It’s since morphed into what I hope is a useful weekly resource for employers to find the best labor and employment blog posts each week.
Also, holy heck! Ten and a half years and 499 installments later! Who’d have thunk it‽
Thank to everyone for reading along all these weeks and year, and to the other great bloggers who’ve published content that I’ve shared. I literally could not write this column without y’all.
The first time I ever heard of Jack White was August 10, 2001. I read about this up and coming band playing at the Beachland Ballroom. It was two-piece, the “brother” playing guitar and singing, and the “sister” on the drums. I was intrigued enough to check them out. Memory tells me that the first song Jack and Meg played that night was “Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground.” Setlist.fm says it was “Let’s Shake Hands.” It doesn’t matter. After one song, I was completely hooked, and by the end of their set I had found a new artist to add to my musical pantheon.
Today, Jack White released his latest album, Boarding House Reach. Like everything he does, it rocks. It’s also brilliantly bonkers. Jack White is the mad scientist of 21st century rock ‘n’ roll. Like Bowie before him, Jack does an amazing job of changing things up from project to project, and this one does not disappoint.
Tomorrow is St. Patrick’s Day. Have you ever thought about what the Patron Saint of Ireland can teach us about employment-law compliance? I did, seven years ago.
Trolls are a sad an unfortunate part of life on the internet. I put myself out there on a daily basis, and there will be idiots in the comments below, or on LinkedIn, Twitter, or Facebook, who will feel the need to have their ignorant say.
Courtney Barnett feels my pain, and crafted, via song, the perfect response:
Don’t you have anything better to do?
I wish that someone could hug you
Must be lonely
Being angry
Feeling over-looked
You sit alone at home in the darkness
With all the pent-up rage that you harness
I’m real sorry
’Bout whatever happened to you
I am not a gun person. If you want to dismiss what I am about to say because of my dislike of guns, that is your prerogative. Just skip down to the links, or come back on Monday, or don’t come back at all (although the latter is a bit closed-minded).
We have a major gun problem is this country. The solution starts with a conversation about universal background checks for all owners of firearms, mandatory waiting periods, and bans on assault weapons.
Today, I am pleased to announce that Meyers Roman has expanded our employment-law capabilities by adding Douglas B. Brown, LLC (DBB), a boutique national affirmative action law firm.
Focusing on management-side affirmative action compliance, DBB will significantly broaden, support and strengthen our Labor & Employment Group to assure our clients’ compliance with the increasingly complex affirmative action and Equal Employment Opportunity regulations for federal contractors and subcontractors.
DBB has served a wide range of clients in the manufacturing, mining, construction, communications, financial, health care, social services and educational sectors.
According to Seth Briskin, Managing Partner and Chair of our Labor & Employment Practice group, “the addition of the DBB firm is a real differentiator for Meyers Roman. It gives us the unique ability to offer affirmative action plans and related employment law consulting to our federal contractor clients and DBB’s established client base as well as a growing number of new clients both in Ohio and across the country.”
If you are a federal contractor or subcontractor and need an affirmative action plan drafted or retooled, are engaged in an OFCCP audit, or otherwise need affirmative-action related services, please let me know how we can leverage our new capabilities to help your business.
As a dad of a woman (girl) who may someday live in the music industry, I read with great interest the comments of Recording Academy President Neil Portnow, responding to why women were so under-represented as winners at this year’s Grammys.
It has to begin with … women who have the creativity in their hearts and souls, who want to be musicians, who want to be engineers, producers, and want to be part of the industry on the executive level… [They need] to step up because I think they would be welcome. I don’t have personal experience of those kinds of brick walls that you face but I think it’s upon us—us as an industry—to make the welcome mat very obvious, breeding opportunities for all people who want to be creative and paying it forward and creating that next generation of artists.
Why am I posting of video of a bunch of teen and preteen kids playing music? For starters, my daughter is the lead singer, and I think they’re very worthy of sharing.
Also, Fake ID teaches us a couple of employment lessons.
Age is not a valid predictor for success. Fake ID is comprised of two 11 year olds (including Norah) and three 14 year olds. In my opinion, they perform well above their young ages suggest. Don’t judge your employees, or prospective employees, by their age, judge them on their abilities and talents, whether old or young.
Talent is not a substitute for hard work. What impresses me most about how well Fake ID performs isn’t the performance, but all of the time and effort they put in to honing it. Lots of great talent wastes away by laziness and apathy. Your best employees will be the ones that work the hardest, period.
