March 22, 2015

Dear Diary:

Well, I got to Starbucks this morning, and Xander told me I didn't have to worry about that #RaceTogether stuff any more. I was super-excited and super-relieved! Then he told me our new topic to talk about with customers this week - the war on women. #NotanImprovement!      :-(

I'm sure by now you have all heard about the controversy that erupted after Slate columnist Aisha Harris suggested that Santa Claus be replaced by a "holiday penguin," which she perceived to be more inclusive than a rosy-cheeked white fat guy from up North.

And then Megyn Kelly of Fox News got in trouble for saying in response that Santa Claus was (1) a real dude and (2) a white dude.

At ...

If you fire an employee for an indefensible reason, chances are you will get a charge or a lawsuit out of it, even if the indefensible reason was legal. That's HR/Legal 101. (In other words, don't believe that "employment at will" propaganda.)

If you realize your reason wasn't too good and therefore "improve" it a little after the fact, that just makes things worse. If you "improve" it ...

That is not a typo. Watch out for the "M" word if you don't want to be accused of harassment based on race, national origin, or color.

The "M" word is "monkey."

Now me, if I were to associate a human being with "monkey," it would be the white guy Joe E. Brown. And who can forget all the monkey-related grief poor, white George W. Bush got? However, the term "monkey" is included on Wikipedia's list of ...

It's been another zany week or so in the world of labor and employment law, rivalling Groucho, Harpo, Chico and Zeppo. Here are a few items that jumped out at me. (Each subhead is a line from a Marx Brothers movie or the title of a Marx Brothers movie. Answers at the end.)

"Hurry up, or you'll be late for jail!" Pepsi Beverages (formerly Pepsi Bottling Co.) agreed to a pre-litigation settlement ...

The Cynical Girl has a great list of The Top Ten Reasons Why Your Boss Doesn't Like You. On a somewhat related note, here are some recent cases from employment law plaintiffs' bizarro world, for your weekend reading pleasure:

Naw, I'm pretty sure I was fired because of my race. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit (Delaware, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania) has affirmed