WIRTW #309 (the “Hello, and welcome to Moviefone” edition)
Before there was Google or Fandango, there was Moviefone . Growing up, if we wanted to go to the movies, we didn’t have the luxury of iPhone...
Archive: February 2014
Has social media created too much workplace transparency?
By Jon Hyman
I have two confessions to make: 1) I don’t read much anymore, at least not for pleasure. 2) I can’t do work on airplanes. “How are these...
Why we put plaintiffs to their proof
By Jon Hyman
Because of the relative newness of the issue, it always seems newsworthy when the NLRB issues a social-media decision. World Color (USA) Cor...
Mind your internal emails to avoid discrimination issues
By Jon Hyman
Shazor v. Professional Transit Mgmt., Inc. (6th Cir. 2/19/14) , interests me for two reasons. First, it discusses and applies a “sex-plus” ...
Is obesity the same as a green mohawk?
By Jon Hyman
It’s been a few months since I’ve written about the growing trend of plaintiffs trying to shoehorn obestity-discrimination claims under the ...
WIRTW #308a (the “big block of cheese” edition)
By Jon Hyman
Tomorrow marks the 177th anniversary of President Andrew Jackson opening the White House doors to the public to share his 1,400 pound block ...
Do you know? OSHA protects employees from retaliation for reporting injuries
By Jon Hyman
Like many states, Ohio has a statute that protects workers from retaliation for filing a workers’ compensation claim . But that statute is n...
Is there such a thing as online picket lines? Not according to the NLRB
By Jon Hyman
When is a picket line not a picket line? Apparently when the protests take place online, at least according to the NLRB’s opinion in Amalgam...
Can you have a one-person reduction-in-force?
By Jon Hyman
Yesterday’s New York Daily News ran the following headline: “Long Island man, 76, sues company for age discrimination after ‘workforce redu...
From the archives: wage-and-hour audits
By Jon Hyman
Today is Presidents’ Day, which means that many are not at work. I am not one of those many. I’m in the office today, preparing for a client...
WIRTW #308 (the “Calling Dr. Love” edition)
By Jon Hyman
Today is Valentine’s Day. People will send each other more than a billion cards . If some of those cards are sent in your workplace, you mig...
Does inevitable disclosure protect your company’s trade secrets? It depends.
By Jon Hyman
The most straightforward manner in which to prevent a former employee from jumping ship to one of your competitors is to have the employee s...
More on the EEOC’s position on retaliation in severance agreements: A proposed solution
By Jon Hyman
Yesterday, I reported on a lawsuit the EEOC has filed, claiming that some fairly generic terms in an employee severance agreement constitut...
EEOC claims retaliation over garden-variety severance terms
By Jon Hyman
The EEOC announced that it has filed a lawsuit against CVS, claiming that a severance agreement it provided to three employees unlawfully r...
Another one bites the dust: NLRB invalidates confidentiality policy
By Jon Hyman
If I’ve said it once , I’ve said it a thousand times — employers cannot maintain policies that restrict their employees’ ability to talk ab...
WIRTW #307 (the “Piet Mondrian” edition)
By Jon Hyman
Today’s theme is a lesson in minimalism. Here’s what I read this week: Discrimination Fired For Reporting Dollar Bill With Swastikas An...
Proposed ambush election rules offer the best reason to be proactive about union avoidance
By Jon Hyman
Last week I suggested that a pro-union NLRB has emboldened labor unions into more aggressive organizing efforts. You need not look any furt...
I (don’t) “like” this protected concerted activity
By Jon Hyman
Last October, in Bland v. Roberts , the 4th Circuit held that a Facebook “like” qualifies as speech protected by the First Amendment. As we ...
Deterring the wage-and-hour scofflaw
By Jon Hyman
The New York Times reported late last week that a Manhattan Domino’s Pizza franchisee has settled a wage-and-hour class action lawsuit for ...
Is regular attendance an essential job function when an employee asks for time off from work?
By Jon Hyman
I’ve written before about the need for employers to handle with care an employee’s request for unpaid time off as a reasonable accommodatio...