NOTE TO READERS (7/18/15): Due to a technical issue with the comments, replies that I tried to make to a number of commenters did not "post." I apologize. I think we have everything fixed now, and I've gone back in this morning and replied to just about everybody unless the comment did not seek a response or I couldn't understand the comment. My responses are under the name "InsiderBlog ...

"Love means having to say you're sorry." Wait a minute. Is that a typo? 

No. Erich Segal, I beg to differ. As anyone who has a life knows, love means having to say you're sorry a lot. And that goes for employers, too. The company apology is a fine thing, as long as it is sincere, not a "non-apology apology," and accompanied by what they call a "firm purpose of amendment."

If you don't apologize when ...

Last week, my post was about retaliation, and how employers can be liable and how they can defend themselves. As luck would have it, two recent court decisions illustrate beyond my wildest imagination how important this issue can be.

Five years between protected activity and adverse action? No problem! I said last week that most courts find that a six-month or more time lapse between the ...