WIRTW #802: the 'it's a small world' edition

I love to travel. It's not just about the places you see or the things you do. It's also about the people you meet.

"Where are you from?" is one of the best conversation starters when you're traveling. That simple question just led to one of the most surreal experiences of my life.

My wife and I were on the ferry from Split to Korčula when a family sat down next to us, and we started chatting.

"So, where are you from?" the dad asked.

"Cleveland," my wife replied.

"But I grew up in Philly," I added.

"Philly? Me too," he said, giving me a fist bump.

"Where in Philly?"

"The Northeast."

"Same! Where did you go to high school?"

And that's when things got downright weird.

We didn't go to the same high school. As it turns out, he went to Central and I went to George Washington. But we both graduated in 1990, attended the same middle school, and discovered we have dozens of mutual friends. He even remembered my middle school homeroom number, a fact I had long forgotten.

Forty years after leaving Baldi Middle School, we finally became friends … on a ferry in Croatia. All because one of us asked a fellow traveler, "Where are you from?"

The world is a big place. Sometimes, though, it has a funny way of reminding us just how small it really is.

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Here's what I read this week that you should read, too.

When the boss gets involved, the investigation is already in trouble.

Last week, The New York Times published a deeply reported investigation alleging that Donald Trump personally intervened with FIFA President Gianni Infantino to have U.S. striker Folarin "Flo" Balogon’s red card suspended so he could play in the United States' World Cup Round of 16 match against Belgium.

Whether you're a soccer fan or not almost doesn’t matter.

The allegation is what matters.

The President of the United States allegedly used the weight of his office to influence what should have been an independent disciplinary decision. And according to the report, it worked.

That's not just a sports story. It's also a workplace investigation story.

The 4th Circuit just made wage-and-hour class actions a lot harder to certify

Not every wage-and-hour lawsuit belongs as a class action.

That's the lesson from the 4th Circuit's recent decision in Overby v. Anheuser-Busch, where the court vacated certification of a Virginia wage-and-hour class alleging employees weren't paid for mandatory pre- and post-shift work.

The case involved hourly employees at Anheuser-Busch's Williamsburg brewery. Employees claimed they performed a variety of unpaid activities outside their scheduled shifts, including donning and doffing personal protective equipment, complying with COVID-era screening protocols, attending shift-handoff meetings, and putting away tools. The district court certified a class of essentially all hourly brewery employees, concluding that the central question was whether Anheuser-Busch had a policy of paying only scheduled shift time despite requiring additional work.

Why your noncompete agreement could become "Exhibit A" in a discrimination lawsuit.

For years, employers have treated noncompete agreements as just another item in the onboarding paperwork. Hand over the offer letter, the handbook acknowledgment, the tax forms, and somewhere in the stack sits a restrictive covenant that employees sign without much thought.

The recently settled lawsuit against Boston Beer Company serves as a reminder that noncompetes rarely stay confined to contract disputes. They can become Exhibit A in a much larger employment-law battle.

The case was brought by several former sales employees who alleged gender discrimination, retaliation, hostile work environment, and unlawful noncompete practices. According to the complaint, Boston Beer required broad noncompete agreements for sales employees and aggressively enforced them against departing workers. The plaintiffs claimed those restrictions trapped employees in jobs they wanted to leave, prevented them from pursuing opportunities with competitors, and amplified the effects of alleged discrimination and retaliation.

Boston Beer denied the allegations. The parties have now settled.

The settlement itself doesn't establish liability. But the allegations offer several important lessons for employers.

The DOL's World Cup warning is really an overtime compliance warning

The Department of Labor has a message for employers in cities hosting the 2026 World Cup: We're here to help you comply with federal wage and hour laws.

Translation: We're watching.

The DOL's Wage and Hour Division recently announced compliance-assistance resources for employers in the 11 U.S. host cities preparing for the flood of soccer fans, tourists, hotel guests, restaurant patrons, bar tabs, rideshare trips, security needs, cleaning shifts, temporary staffing, and event work that will come with the tournament. The agency specifically pointed employers to resources for industries expecting World Cup-driven spikes, including restaurants, hotels, and other businesses serving fans.

That sounds friendly enough.

It's also a warning.

WIRTW #801: the 'dads' edition

Sunday is Father's Day. Which makes this lawsuit especially worth paying attention to.

Emilio Arellano claims that Golden State Cider fired him after he took leave and sought additional flexibility to help care for his prematurely born son.

According to the lawsuit, his employer didn't respond with support. It responded with retaliation. The company denies wrongdoing. The case remains pending.

But the allegations highlight an issue many employers still fail to recognize:
Workplace discrimination against fathers is real.

Not because employers think fathers are caregivers. Because they think they aren't.

When employers assume fathers should prioritize work over family, they're relying on the same unlawful sex stereotypes that protect mothers when employers assume they should shoulder caregiving responsibilities.

The EEOC has been saying this for decades. Denying leave, flexibility, or opportunities to fathers that would be afforded to mothers can violate Title VII.

And the legal risk is increasing.

Last year, the Supreme Court held in Ames v. Department of Youth Services that Title VII protects "any individual" and that courts cannot impose higher burdens on so-called majority-group plaintiffs.

The EEOC has embraced that principle, making clear that discrimination is discrimination, regardless of who brings the claim.

That matters for fathers.

A dad who is treated differently because he doesn't conform to traditional expectations about gender and caregiving isn't bringing a novel claim. He's bringing a sex discrimination claim.

Which brings us to a question every employer should ask: If this employee were a mother instead of a father, would we have responded the same way?

If the answer is no, you've identified a legal risk. And perhaps a cultural one, too.

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Here's what I read this week that you should read, too.

Pride Night, Bible Verses, and When Title VII Protections Collide

Three San Francisco Giants pitchers are facing backlash after writing a Bible passage on their Pride Night caps during a team-sponsored LGBTQ+ celebration. The players cited Genesis 9:12-16, the biblical passage describing the rainbow as God's covenant with humanity. Critics viewed the gesture as a deliberate rebuke of Pride Month and the LGBTQ+ community. The Giants apologized for the pain caused. Major League Baseball warned the players for violating uniform rules.

Predictably, the story has become another front in America's never-ending culture war.

But strip away the politics and outrage for a moment, and what's left is a workplace issue every employer should understand.

While the setting is a Major League Baseball clubhouse, the legal and practical issues are no different from those employers confront every day.

The Giants wanted to send a message of inclusion. The players wanted to express their religious beliefs. Those objectives collided in public.

Welcome to the modern workplace.