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The Employer Handbook BlogNo, President Trump, NFL owners cannot legally fire players that #TakeTheKnee
And it has nothing to do with the First Amendment and freedom of speech. Continue reading
Articles Posted in Race
Employee free speech on social media? HA! HA! says federal appellate court
Remember when I told you (in this blog post, this article, and this tv interview) that private-sector employees have no First Amendment right, while government employees have limited free-speech rights?
Actually, I was telling the truth. Today’s blog post proves that. Continue reading
How would you respond if your employee was photographed marching in Charlottesville over the weekend?
Following a tumultuous weekend in Charlottesville, VA, where a white nationalist march turned deadly, it appears as though at least one attendee will return home from the rally to find himself unemployed.
Third Circuit: A single slur – just one bad word — can create a hostile work environment.
For the first time, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals has recognized that “an extreme isolated act of discrimination can create a hostile work environment.”
Even one bad comment may create a hostile work environment, says Second Circuit
With all due respect to the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, I’m glad, at least for this month, that I don’t practice there. Continue reading
It’s the last thing you want to hear at your employee-client’s deposition
Yesterday, at approximately 5:18 PM EDT, all of the associates at my law firm received the same email. It was from one of my partners, encouraging them to sign up to receive daily updates to this blog via email.
“You will learn something from him nearly every day of the week,” wrote my partner.
So, let’s see if we can teach them something — something, other than Eric knows how to make one hella-creepy selfie saltbae gif.
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Skip the vodka, but consider some other bar rules for your workplace.
_in_Hamburg_2.jpg "By Achim Schleuning (Own work) [CC BY-SA 4.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)], via Wikimedia Commons")
A few weeks ago, a reader emailed me and asked if I would weigh in on how businesses should address employees talking about politics at work.
On the one hand, in the private sector, there are no First Amendment Rights. Free speech is a big myth. ( I suppose that the National Labor Relations Act could muddy the waters a bit; but, for this post, let’s pretend it doesn’t). And there’s practically nothing that would prevent a private employer from clamping down on employee discussions about politics at work.
On the other hand, an employer could violate bar rules and condone political speech. However, that could lead to problems for the employer, as in bad press or a lawsuit.
Racials slurs, shotgun threats, but no why no hostile work environment?
It’s deja vu all over again.