Thank you for indulging me a day off from blogging yesterday. It’s tough to bounce right back when a referee rips your heart out of your chest with a ridiculous penalty call late in the fourth quarter of arguably the best Super Bowl game of all time. At least I’m…
Employees are eligible for FMLA leave when they have worked for the employer for at least 12 months, have at least 1,250 hours of service for the employer during the 12-month period immediately preceding the leave, and work at a location where the employer has at least 50 employees within…
There’s a reason that they don’t teach “clairvoyance” in HR certification courses. (Although, it would be nice to have it to avoid some hires, amirite?) Attendance issues lead to termination of employment. The plaintiff in the Sixth Circuit decision I read last night had attendance issues. Bad ones. Beginning in…
If you went to the refrigerator to grab a cold beverage, you probably missed President Biden’s remarks about “beginning to restore the dignity of work.” So far during this administration, President Biden has signed a few employment bills into law. You’ve got the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act and the PUMP…
In 1985, Rocky Balboa single-handedly ended the Cold War with the USSR after defeating Ivan Drago. Leading up to the big fight, Rocky trained hard. The conditions were grueling and clearly unequal. Ultimately, however, Rocky overcame those long odds and prevailed. The plaintiff in the Fifth Circuit decision I read…
I did a double take when I received an email alert late Friday with the subject line: “BREAKING: Ohio Judge Hit With $1.1M Verdict For Firing Jewish Staff Atty.” Sure enough, a jury awarded $1,120,000 ($835,000 in back pay, $250,000 in compensatory damages, and $35,000 in punitive damages) to an…
Who knew the handcuff graphic would get so much use in 2023? And it’s only the beginning of February! Early last month, the Federal Trade Commission proposed a new rule prohibiting employers from imposing noncompetes on their workers. I wrote all about it and then spent another hour talking about it.…
Yesterday was the funeral for Tyre Nichols, a 29-year-old Black man. Last month, Memphis police pulled over Mr. Nichols for allegedly reckless driving. But body camera footage captured five police officers beating Mr. Nichols following the stop. He later died. The five officers were charged with murder, and protests took…
No workplace is perfect. And the one I read about last night was far from it. The plaintiff, who is black, alleged that one of her coworkers called her “loud and black” and “ghetto” behind her back. She further claimed that another coworker repeatedly used the N-word in the office…
It’s 2023. When are employees going to learn that while the First Amendment does guarantee freedom of speech, there is no constitutional right to a job, and employers don’t have to tolerate employee hate speech? Our recent addition to the unemployment line is a semi-professional hockey player in Illinois. He…