Maybe you’ve heard about it. I’m giving a little spiel today on social media in the workplace with a few friends at an event in Philadelphia. If I play my cards right, I’ll do as little speaking as possible on the dais.
Which means I’ll get my two cents in after the jump and discuss on a hockey coach who was recently fired for posting pictures of Nazi propaganda on Facebook.
To prove sexual harassment, a plaintiff must have been subjected to pervasive or severe behavior based on the plaintiff’s sex. Further, not only would an objective person have to find the behavior offensive, but the plaintiff must be offended as well.
Usually, when a plaintiff claims sexual harassment, a court takes for granted that conduct at issue offended the plaintiff.
But, I just read about a case that bucked the trend.
More on this wacky case, and some workplace lessons for you guys…after the jump…
The Americans with Disabilities Act requires that companies provide a reasonable accommodation to an employee with a disability, if doing so will allow the employee to perform the essential functions of the job.
The ADA contemplates a number of different types of reasonable accommodations. One such accommodation is a transfer into an open position for which the disabled employee is qualified. But what happens when there is no vacancy. Must an employer bump another non-disabled employee to accommodate the one with the disability?
As an Ohio federal court reminds us in this recent opinion that the answer is no, unless special circumstances exist:
Even without a federal law that specifically bans discrimination in the workplace based on sexual orientation or gender identify, it’s no secret that one of the EEOC’s top priorities is to protect LGBT workers from discrimination.
And the EEOC is being quite transparent about it, with a new guide for employers and employees.
I’ve got that for you after the jump…
Just go ahead, and kill them dead!
But before I get to that, I want to quickly plug our free event next week on November 12, 2014. I’ll give you four reasons to attend:
- Chai R. Feldblum, Commissioner, U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
- Richard F. Griffin, Jr., General Counsel, National Labor Relations Board
- Harry I. Johnson, III, Board Member, National Labor Relations Board
- Free breakfast
Sure, I’ll be on the panel too, but do any of you really want to see me? Besides, I wouldn’t want to destroy the mystique of our intimate blogger-reader relationship? I imagine many of you now breathless, picturing an erudite, chiseled, scholar; the blogging prose, typos, and grammar mistakes dripping from my two-typing fingers, as I….I’ll stop talking now.
Details on the event are here. A few tickets still remain. RSVP fast!
After the jump, back to reality. Kill! Kill! Kill! (the policies…)
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Whether a department of many, or just one, your job as an HR professional has you juggling many balls. You’re running an open enrollment, conducting a workplace investigation, recruiting, wage-setting. Cot’ damn, you’re busy!
To get those tasks done, you’d better have the gift of gab.
Or not.
Is verbal communication an essential function for a Human Resources Specialist? A federal court just examined this question under the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Click through for the answer…
Five minutes ago, after taking the obligatory selfies and between games of Candy Crush, one of your employees texted (because, calling in, as if!) from an Ebola quarantine tent to alert you that she will be out of work for 21 days, while under observation for Ebola.
As an employer, what are your obligations? What workplace laws are implicated?
And, of course, because half of you are thinking it, can you just fire her?
Because this post has nothing to do with clicks or SEO — nothing whatsoever — click through for the answers…
I’ll be at the SHRM Lehigh Valley Annual Conference today presenting “What’s Hot at the EEOC…and How to Avoid Getting Burned!” with the EEOC’s Mary Tiernan.
If you’re at the conference, stop by with pizza and beer and say hello with pizza and beer.
However, if you can’t make it, Domino’s delivers, and you still want to get your Equal Employment Opportunity learn on, then there’s this from the from the EEOC:
See that lede right there! That’s journalism, baby!
After the jump, let’s talk about what it means to have a disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act Amendment Act.
I’m talking about a $620,000 jury verdict and nearly $165,000 in attorney’s fees.
Let’s discuss reverse-race discrimination after the jump…
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