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Back in December, I wrote here about a federal court in Louisiana recognizing that a morbidly-obese plaintiff may have a physical impairment which, if it substantially limits one or more major life activities, would bring that plaintiff within the scope of the ADA (the pre-ADAAA version).

As an update to that post, last week, the same Louisiana federal court granted summary judgment, in part, to the EEOC, who was asserting the claim on behalf of the employee. Specifically, the court ruled that the EEOC had affirmatively established that the employee, who was morbidly obese, had a “disability” within the meaning of the ADA.

Disclaimer: I serve as an EEOC mediator.

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359/366On Monday I had the privilege of presenting “Social Media for HR: Practical Guidance from a Generation Y Attorney” to a packed house at the SHRM 2012 Employment Law and Legislative Conference in Washingon, DC. I killed (naturally) and the audience of attorneys and HR professionals was fantastic. During the course of this interactive session, some of what the audience had to say really surprised me. And it may surprise you too. Click through to find out what real HR pros are doing to address social media in he workplace…

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number 1 (From 191)When an employee sues his former employer alleging a religiously hostile work environment, he must prove, among other things, that he was subjected to harassment based on his religion and that the harassment was either severe or pervasive.

What do you think? Is the email below from a company General Manager severe enough for ya?

Can I just say something I shouldn’t to you here — he is SUCH A JEW! In a BAD way. He’s what gives Jews a bad name. He’s smarter. He’s better. He’s owed. He will do anything to keep from opening his wallet — right down to not eating!!!! And I am DEAD serious here!!! That’s why he expenses every single thing he can because he won’t pay anything! I have not seen him bring one single thing into this office in all the time he’s been here — period. (that he paid for) IF he does bring something in he expenses it. . .I COULDN’T say to him what I just did to you — that HE is what gives Jews a bad name!!!

Let’s see what a NJ court said, after the jump…

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rights poster.pngBack on August 26, in this post, I gave the heads up that the National Labor Relations Board would require most private-sector employers to post this notice (a super-sized version of the one on the right), in a conspicuous location, informing employees of their rights under the National Labor Relations Act, which includes the right to form a union.

And then some employer groups went to court because they don’t like NLRB posters. In response, the NLRB slowed its roll not once, but twice, delaying the postponing the posting deadline until April 30, 2012.

Now a federal court has weighed in on the posting requirement. What did it say? And will your business have to post something by April 30, 2012. Find out after the jump…

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A password key?About a year, I wondered whether employers should ever require job applicants to divulge Facebook passwords. Ultimately, I concluded then — and still believe now — that while employers may choose to use social media as part of a background-check process, you’re playing with fire if you start asking job applicants to divulge social-media passwords to make it easier to vet them.

Two states are now taking steps to make it illegal to force job candidates to reveal online user-names and passwords. One of those states is taking it one step further…

What two states and what they doing?!? (And what’s with that creepy image on the right). Aaaaah!!!! Click through to find out…

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I got this as a Google Alert on Monday. The case is Davids v. Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corp. Allow me to set the stage for you.

    • Plaintiff sues, claiming ongoing suffering from osteonecrosis of the jaw (if you click the link, don’t look at the picture on the right. Ewwwww)
    • Defendant corporation realizes that plaintiff has a Facebook account and serves a request for production of Facebook documents.
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tlnttransform.gifYesterday, I had the absolute privilege of moderating a panel on social media in the workplace at TLNT Transform in Austin, TX. Transform is for talent managers and HR leaders who are looking for cutting-edge insights and best practices from innovative and forward-thinking companies. 

Three HR Rockstars, Karren Fink, Laurie Ruettimann, and Rebecca Meissner, made my job as moderator on the social-media panel a breeze. If you can get past my initial crappy lawyer joke — and that, apparently, I don’t know my right from my left — it’s worth watching. Here is a link to the video.

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Frozen Food AisleI’ve come up with some pretty creative defenses to unlawful harassment. Usually, however, before I file a pleading, I take out my trusty red pen iPad and delete those arguments that are just so outrageous that I feel my client will lose credibility with the court.

But that’s just me.

After the jump, I have a recent federal-court decision in which a Maryland grocery claimed that the [alleged] relentless sexual harassment of a female employee by the store’s male manager wasn’t “sexual harassment” — that would be illegal. Rather, it was “exotic dancer” harassment.

That’s pretty creative, alright.

Oh boy…

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