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A white employee complains in writing that a colleague called his biracial grand-niece a “monkey” and texted him racially offensive comments about his coworkers. Within months, the employer fired the complainant.
Is this retaliation? Continue reading
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On Wednesday, I posted about a $250K Arkansas federal jury verdict against an employer for violating the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Well, you’ll never believe this! Earlier in the month, another federal jury in Wisconsin concluded that the same employer had violated the ADA. But this wasn’t any piddling $250K verdict. No, sir. The jury awarded $3,670,000 in compensatory damages and another $40,300,000 in punitive damages.
Back up the armored car! Continue reading
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Once during mediation, a federal judge asked me if I knew which type of discrimination jurors hated the most? I thought maybe age discrimination or retaliation, which jurors could either relate to personally or through a spouse or parent.
“No,” said the federal judge. “The answer is discrimination against veterans.” Continue reading
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Let’s answer one of the most common questions that I receive when I speak at HR events. Continue reading
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When it comes to politics, there is not much on which the two sides of the aisle see eye to eye. I’ll admit it, several of my blog posts about new bills in Congress may grab your attention. However, they have little chance at becoming law. In the blogging business nerd writing, we call that attention seeking “clickbait.”
Today’s post is not clickbait. Continue reading
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Thank you for all of the positive feedback and comments both via email and here on LinkedIn following yesterday’s transgender pronoun post. Many of the requests were for additional resources to promote a trans-inclusive workplace. Continue reading
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Most employees are at-will; they can be fired for any reason or no reason at all. And intentionally misgendering a co-worker would be enough.
But, what if the employee objects on religious grounds? 🤔 Continue reading
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When an employee sues for retaliation after complaining about discrimination, he must prove that he suffered “a materially adverse action” for doing so. Usually, that amounts to discharges, demotions, refusals to hire, refusals to promote, and reprimands.
But, how about a manager making faces? Continue reading
Image by Please Don’t sell My Artwork AS IS from Pixabay
Last week, I read the news that Sha’Carri Richardson, one of the favorites to win Olympic gold for the United States in the women’s 100-meter dash, was suspended for a month for testing positive for marijuana. As a management-side employment lawyer, I’ll admit that my initial reaction was that she broke the rules and deserved the discipline associated with the infraction.
Then, I thought to myself, that is a really dumb rule. Continue reading
Groupe Canam. Services fournis:Conception-ingénierie Dessins par InteliBuild FabricationUsines de fabrication: Saint-Gédéon-de-Beauce, QCQuébec, QC, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
I hate the New York Yankees. So, it is with deep-seated loathing that today’s blog post not only features the Evil Empire but casts the organization in a positive light.
Whatever. They’re still in fourth place in the AL East. Continue reading
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