WIRTW #589 (the “Coronavirus” edition)

Does the Coronavirus freak you out? Do you think it’s the beginning of the end for the human race, way over-hyped by the media, or somewhere in between? I’m in the “somewhere in between camp,” but it doesn’t mean that your business shouldn’t be preparing for the inevitable when this virus starts clustering in the US.

Thus, I’ve gathered the best thoughts on how to prepare from some of the best bloggers around the internet.

WIRTW #588 (the “new voices” edition)

One of the benefits participating in the Tri-C High School Rock Off is that your band gets featured in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame’s “New Voices in Rock” video series. One of the benefits of advancing to the Finals is that your band gets featured a lot more in said video. So, without further adieu, I bring you Fake ID’s contribution to the Rock Hall’s “New Voices in Rock” series.


The Finals are next Saturday night, February 29. Tickets are only $12 (including Rock Hall admission) and are available here. Aside from Fake ID participating, it really is one of Northeast Ohio's best music events of the year.

Here’s what I read this week:

WIRTW #587 (the “joy” edition)

On Valentine’s Day, we tend to focus (because marketing and advertising tell us that we should) on our significant other. Not to sound too cheesy, but I focus on my wife every day. I don’t need a special heart-shaped day on the calendar to remind me. Thus, I instead like to focus on the general ideals of love and that which brings joy into our lives. 

So for today, let’s focus less on the Hallmark world of Valentine’s Day and more on all of the things in our lives that bring us love and joy. 

And, in that vein, I bring you something that recently brought me tremendous joy—this video of my daughter learning that her band advanced to the finals of the 2020 Tri-C High School Rock Off. Don’t get me wrong, I’m excited for the opportunities that this will bring them, but I’m more excited because you can see from the look on her face when she hears the emcee announce, “Fake ID,” just how happy this makes her. We all need something in our lives that makes us this happy and joyful.

Happy Valentine’s Day y’all.

Here’s what I read this week:

WIRTW #586 (the “silos” edition)

Yesterday, Suzanne Lucas (aka the Evil HR Lady), asked a question about corporate jargon.

One of my least favorite corporate jargon-isms? “Stay in your lane.” It suggests that we only do that which we do best, and not veer into areas outside of our comfort zone.

Why not? New and different lead to learning and creativity.

Comfort zones are boring. They can lead to staleness and silos.

WIRTW #585 (the “demos” edition)

My daughter’s band, Fake ID, just recorded demos of a few of their original songs. Check them out on Soundcloud; they’d really appreciate it.


They will be performing some of these songs live at the Rock Hall tomorrow night for the first round of the Tri-C High School Rock Off. Fake ID is officially sold out of their ticket allotment (on behalf of the band, a big thank you to all who bought tickets), but they are still available through the Rock Hall’s box office, and will be sold at the door on the night of the event on a first-come-first-served basis. Cleveland.com calls the Rock Off “one of the most important — and best — musical events in Northeast Ohio.” Having attended in years past, I can vouch. It’s a fun night, with creative kids showing off their musical chops in a great venue (even if Norah’s not on stage).

Here’s what I read this week.

WIRTW #584 (the “He’s not the Messiah” edition)

We’ve sadly reached the point in history at which legends of the entertainment world are going to start passing. Someday, we’ll lose Paul, and Betty, and Mick. And the world will gasp, and mourn, and remember. This week was one of those weeks.

We lost Terry Jones, one of the founding members of Monty Python. He was a comedy genius, most famous for depicting middle-aged housewives, usually with hilariously falsetto voices. One of those housewives, Brian’s mom in Life of Brian, uttered one of the greatest lines in movie history—”He’s not the Messiah, he’s a very naughty boy.”


I discovered Monty Python’s Flying Circus as a pre-teen, late at night on our local PBS station. Staying up late to watch it made me feel part of a special, subversive cult. Flying Circus is now readily available, on Netflix, BBC America, and IFC, I’m joyfully introducing it to my 11-year-old son, who loves all things silly. And above all else, Python was always silly.

And Jones’s characters were some of the silliest. The nude organ player. Cardinal Biggles of the Spanish Inquisition. Mr. Creosote, the obese and vomiting diner in Meaning of Life. Holy Grail‘s Sir Bedevere. And Brian’s mum.

