Image by fajar budiman from Pixabay Yesterday, I received an unsolicited email from a company called Pluto. Pluto claims to offer a text message harassment training course that helps startups get compliant in less than 5 minutes a day. So, I headed over to the Pluto website to learn more. Here…
The Employer Handbook Blog
Can sexual harassment investigations create an intolerable and hostile work environment for the harasser?
Image Credit: Photofunia.com (http://photofunia.com/results/5d37ca3746867947238b45bf) Sympathetic: sym·pa·thet·ic /ˌsimpəˈTHedik/ adjective feeling, showing, or expressing sympathy. synonyms: commiserating, commiserative, pitying, condoling, consoling, comforting, supportive, encouraging antonyms: unsympathetic, unfeeling Let’s use sympathetic in a sentence. “Juries are generally sympathetic to individuals who claim to have been sexually harassed at work.” Let’s try one more.…
The case of Al Franken and why good workplace investigations are so darn important
Вени Марковски [CC BY 3.0], via Wikimedia Commons Yesterday, The New Yorker published Jane Mayer’s piece entitled “The Case of Al Franken,” which is “a close look at the accusations against the former senator.” TL;DR Instead, I started listening to the audio version of Ms. Mayer’s story and made it…
🔥🚒👨🚒Firefighter fired for hostile social media posts may have been discriminated against🔥🚒👨🚒
U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Seaman Barry Riley [Public domain], via Wikimedia CommonsA white South Carolina firefighter posted threats on Facebook that he would run over Black Lives Matters protesters. The fire department began receiving complaints about these posts. Plus, the posts violated various provisions of the employee handbook.…
All eyez on me! Was an Iowa Bureaucrat forced to resign because he REALLY loved Tupac’s rap game?
🤔🤔🤔💪💪💪 When you have a Google Alert for “Fired” and “Facebook,” sometimes, you really have to get through a lot of chaff before you find the wheat. Over the past few days, I’ve had to sift through: The Bachelorette: Hannah Is Still Roasting Luke P. for Trying to Sex-Shame Her…
The top five, juiciest, greatest-ever HR compliance posts that I’ve read in the past 24 hours
Image by PixLoger from Pixabay But, first, I have a confession to make. I only read six posts. Over here at the Ohio Employer Law Blog, Jon Hyman writes about a federal district judge who dismissed a plaintiff’s hostile work environment claim notwithstanding evidence of “daily or near daily” harassment…
Does randomly re-testing employees who earlier test positive for drugs or alcohol violate the ADA?
It’s an interesting theory. And by ‘interesting,’ I mean… Anyway, before I get too snarky, I’ll share with you the facts of this opinion from a federal court in New York that I read recently. The “On Call program” and more random tests. According to the plaintiffs, they were subject to…
How long does your employee have to file an EEOC Charge of Discrimination against your business?
By: CoD_fsfe, Courtesy: Open Clip Art Library (http://www.publicdomainfiles.com/show_file.php?id=13925176815) Actually, it depends. 😉 Here’s how it works for non-federal-sector employees: An employee must file a charge of discrimination with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission within 180 calendar days from the day the discrimination took place. However, if your business operates…
Mom ordered a ‘Moana’ cake for her daughter’s birthday. She got a marijuana cake instead. Whoops!
Image Credit: Kensli Taylor Davis on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10220318919467148&set=a.2332519756469&type=3&theater) We’ve all been there. Ok, some of us haven’t accidentally decorated a viral marijuana cake. Here’s what happened according to this report from Trisha Ahmed and Katherine Dillinger reporting at CNN: A marijuana-themed cake made this family’s day in Milledgeville, Georgia —…
It is SO DARN EASY for one of your employees to pursue a discrimination claim. But, here’s the thing…
Photo by Sabine Gausemeier from Pexels How easy is it? Easier than Sunday morning, which is easier than beating the New York Mets on Sunday afternoon. Fired after a DUI. I’m going to tell you about this case where an African-American man with alcoholism, sued his former employer for firing…