You have one more chance to catch Fake ID live this month, at Sky Zone Highland Heights, tomorrow, January 27, from 7 - 8:30 pm. No cover for the music, regular jumping rates apply.
The Hilarious World of Depression is a series of frank, moving, and, yes, funny conversations with top comedians who have dealt with this disease, hosted by veteran humorist and public radio host John Moe. Join guests … to learn how they’ve dealt with depression and managed to laugh along the way. If you have not met the disease personally, it’s almost certain that someone you know has, whether it’s a friend, family member, colleague, or neighbor. Depression is a vicious cycle of solitude and stigma that leaves people miserable and sometimes dead. Frankly, we’re not going to put up with that anymore. The Hilarious World of Depression is not medical treatment and should not be seen as a substitute for therapy or medication. But it is a chance to gain some insight, have a few laughs, and realize that people with depression are not alone and that together, we can all feel a bit better.
As a launching point, I recommend the January 2 episode featuring Rhett Miller (who also wrote and performs the podcast’s theme song, about “the world’s greatest clown”). Rhett talks frankly about his own teenage suicide attempt and how music saved his life. It’s a supremely worthwhile listen from one of the world’s great songwriters, and an all around good guy.
As you’ll see below, sexual harassment has become such a big story that it’s (sadly) earned it’s own headlining category in my weekly recap of What I Read This Week. I am looking forward to the day (hopefully sooner rather than later) when I can delete it.
For now, sexual harassment continues to dominate the headlines, both general and employment law. This week, I guested on the Talent 10x podcast to discuss sexual harassment at Work in a Post-Weinstein World.
One of my absolute favorite things to do is taking Norah to concerts.
Wednesday, I’m taking her to a punk show.
SWMRS / The Interrupters / The Regrettes.
I have no doubt that I will be one of the oldest people there, maybe by a couple of decades. And, I don’t care a lick.
I love their music. I love being able to experience it with my daughter. And I’ll continue to love doing it for as long as she wants to hang with Dad at a concert.
So, if you find yourself at the Agora Wednesday night, look for us up in front of the stage. That’s where Norah likes to be, and I’ll be bouncing right next to her.
And, if you don't know The Regrettes, check them out. They might be the opener, but they are the band I am most excited to see.
What do you do to keep yourself feeling young? Share in the comments below.
As the father of daughters, I am deeply ashamed (but not “sorry” because that means I’m guilty of something). At the time I believed that my sociopathic manipulation of the 22-year-old in my office was consensual, and of course now I realize my behavior was wrong. In conclusion, I will get the help I so desperately need because this isn’t actually my fault, I have a problem so I’m not responsible for my actions.
(I’ll take this over Matt Lauer’s “apology” 10 times out of 10; at least this one is honest.)
Each week, Marc and Dennis will bring true stories of wacky, grotesque, and just plain bizarre workplace happenings. And while we hope that you find these cases as interesting and amusing as we do — and laugh along with us in the telling — make no mistake, we’ll also be bringing analysis and legal discussion of those cases.
Two episodes in, they have not disappointed. You cannot go wrong discussing an employee’s fear of the mark of the beast, or a company that disciplines poor performers by spanking them with yard signs.
If you’re reading this, I know you’re an employment law and HR nerd (it’s okay to admit it; I came to grips with it a long time ago). Do yourself a favor a jump over to hwepodcast.com, or your podcast app of choice, and queue up the first two episodes. I guarantee that your daily commute will thank you for it.
Where do you take your mind when you’re just having a bad day, when you have to deal with that employee, when a client chews you out (I know, that never happens), or when you otherwise need a mental breather from the world and all of its evil and other craziness?
It drives my family completely nuts. If I’m even one minute late for anything, I am a mess. For that reason, we are usually five minutes early for everything (which is perfectly okay by me).
I view tardiness as an issue of respect. When you are late, it tells others that you view your time as more valuable than theirs. To me, lateness equal selfishness, and I have little tolerance for the selfish.
It’s been a couple of weeks since baseball’s evil empire, otherwise known as the New York Yankees, knocked my beloved Cleveland Indians out of the playoffs.
I can’t say the pain has gone away, but seeing the Astros as the American League’s representative in the World Series helps an ever-so-small small bit.
With no risk of Yankees winning it all this year, it’s time I paid off a little bet I made with Dan Schwartz over the outcome of the Division Series.
Thank you, Mr. Bryson, for proving my point. Let me also suggest (if you can stomach it) that you check out his account on Disqus.com, which exposes his views on a range of topics, including LGBTQ people, the Jews, and school shootings as false flags. For the record, he is con, con, and WTF?!
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