It's been a hectic week for me (I have a trial coming up), and so here are some links to employment law blog posts and workplace news items that I hope will entertain and edify.
5 Things Your Manager Doesn't Want You to Know. By the great Evil HR Lady, Suzanne Lucas. (Just to whet your appetite, the first is "I can't fire you.")
Can Employee Display a Confederate Flag on Facebook as Free Speech? Or Can Employer Take Action? Dan Schwartz posted this a couple of weeks ago, but it is more timely than ever, now that South Carolina's flag is coming down. (Today. At 10 a.m.)
This is the worst team-building exercise ever. Yes, ever. From the inimitable Eric Meyer. There's no "I" in team, but there are two "Is" in "ISIS." So they should have known it was going to be a fail.
Because of an upcoming trial, my blogging will be sparse for the next little while.
Don't forget leaves of absence as ADA accommodation. Maybe not as funny as Eric, but this is great advice from Jon Hyman that employers often overlook. There's more to life than the Family and Medical Leave Act.
Religion v. Law. Heather Bussing discusses the intersection of religion and the law in light of the Supreme Court's same-sex marriage decision in Obergefell v. Hodges. I think this is going to become a very, very big deal in the coming years.
How technology could kill the art of lying. By Andrea Peterson of The Washington Post. Think about that the next time you want to lick a donut. Employers ought to be careful, though, when they think they have caught an employee red-handed through technology. I posted a few months ago about an FMLA retaliation case brought by a former paralegal of Dow Chemical who was terminated shortly after returning to work from a medical leave. (Scroll down to "FMLA retaliation claims will go to trial, even though plaintiff was fired for falsification of time records.") Kimberly Hartman was terminated (allegedly) for falsifying her time, but she claimed that she was actually working on her computer at home and thus accurately posting her time. The employer countered that the work she claimed to be doing should have taken only a few minutes and that her VPN logs showed that she was almost never in the system. Ms. Hartman's husband emailed me not long ago and alerted me that his wife had won more than $330,000 after a trial on her claims. I asked him about the VPN evidence, and he said that they were able to establish that she was doing most of the work outside "the system" and was doing other legitimate work as well. So don't over-rely on technology. It never hurts to do an old-fashioned, "analog" investigation before you take action.
Does Jeb Bush think American workers are lazy? Hill says yes. Jeb says no. (I'm with Jeb - DISCLAIMER: NOT A POLITICAL ENDORSEMENT - he probably could have stated it better, but I think it's clear that he was advocating increased productivity, which would lead to job creation, which would allow people to work more hours. In a good way.)
Image Credits: From flickr, Creative Commons license: Donuts by Michelle G; fingers crossed by Carmella Fernando.
- Partner
Robin has more than 30 years' experience counseling employers and representing them before government agencies and in employment litigation involving Title VII and the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, the Americans with ...
Robin Shea has 30 years' experience in employment litigation, including Title VII and the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act (including the Amendments Act).
Continue Reading
Subscribe
Contributors
- William A. "Zan" Blue, Jr.
- Obasi Bryant
- Kenneth P. Carlson, Jr.
- James M. Coleman
- Cara Yates Crotty
- Lara C. de Leon
- Christopher R. Deubert
- Joyce M. Dos Santos
- Colin Finnegan
- Steven B. Katz
- Ellen C. Kearns
- F. Damon Kitchen
- David C. Kurtz
- Angelique Groza Lyons
- John E. MacDonald
- Kelly McGrath
- Alyssa K. Peters
- Sarah M. Phaff
- David P. Phippen
- William K. Principe
- Sabrina M. Punia-Ly
- Angela L. Rapko
- Rachael Rustmann
- Paul Ryan
- Piyumi M. Samaratunga
- Robin E. Shea
- Kristine Marie Sims
- David L. Smith
- Jill S. Stricklin
- Jack R. Wallace
Archives
- December 2024
- November 2024
- October 2024
- September 2024
- August 2024
- July 2024
- June 2024
- May 2024
- April 2024
- March 2024
- February 2024
- January 2024
- December 2023
- November 2023
- October 2023
- September 2023
- August 2023
- July 2023
- June 2023
- May 2023
- April 2023
- March 2023
- February 2023
- January 2023
- December 2022
- November 2022
- October 2022
- September 2022
- August 2022
- July 2022
- June 2022
- May 2022
- April 2022
- March 2022
- February 2022
- January 2022
- December 2021
- November 2021
- October 2021
- September 2021
- August 2021
- July 2021
- June 2021
- May 2021
- April 2021
- March 2021
- February 2021
- January 2021
- December 2020
- November 2020
- October 2020
- September 2020
- August 2020
- July 2020
- June 2020
- May 2020
- April 2020
- March 2020
- February 2020
- January 2020
- December 2019
- November 2019
- October 2019
- September 2019
- August 2019
- July 2019
- June 2019
- May 2019
- April 2019
- March 2019
- February 2019
- January 2019
- December 2018
- November 2018
- October 2018
- September 2018
- August 2018
- July 2018
- June 2018
- May 2018
- April 2018
- March 2018
- February 2018
- January 2018
- December 2017
- November 2017
- October 2017
- September 2017
- August 2017
- July 2017
- June 2017
- May 2017
- April 2017
- March 2017
- February 2017
- January 2017
- December 2016
- November 2016
- October 2016
- September 2016
- August 2016
- July 2016
- June 2016
- May 2016
- April 2016
- March 2016
- February 2016
- January 2016
- December 2015
- November 2015
- October 2015
- September 2015
- August 2015
- July 2015
- June 2015
- May 2015
- April 2015
- March 2015
- February 2015
- January 2015
- December 2014
- November 2014
- October 2014
- September 2014
- August 2014
- July 2014
- June 2014
- May 2014
- April 2014
- March 2014
- February 2014
- January 2014
- December 2013
- November 2013
- October 2013
- September 2013
- August 2013
- July 2013
- June 2013
- May 2013
- April 2013
- March 2013
- February 2013
- January 2013
- December 2012
- November 2012
- October 2012
- September 2012
- August 2012
- July 2012
- June 2012
- May 2012
- April 2012
- March 2012
- February 2012
- January 2012
- December 2011
- November 2011
- October 2011
- September 2011
- August 2011
- July 2011
- June 2011
- May 2011
- April 2011
- March 2011
- February 2011
- January 2011
- December 2010
- November 2010
- October 2010