Rest in peace, Terry Jones. The world is better for all of the laughs you brought through the characters you created, and skits and movies you birthed.

Here’s what I read this week.

WIRTW #583 (the “Portugal (not the man)” edition)

Last year I asked y’all to share your tips on travel to Italy. And you came through. So, I thought I’d try again this year, with Portugal. We’ll be there for 8 days in late March, and are planning to visit Lisbon, Sintra, and Porto.

If you’ve been—

• What other towns are worth visiting?
• Can’t miss things to see and do?
• Must eat foods / restaurants?

Thanks! I figure it never hurts to crowdsource your vacation planning.

Here’s what I read this week:

WIRTW #582 (the “Rock Off” edition)

On Feb. 1, my daughter's band, Fake ID, will compete in the 2020 Tri-C High School Rock Off. The Rock Off is in its 24th year and is one of the biggest (and most prestigious) competitions for high school rock bands anywhere.

Tickets are only $10, include full access to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame (where the event is held, and usually a $28 admission ticket on its own), and help support the band you buy them from. Email me if you'd like tickets.

Here's what I read this week.

WIRTW #581 (the “home invasion” edition)

“A Day in the Life,” by (Not) The Beatles

Woke up, fell out of bed
Dragged a Bic across my head
Found my way downstairs to make a cup
And looking up I noticed…
there were three elderly Asian people in my kitchen!

This actually happened to me Monday morning. And technically, it was two elderly Asian people in my kitchen and one in my bathroom. 

I had accidentally left the garage door open the night before, and they had accidentally wandered into the wrong house. After a lot of dog barking, and yelling, and confusion, they wandered out into the early morning darkness. I have no idea who they were, where they came from, or where they went. It was most definitely the strangest morning of my life, and maybe the strangest home invasion of all time.

Here’s what I read this week.

WIRTW #580 (the “I voted” edition)

Have you cast your ballot for the Worst Employer of 2019? Time is running short. The polls close Tuesday, December 17, at 11 pm.

VOTE here

Once you’ve voted, please download your official Ohio Employer Law Blog “I voted for the Worst Employer of 2019” badge and share on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc. Please tag your post with #worstemployer2019 so that I can more easily find it and feel the love.

And don’t forget to return on December 18 when I’ll announce this year’s big winner (or loser, depending on how you look at it).

Here’s what I read this week.

WIRTW #579 (the “blank slate” edition)

Next Saturday, December 14, Norah and her Fake ID bandmates will be traveling west to Elyria, Ohio, to play Blank Slate, a very cool all ages, all inclusive, and substance free club. Tickets are only $5 if you buy them in advance (here) or $7 at the door.

Here’s what I read this week.

Discrimination

• Sex and the CEO — via Jonathan HR Law
• Stuffing Discrimination Complaints Into Thanksgiving? Feast on these Cases — via Dan Schwartz’s Connecticut Employment Law Blog
• There’s retaliation, and then there’s locking the complainant in a walk-in freezer. (Allegedly) — via Eric Meyer’s Employer Handbook Blog
• Ohio Fairness Act Takes Important First Step in Ohio House Committee — via Ohio Chamber Blog
• LGBTQ Rights in Employment: Does it Boil Down to the “Bathroom Use” Question Again? — via BeLabor The Point

HR & Employee Relations

• Can Music Increase Your Workplace Productivity? — via HR Gazette
• It’s Perfectly Legal to be an Asshole. — via HR Examiner with John Sumser
• How harmful thought patterns about workplace bullying and mobbing may accelerate the aging process — via Minding the Workplace
• Going Back to Work After a Pregnancy Loss — via Harvard Business Review
• How do I talk to my coworker about her body odor? — via Ask a Manager

Technology

• Facebook built a facial recognition app that identified employees — via Engadget HD
• Shaping Better Workplaces Through Social Media Screening — via Workology
• Cybersecurity in the Age of AI and Why Cybersecurity Isn’t Only a Tech Problem — via Harvard Business Review 
• An Alarming Number of Software Teams Are Missing Cybersecurity Expertise — via Dark Reading
• Seeking Insurance for Cybersecurity-Related Losses — via The D & O Diary

