa Mayer announced this week that she is expecting twin girls, and Yahoo's stock reportedly took an immediate dive. (H8rs!) Mayer said that she plans to take only two weeks off, and she can probably manage that because she has a nice nursery right off her CEO office. (You may recall that she had it built at the same time that she outlawed ...

"I like it when the judge calls me 'honey' - that means he's going to grant my motion." -- Quote from real female attorney I know, circa 1990.

Does the court system discriminate against women lawyers? Could be!!!!

Anyway, that's what a couple of women litigators assume, based on their study showing that men were lead counsel in a sampling of federal cases in northern Illinois from ...

The Employment Non-Discrimination Act is dead again. Is there any federal law on same-sex harassment or discrimination? If so, what is it? Here are some scenarios that may be helpful in picking through this crazy extremely complex and rapidly transitioning area of the law. (Answers are provided after Scenario 6, below.)

The American Bar Association is still accepting nominations for ...

Has the EEOC ever read this book? Maybe we should send them a copy.

By now, you have probably heard about the latest spanking administered by the Honorable Roger W. Titus, U.S. District Court Judge for the District of Maryland, to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission -- in a criminal and credit history case against Freeman, an event planning company.

Judge Titus granted the ...

Employers, has this ever happened to you?

An employee in a critical-but-inflexible position -- say, a customer service representative -- asks for "intermittent" leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act. If the intermittent time off is "scheduled," it's usually not too big a problem. Most employers can manage to work around a situation if they know what to expect. They may be able to ...

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 ...

It's a well-known fact that good-looking people have a better chance of being hired and promoted, and make more money, than less good-looking people. At least, as long as you're not too hot. Generally, there isn't much you can do about it if your opportunities are limited by male pattern baldness, that extra 25 pounds you've been meaning to lose, your acne scars from high school, or your ...