Is obesity the same as a green mohawk?
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...
WIRTW #306 (the “donning and doffing” edition)
By Jon Hyman
Earlier this week, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its first employment decision of 2014, Sandifer v. U.S. Steel [pdf] , which held that the ...
Eliminating Mad-Men workplace policies #SOTU
By Jon Hyman
During Tuesday’s State of the Union Address, President Obama handed down the following edict : It’s time to do away with workplace policie...
A lesson on union avoidance
By Jon Hyman
Last week, the Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics published its annual report of union membership . Private-sector union membe...
Are temporary impairments ADA-protected disabilities? You bet.
By Jon Hyman
When Congress amended the ADA in 2009 , it’s goal was to bring the statute back to its original intent — the protection of the legitimately ...
High praise for The Employer Bill of Rights
By Jon Hyman
It’s always nice for someone to post a five-star review of your book on Amazon, but it’s even nicer when one of the most well-respected and...
WIRTW #305 (the “encore” edition)
By Jon Hyman
In case you haven’t seen the latest and greatest band sweeping Cleveland’s western suburbs, I bring you Norah and the Troopers, courtesy of ...
The workplace ethics of class-segregated bathrooms—the results
By Jon Hyman
Two weeks ago I posed this question: Is it acceptable for a company to prohibit warehouse workers from using office bathrooms? The results?...
When is 1,250 not 1,250? Hours worked versus hours paid for FMLA eligibility
By Jon Hyman
For an employee to be eligible to take leave under the FMLA, the employee must have been employed for at least 12 months, and have at least ...
Why I don't like most non-disparagement clauses (and 3 tips to fix them)
By Jon Hyman
Will Blythe recently penned an op-ed in the New York Times entitled, Fired? Speak No Evil. In this piece, Mr. Blythe chronicled his recent...
Stand by your employees: an ode to Norah and the Troopers
By Jon Hyman
For the past nine months, my daughter has been taking guitar lessons at School of Rock in Strongsville . This past fall, we upped her from p...