Wage & Hour

• Big Media Finds out that Salary Secrecy is Dead. Spreadsheets Share Everything — via Evil HR Lady, Suzanne Lucas
• Compliance with FLSA Overtime Rule Changes 2020 — via Staffing Industry Analysts
• 11th Cir.: Arbitration Clause Requiring Fee/Cost Splitting Violates the FLSA — via Overtime Law Blog

Labor

• Fired Google Employees Vow Federal Labor Complaint — via Forbes
• The NLRB Rules that Unpaid Interns Are Not Employees Under the Act — via Hunton Employment & Labor Law Perspectives™
• NLRB’s LA Specialty Produce Decision Provides More Clarity on Employee Handbook Rule Standards — via Employment Law Worldview
• Buttigieg campaign staffers join union — via CUE, Inc.

OSHA & Safety

• Workers sue McDonald’s over workplace violence — via HR Dive
• McDonalds to Train Store Employees on Mitigating & Identifying Violence — via Blogging4Jobs
• Attorney Mental Health: ‘Thanksgiving’ Isn’t Just a Holiday — via Law.com - In-House Counsel
• Erasing the Workplace Stigma of Behavioral Health Conditions — via EntertainHR
• Fifth Circuit Provides New Grounds for Employers to Pursue Late Notices of Contest to OSHA Citations — via Workplace Safety and Environmental Law Alert Blog
• How to Take Advantage of OSHA’s ‘Employee Misconduct’ Defense — via HR Hero Line
• OSHA Signals Its Regulatory Priorities in Fall Agenda — via OSHA Law Blog
• No Medical Marijuana in Ohio BWC’s Drug-Free Workplace — via Labor & Employment Law Navigator

WIRTW #578 (the “credibility” edition)

Yesterday, the NFL upheld the indefinite suspension of Cleveland Browns’ defensive lineman Myles Garrett, who last week assaulted Pittsburgh Steelers’ quarterback Mason Rudolph on the field with his helmet.

At his suspension hearing, Garrett attempted to mitigate his misconduct by claiming that Rudolph had used a racial slur on the field.

Garrett’s problem? It was the first time he had raised that claim in the week following the incident. He didn’t raise it on the field. Or after the game. Or to the media. Or at any time prior to his hearing. Even his teammates were caught off guard by the claim. And that’s a huge problem for the credibility of his defense.

In harassment cases, credibility is everything. And if employee waits until a trial or hearing to raise a claim of harassment, his (or her) credibility, as well as their claim, is shot.

Here’s what I read this week.

WIRTW #577 (the “side hustle” edition)

If I had gotten paid for my appearance on Matt Christensen‘s Fraud Not Frog podcast, I could classify it as a side hustle. But I didn’t; I appeared gratis to discuss the legal concerns businesses and employees need to consider when an employee wants to engage in a side hustle.

You can listen here, or better yes, listen by subscribing to Matt’s podcast in your app of choice.

Here’s what I read this week.

WIRTW #576 (the “Dolly” edition)

A couple of months ago, in the 568th version of “What I Read This Week,” I posted 5 of the best songs about work. I had no idea when I listed Dolly Parton’s “9 to 5” how divisive Dolly would be. In my wildest dreams I never imagined anyone could take issue with an American icon such as Dolly Parton. Who doesn’t love Dolly? Apparently, however, some of you exist.

Thankfully, I feel vindicated with my inclusion of Dolly. WNYC recently launched Dolly Parton’s America, a nine-part podcast series tracing Dolly’s roots from East Tennessee’s Great Smokey Mountains to country music superstar to cultural icon. It’s a fascinating listen, especially the second episode, all about her metamorphosis from “dumb blonde” sidekick to Porter Wagoner to the biggest star in country music.

I highly recommend you add Dolly Parton’s America to your podcast queue.

Here’s what I read this week.

WIRTW #575 (the “3.5” edition)

Being a parent is the world’s hardest job. But it’s also the most world’s most rewarding one. Which is why we keep doing it. The rewards are worth celebrating.

Last Friday night, I got to watch my daughter and her band absolutely blow the glass-pyramid roof off the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame at Cleveland Magazine’s Best of Cleveland Party.

“An example,” you ask? Here’s their latest original song, called “3.5” (which, in this proud dad’s very unbiased opinion, rips).


