WIRTW #787: the 'accidents will happen' edition
"I think you just hit somebody." That's what Mitch Goldstein said to me one cold morning in the winter of 1990. It was our sen...
Archive: January 2026
If you can't force older employees to retire, how do you succession plan?
By Jon Hyman
Employers face a legitimate—and growing—problem: if older employees aren't retiring on schedule (or at all), how do you plan for leaders...
Mangement discussion of an older worker's "retirement" as age discrimination
By Jon Hyman
"When are you retiring?" That's not an employer's call to make. Here's a rule that employers still manage to forget or...
Can you spot the difference between coincidence and retaliation?
By Jon Hyman
Have you heard about the small toy store owners in St. Paul, MN, who complained about ICE on their local news . They went on camera. They cr...
Clarity beats chaos: Why rescinding the EEOC’s harassment guidance is a mistake
By Jon Hyman
Today at 10 a.m., the EEOC is scheduled to vote on whether to rescind its 2024 Enforcement Guidance on Harassment in the Workplace . If the...
Dry January isn't a moral virtue or wellness trend. It's an economic gut punch.
By Jon Hyman
Every January, like clockwork, Dry January comes roaring back. If you want to take a month off drinking, good for you. Truly. Your body, yo...
The 1st nominee for The Worst Employer of 2026 is … The Harassing, Retaliating, Evidence-Erasing Employer.
By Jon Hyman
If you're looking for the blueprint for how to turn a workplace into a legal catastrophe and land on my Worst Employer list, look no fur...
WIRTW #786: the 'propaganda' edition
By Jon Hyman
What the hell is going on at the Department of Labor? On January 10, the DOL posted this on X : "One Homeland. One People. One Heritage...
When “irreparable harm” isn’t: 8th Circuit slams brakes on a noncompete injunction
By Jon Hyman
Employers love preliminary injunctions in restrictive covenant cases. And courts are supposed to grant them only in extraordinary circumstan...
Filing an EEOC charge doesn’t automatically buy an employee job immunity
By Jon Hyman
Some believe that once an employee complains to the EEOC, discipline must stop. Supervisors must tread lightly. Performance problems must be...
WIRTW #785: the 'sometimes a coffee cup is just a coffee cup' edition
By Jon Hyman
Arsenal–Tottenham is one of the nastiest rivalries in sports. If you don't follow English football, think Eagles–Cowboys, Yankees–Red So...
4 solid steps to win your disability discrimination/reasonable accommodation case
By Jon Hyman
The 6th Circuit just delivered an opinion that reinforces two lessons employers should already know: accommodations require clarity and docu...
The law is clear: protect your employees, not a problem customer
By Jon Hyman
He's a regular. Spends money. Knows the beer list. The kind of customer small breweries are told they can't afford to lose. But the ...
The question isn't whether your employees are using AI at work (they are), but whether you're prepared for it
By Jon Hyman
Employees using AI at work will be the workplace issue of 2026. Not remote work. Not noncompetes. Not DEI. AI. Because employees are already...
A tale of two (alleged) sexual assaults
By Jon Hyman
A popular Cleveland restaurant and a popular Charlotte brewery chose very different paths after their owners were accused of sex-based crime...