Articles Posted in March, 2015

Federal judge reincarnates atheist’s religious bias claims

March 17, 2015 | by Eric B. Meyer

And the Czech judge scored my lede a 4.3. Well, the second she starts paying my legal bills, maybe, I’ll give a damn. Until then…

What was I talking about? Oh yes, religious discrimination.

Over the weekend, I read this PA federal court opinion about an atheist who claimed that his boss proselytized to him about religion, even forcing him to wear a badge, which bore the company’s mission statement: “This company is not only a business, it is a ministry. It is set on standards that are higher than man’s own. Our goal is to run this company in a way most pleasing to the lord [sic]….” The atheist claims that he covered up the mission statement with duct tape and, when he refused to remove the tape, the company fired him.

The Court, which initially put the kibosh on the plaintiff’s religious bias, reconsidered and allowed the plaintiff’s claims to survive a motion to dismiss. Continue reading

#HR mistakes and how to address them

March 16, 2015 | by Eric B. Meyer

So…how many of you slept well after last night’s The Walking Dead? Don’t worry, no spoilers here.

Instead, what I do have is this link to a great post from my blogging buddy, Sharlyn Lauby a/k/a the HR Bartender. With a little help from this dude, Sharlyn’s post hits on, well, you read the lede: HR mistakes and how to address them.

Head on over to HRBartender.com and check it out.

A biker gang enforcer lost his job…as a prison guard. #BikerGangEnforcerPrisonGuard

March 13, 2015 | by Eric B. Meyer

So did you hear the one about the prison guard who, for four years, didn’t tell his employer about his other job? The one where he served as a biker gang “enforcer.” And his biker gang nickname? Hit Man. The biker gang enforcer, who was also guarding prisoners, was known as Hit Man.

How do you think that went over at the old hoosegow? Not so good.

David Stephanides at Wolters Kluwer’s Employment Law Daily has the full scoop here. Apparently, Hit Man’s grievance didn’t go over so well either.

The teacher who feared young kids lost her ADA claim, you guys

March 12, 2015 | by Eric B. Meyer

I’m a bit late to the party with this one. But, for those who haven’t read about it elsewhere. Voila!

The plaintiff originally taught at the high school, during which she informed her employer about her pedophobia, a debilitating fear of young children. Some time later, the plaintiff was transferred to the middle school, which was ok because she only feared elementary school kids, and not middle schoolers. The plaintiff taught middle school for six months, but, then she asked for a transfer back to the high school, saying that her talents were “underutilized” at the middle school and that another year there would be bad for her health. The school district informed the plaintiff that there were no openings, but would keep her request on file. Shortly thereafter, the plaintiff retired.

She then sued the school district for age discrimination, disability discrimination, hostile work environment, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and breach of contract. Continue reading

Can you smack your sexual harasser, complain, and still claim retaliation?

March 11, 2015 | by Eric B. Meyer

Not exactly a happy workplace trinity, but it’s what fuels The Employer Handbook. That and Jolt-Cola Bombs.

The plaintiff in this case claimed that she was sexually harassed by her male supervisor for over a year. The court’s opinion details alleged comments and groping in vivid detail. (No recap here. I plan to keep my post PG, damn it! Ok, PG-13. You happy, now?). Whenever the plaintiff supposedly complained, her employer did nothing about the harassment.

So, finally, she decked him one.

That got the employer to take notice. Indeed, it determined that the plaintiff had been sexually harassed and it fired her harasser. Then, the company also fired the plaintiff.
Continue reading

Transgender employees and the so-called bathroom conundrum

March 10, 2015 | by Eric B. Meyer

On my speaking boondoggles around the country, what’s the biggest issue I hear from HR professionals involving transgender employees?

Yep, it’s the use of the bathroom.

Folks, it’s not that complicated. But, I’ll get to that in a sec. First, with a tip of the hat to Joshua Block (@JoshACLU), over the weekend, I read this tweet, which links to this story from Jessica Shepherd (@JessShepSaginaw), about a Planet Fitness location in Michigan that received a complaint from a female gym member. This woman complained to the gym about a transgender woman (assigned male at birth; identifies as female) in the woman’s locker room. She then told other gym members that “a man” was using the woman’s locker room.

So Planet Fitness responded. Continue reading

1 slur + 1 knife to the testicles = 1 hostile work environment

March 9, 2015 | by Eric B. Meyer

My new blogging platform and email newsletter have their advantages, especially the newsletter.

For example, when a daily post goes out to my blog email subscribers (and, if you haven’t subscribed yet, you can do that here), one of the analytics I can track is the most-clicked hyperlinks. Welp, in last week’s “Heil Hitler” post, the most popular links were the two that were marked NSFW. That means NOT SAFE FOR WORK. To put this into better perspective, there were three times as many clicks on the NSFW links as there were to the link to the Fifth Circuit opinion I address. Although my analytics don’t literally say it, I will: you guys are hella-twisted.

But, hella-twisted or not, you’re still the best readers on the planet.

Hey, maybe we can just blame those clicks on the plaintiffs’ lawyers who read this blog. (Don’t worry. I love you too. Just not nearly as much). But, I’ll tell you what. One of ’em came through big time by forwarding me a copy of this opinion, which is a great juxtaposition *** Googles “juxtaposition” — nailed it! *** to what I wrote last week about how no reasonable person would construe a single “Heil Hitler” comment from a manager as creating a hostile work environment. Continue reading

Apparently, in Texas, your managers are allowed one free “Heil Hitler.”

March 5, 2015 | by Eric B. Meyer

“I see your ‘two free slurs’ rule, Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, and I raise you one shout out to the Third Reich, alright Hoss?”

Ok, you got me.

The Fifth Circuit, which covers Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas, didn’t actually use those words, exactly. But, what the Court did say in this opinion, was that an employee who complained to Human Resources about a Deputy Director, one who allegedly said “Heil Hitler,” could not reasonably believe that this single comment created a hostile work environment. Got that? When a manager allegedly praises the Nazis one time, that’s not against the law:

GUEST POST: How Much Should You Really Know about Your Job Candidates?

March 4, 2015 | by Eric B. Meyer

Today we have a guest blogger at The Employer Handbook. It’s Amy Klimek.

Amy is an experienced HR recruiter and VP of Human Resources for ZipRecruiter, a company that simplifies the hiring process for small to medium size businesses. Prior to that Amy has held similar roles at Rent.com, eBay and US Interactive. For Amy, corporate culture isn’t about dogs and free lunches, it’s about empowering employees and creating an enriching environment for people to excel.

(Want to guest blog on an employment-law topic at The Employer Handbook? Email me).

Though employees may not balk at signing non-competes, the key is when to use them.

March 3, 2015 | by Eric B. Meyer

Last week it was #thedress. Before that, Kim Kardashian broke the internet. But, first, there was the Jimmy John’s non-competition agreement kerfuffle that dominated my Twitter. Probably not yours though, because you have a life. Then again, here you are reading this post, pot.

Or shall I call you kettle?

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