WIRTW #293 (the “interview from hell” edition)
Is this the worst (fake) job interview ever ? Here’s the rest of what I read this week: Discrimination Fortune on the EEOC’s legal war...
Smoking out the law on e-cigarettes in the workplace
By Jon Hyman
29 states, plus the District of Columbia, have laws prohibiting anyone from smoking in the workplace . Like similar bans in other states, Oh...
The devil went down to the EEOC… A story on religious accommodation
By Jon Hyman
Halloween is almost upon us, which mean that it’s only appropriate to discuss one of the EEOC’s last actions before the government shutdown—...
Can George Costanza sue for sexual harassment or retaliation?
By Jon Hyman
In an episode of Seinfeld, George Costanza lost his job after the cleaning woman , with whom he had sex on his desk in his office after hour...
The case regarding intern harassment
By Jon Hyman
By now, you’ve probably read about Wang v. Phoenix Satellite Television (S.D.N.Y. 10/3/13) [pdf] , the New York federal court case dismissi...
WIRTW #292 (the “hot pockets” edition)
By Jon Hyman
Are you looking for some fresh idea on how to spruce up your management style? Look no further than these four tips from corporate-guru Jim ...
How to handle the malingering FMLA abuser
By Jon Hyman
Let’s say you have an employee who claims to be suffering from a chronic back injury. He even has doctor’s notes certifying that his back pa...
It’s time to end sexual orientation & gender identity discrimination
By Jon Hyman
There is currently legislation pending in both the Ohio House [ H.B. 163 ] and Ohio Senate [ S.B. 125 ] that would include “sexual orientati...
751,942 (and a half) marks against the EEOC in background check litigation
By Jon Hyman
It’s no secret that criminal background checks rank highly on the EEOC’s hit list. The EEOC has taken the position that a policy that per se...
Fired for posing for Playboy? Or, how does an employer prove a negative?
By Jon Hyman
Jessica Zelinske, a 33-year-old Minnesota mom, is suing her former employer after it fired her for appearing in Playboy’s 2011 “Hot Housewi...
WIRTW #291 (the “if you can’t beat ‘em…” edition)
By Jon Hyman
At The Employer Handbook Blog, Eric Meyer is polling his readers with the question, “ Would you hire this employee ?” The employee in quest...
Facebook “likes” as free speech
By Jon Hyman
In Bland v. Roberts , a Virginia federal court dismissed a First Amendment retaliation lawsuit brought by a group of terminated city employe...
Must you pay your employees for civic and charitable work?
By Jon Hyman
October is Breast Cancer Awareness month, which means that businesses all over the country will be sponsoring events to combat this disease ...
It’s the final countdown: How the government shutdown affects labor and employment law
By Jon Hyman
In case you haven’t heard, as of 12:01 a.m. this morning, the federal government is closed . Your business will feel this shutdown in many ...
What Kanye West can teach you about employee relations
By Jon Hyman
Ragan.com recently asked this question: “When should you fire an employee for his tweets?” As a management-side employment lawyer you’d th...
WIRTW #290 (the “magnificent seven” edition)
By Jon Hyman
I’m not going to lie; it’s nice when an organization recognizes my blog. The ABA Journal has honored me for the last three years by includin...
Creating alternate avenues for employees to complain key to harassment prevention
By Jon Hyman
In a story that reads more like an un-filmed script from The Office instead of an actual workplace, the EEOC announced that it has settle...
The biggest pitfall of social recruiting
By Jon Hyman
Jobvite recently the results of its 2013 Social Recruiting Survey . According to Jobvite, almost all recruiters are using some form of socia...
Is this legal? Employee fired for Instagramming paycheck
By Jon Hyman
Wade Groom, a salesperson at Lacoste’s Midtown NYC store, posted this photo of his paycheck to his Instagram account. Included with the ph...
Can an employee assume the risk of harassment?
By Jon Hyman
For the uninitiated, the Insane Clown Posse are rappers. They wear clown makeup, and perform songs titled, “Santa’s a Fat B**ch,” “Cherry Pi...