Friday, June 7, 2013

WIRTW #277 (the “come on down” edition)

Some of my fondest memories as a child were watching The Price is Right with my Grandmom Annie on the TV in her basement. We’d watch Family Feud, The Price Is Right, and The Match Game, and then she’d make me a grilled cheese sandwich for lunch. Heaven on earth to a 4-year-old.

Harkening back to those childhood days, I always wanted to see The Price is Right live. I fulfilled that dream during the spring break of my 1st year of law school. The experience was surreal. We sat next to a guy wearing a pink, bespangled, “I ♥ Bob Barker” sweatshirt. It was his 250th taping, and he knew the names of all of Bob Barker’s cats and dogs (restraining order not included). We also saw one of the curtains break down as they were about to reveal the prize for one of the pricing games, followed by Bob Barker telling the confused contestant, “When we start rolling tape, I will have already said, ‘And you can win this!’ The first thing the camera will see is your reaction. So, whatever piece of s**t is behind that curtain, you better react like it is the best thing you’ve ever seen.”

I tell this story because earlier this week, The Huffington Post reported that a North Carolina postal worker pleaded guilty to workers’ compensation fraud. The employee had lied about her inability to stand, sit, kneel, squat, climb, bend, reach, grasp, or lift. The smoking gun? An appearance on TPIR on which she spun the big wheel, twice.

Here’s the rest of what I read this week:

Discrimination

Social Media & Workplace Technology

HR & Employee Relations

Wage & Hour

Labor Relations