How's everybody weathering the shutdown? Kinda quiet right now.

The calm before the default.

But at least the federal courts are still open. Most of you have probably heard by now about the ruling from a federal court in New York in Wang v. Phoenix Satellite Television saying that an unpaid intern can't sue for sexual harassment under the City's Human Rights Law because she's not an ...

It has been a busy week. Muslim headscarves, tech exec's tweets get him fired, and Lady Gaga is going to trial!

UPDATE ON LADY GAGA (10/22/13): She has settled her case.

Abercrombie gets fitched, and HR doesn't always get it right. I have previously reported on the litigation against Abercrombie & Fitch and its "looks policy" which at one time did not allow head coverings, even if worn for ...

My post last week on why the "gender pay gap" is mostly bogus generated a great discussion in the comment box. In the hopes of keeping it going, this week I'd like to talk about some of the discrimination or quasi-discrimination issues we do occasionally find.

That nasty remaining five percent or so* that can't be explained by personal choice.

*Completely unscientific percentage.

If your ...

Last spring I had the honor of talking about equal pay legislation with Stephanie Thomas on her podcast The Proactive Employer. My counterpart and the star of the show was Lilly Ledbetter.

Yes. That Lilly Ledbetter. Lilly Ledbetter of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. The Lilly Ledbetter who wore a red suit and stood beside President Obama when he signed the Fair Pay Act into law. Ms ...

I was off enjoying the Florida sunshine last weekend while learning the latest techniques in pettifoggery and obfuscation (kidding!), but I hope I'll be making up for it today with a good case answering the musical question: "What does an employer do when it finds out that its employee on 'medical leave' is actually doing stuff?" You know, like working another job, or hanging out at the gun ...

What a year, am I right or am I right? Here is a catalog of the major employment and labor law developments from 2011. And, just to keep it entertaining, I've started off each month with a weird but true off-topic story that was in the news that month. Many thanks to Drudge Report archives for the strange stuff. Thanks also to Esquire magazine's annual Dubious Achievement Awards (sadly ...