Retaliatory voodoo, Courtney Love, and lots of unpaid $$$

Sounds like a bad batch of Pennyroyal Tea. Just another Tuesday here at the ole Handbook.

<div style=”text-align: right;”>The San Francisco Chronicle is reporting here that Courtney Love, Kurt Cobain’s widow, is reuniting the band ** thank you for sparing our ear holes ** being sued by a former assistant seeking, among other things, unpaid overtime. The plaintiff also claims that Love asked her to perform voodoo rituals ** not yet, next paragraph ** unethical duties such as hiring a hacker and forging legal correspondence. The San Francisco Employment Lawyer Blog has more on this case here.

From Hole to holes in a doll pin-cushion, with a hat-tip to @ChaimBook, the Madison St. Clair Record reports here that a Wisconsin woman is suing her former employer for sexual harassment and retaliation. The plaintiff claims that she was forced to look at nude female magazines, calendars and sexually explicit language used by her co-workers and direct supervisor. Fairly standard sexual-harassment fare. What makes this case blogworthy is that, after she complained, the plaintiff allegedly suffered retaliation in the form of two voodoo dolls in her desk, one of which had a black pin stuck into her chest.

Takeways:

    1. Even for the savviest employers, wage-and-hour issues can rear up from time-to-time. If you have not done so yet, or if it’s just been a while, consider bringing in outside counsel to conduct a wage-and-hour audit to make sure that your pay practices are squeaky clean.
    2. Since the Supreme Court’s decision in Burlington Northern, the bar has been significantly lowered as to the type of behavior that can constitute actionable retaliation. I have little doubt that a voodoo doll delivered to a complaining employee would effectively chill that employee from asserting federal-protected rights. Remind your workforce that behavior both subtle and overt can lead to a retaliation claim. 
    3. Hole sucks.
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