I love seeing the looks on people’s faces when the realize the sounds they are hearing are coming from a bunch of kids. At the Best of Cleveland event, I really loved seeing the band that followed them transform from, “We have to follow some kid band” (which was the look on their faces before soundcheck), to “How in the hell are we supposed to follow that?!” (which they actually said as they were walking onto the stage for their set.)

Here’s some photo memories of the evening, set to the soundtrack of a local radio show’s A+ review of Fake ID.


If you’re so inclined to check out all of Fake ID’s goings-on, they have a website, FakeIDofficialband.com.

Here’s what I read this week.

WIRTW #574 (the “hero” edition)

What's a hero? I'm not sure how to define one, but I certainly know one when I see one. And earlier this week, I got to see one.

Dr. Harrison Schmitt is one of only 12 men to have walked on the moon. He was an astronaut on Apollo 17, the last NASA mission to land on the moon. He was also a United States Senator, chair of the NASA Advisory Council, and professor of engineering physics. And, at least according to his remarks, he still actively works with NASA.

He also has a very well developed sense of humor, as he was happy to share this clip of Norm McDonald asking David Letterman how it's possible that any of the Kardashians are more famous than someone who walked on the moon.

I was captivated listening to his remarks about his work on the Apollo lunar project.

Here's what I read this week.

WIRTW #573 (the “last laugh” edition)

When I go, I hope I have enough forethought to go out like this.

A dead man pranked his family at his own funeral by using a recording to scream ‘Let me out!’ as they put his coffin into the ground

Here’s what I read this week.

WIRTW #572 (the “what did I miss” edition)

Did I miss anything big while I was away earlier this week?

• Argument analysis: Justices divided on federal protections for LGBT employees  — via SCOTUSBlog
• The Law is the Basement — via Kate Bischoff’s tHRive Law & Consulting Blog
• SCOTUS Oral Argument Recap: Is Justice Gorsuch the swing vote on LGBT workplace rights? — via Eric Meyer’s The Employer Handbook Blog
• Trump Appointee Gorsuch Plays Coy In LGBTQ Employment Rights Case — via NPR
• Justice Gorsuch emerges as an unlikely swing vote in the LGBTQ discrimination cases — via Vox
• The Supreme Court asks whether Title VII protects LGBT workers — via The Economist’s Democracy in America blog

In other news, I recently authored an article for Gusto discussing what AB5 (California’s recent law on independent contractor classification) means for small businesses operating in that state (including some practical tips for all employers dealing with contractor classification issues). You can access the article here.

Here’s what else I read this week:

WIRTW #571 (the “thoughts and prayers” edition)

I’ll be offline next week, as my family will be in Philadelphia for my son’s heart procedure.

Donovan was born with pulmonary valve stenosis, and on Tuesday he’s having a balloon dilation via cardiac catheterization to (hopefully) fix it.

While everyone likes to tell us it’s a routine procedure, we’ve learned with Donovan over the years that because of his genetic disorder anything medical is rarely simple. Moreover, if it doesn’t work, he’s almost certainly looking at open heart surgery in his future to replace the valve.

Thus, we are traveling to Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (with a small detour first to New York City to take D-man to the Nintendo Store; he told me I better have a lot of room on my credit card) with hopeful thoughts and very anxious anticipation.

We’re taking all good vibes and prayers you have to send Donovan’s way.

I’ll post an update next week after his procedure.

Here’s what I read this week.

WIRTW #570 (the “unexpected” edition)

I always assumed my kids would out-achieve me. I just never imagined it would happen by the 8th grade. 

Cleveland Magazine just named her band, Fake ID, Cleveland’s “Best Unexpected Rock Stars” in its 2019 Best of Cleveland issue.

It’s not everyday you witness a band of 12- to 15-year-olds absolutely wail on Black Sabbath’s “War Pigs.”

Yet there’s Fake ID, chugging through the sinister heavy metal classic with style and skill to spare, cresting a wave of pummeling sound…. Yes, the cover act’s ages often precludes bars and clubs from their tour dates, but Fake ID’s easy poise and undeniable chops tend to draw a crowd wherever they plug in.

You can read the rest of the story here, check out Fake ID at their website, and catch them performing at the Best of Cleveland Party at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on October 25.

Here’s what else I read this week: