Employers, is your appearance code so important that you would pay more than $150,000 to ban a $10 accessory in the workplace? 

This is the story of the $150,000 lanyard.

If you are ignorant like me, you are thinking, "What the heck is a lanyard? Isn't that a part of a ship?" (Actually, I am sure that no one but me is that ignorant.)

A lanyard, I am ashamed to admit I have only recently learned, is ...

I wonder if there is a recognized legal specialty in the area of unwed-pregnant-moms-and-religious-schools-discrimination law. If so, I think I will qualify very soon. Happy belated Mother's Day?

Not long ago, I wrote about the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, which terminated an unmarried pregnant teacher at a Catholic school -- not for "immoral" behavior -- although they did think her ...

With Easter and Passover almost upon us, what better topic than a new case on the ministerial exception to Title VII?

A federal judge in Ohio has recently refused to dismiss* a lawsuit brought by a former teacher at a Catholic school who alleged that she was let go because of her pregnancy. (The teacher was not married, and she alleged that she became pregnant through artificial ...

The Chinese New Year is almost upon us. In honor of the Year of the Dragon, and in fond farewell to bilingual Jon Huntsman, who announced that he was withdrawing from the presidential race (hmm . . . speaking Mandarin in a Republican debate? . . . not sure that's a choice I'd have made), we have enough employment and HR blog posts to get you through the entire new year's season without repeating ...

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 ...

A cornucopia of random employment law issues for your long weekend.

Lessons for employers from the Natalie Wood investigation. (OK, I admit this is a shameless tie-in designed to get you to read a legal blog over a holiday weekend.) But the reopening of the Natalie Wood drowning investigation after 30 years does contain a good lesson for employers -- to wit, that no matter how much time has ...

Are no-fault attendance policies to go the way of the horse and buggy?

Employers would do well to ask themselves that question, in light of the recent $20 million settlement between the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and Verizon Communications. First, let's debunk a few erroneous assumptions about the settlement:

*We can blame this on the overly-aggressive ...

Plaintiff's lawyer Donna Ballman and The Evil HR Lady have had good posts recently on common employee misconceptions about employment law, including the "right" to see what is in one's personnel file and the "right" to take a break.*

*Depending on where the employee lives, he may have these rights, but in many states he does not. And the federal Fair Labor Standards Act does not require ...

Whew - what a week! Try as I might, I could not think of a way to tie in the Royal Wedding and the release of President Obama's long-form birth certificate with employment law.

(But, aren't the bride and groom adorable? I love Kate's dress!)

(And, you know that birth certificate is a big fake. I'm kidding, I'M KIDDING!)

OK, enough of that -- back to work.

I actually have a serious topic ...

According to a recent study, organized religion is being "driven to extinction" from nine countries, including Canada, Ireland, the Czech Republic, and Switzerland. Although the United States is not on the list, studies here have also shown an increase in the number of people who call themselves "unaffiliated."

Meanwhile, American workplaces continue to struggle with the issue of ...