Damage caps for discrimination claims don't work

$75,000. That’s what Morton Salt just paid to settle a lawsuit brought by the EEOC.

The agency alleged that Morton Salt discriminated against a Black employee because of his race and disability—and then retaliated against him for reporting it.

The allegations are disturbing:

• A white coworker allegedly used the n-word repeatedly, including calling employees "worthless [n-words]"—something Morton knew about.

• A Black employee reported the racist behavior.

• Instead of addressing or investigating the harassment, Morton reprimanded and ultimately fired the person who spoke up.

And what did it cost them? Seventy-five grand.

WIRTW #755: the 'seuss' edition

ChatGPT continues to amaze me with what it can do. Last week, I asked it to write a parody of "Green Eggs & Ham" about tariffs. You can read that story — called This Tariff Sham — over on LinkedIn.

This week, I decided to take it a step further: "Can you write a story in the style of Dr. Seuss's 'The Cat in the Hat' about the rise of authoritarianism in the United States and the increasing threat to the rule of law posed by the current Trump administration?" Then, I asked it to illustrate the results in a complete children's book. The results? Simply stunning. Read the story below, or download the fully illustrated book here.

* * *

The Man in the Red Tie
A Cautionary Tale in the Style of Dr. Seuss

The sun wasn't sunny. The news made us frown.
The Rule of Law seemed to be sliding down.

We sat in our house. We felt anxious and stuck.
We read every tweet and just whispered, "Oh… yuck."

Then THUMP!
Something boomed like a cannonball blast.
We turned to the screen — and he strode in fast.

He wore a red tie, too long and too wide,
With a smirk on his face and a puffed-out pride.

"I am the Man!" he said with a grin.
"I'll make us all great by just keeping me in!"

He stomped and he shouted, he pouted and screamed.
He flattered the rich and he schemed while they beamed.

He scolded the courts, he mocked every norm,
He said, "I alone will reform the reform!"

He fired the watchdogs who'd barked at his lies.
He said, "Loyal dogs are the very best guys."

He told folks in uniforms, "Do what you must.
If I tell you it's legal, then you know it’s just."

He roared at the press and he called them "fake."
He branded all truth as a liberal mistake.

He built up a wall, not just out of brick—
But out of division, and anger, and schtick.

He courted the chaos, the proud and the cruel.
He said, "I don't care — I make the rule!"

And some folks just cheered, "He tells it like so!"
(Though what "so" was… they weren't sure they'd know.)

But the skies grew darker, the air full of dread,
As the books stayed closed and the laws grew dead.

Then came the Day — the one we all feared.
The vote loomed large, and the stakes had cleared.

Would the people still matter? Would ballots be true?
Would justice be blind, or just red, white, and blue?

Then YOU stood up tall — yes, you, in that chair!
You said, "This is still our Republic to care!"

"The law is not his — it belongs to us all.
It's strong when we stand, and weak when we fall."

You voted. You marched. You wrote and you spoke.
You called out each lie. You challenged each joke.

And maybe, just maybe, the tide turned again—
The Rule of Law held, with paper and pen.

Now kids, let me tell you — remember this day.
Democracy isn't just kept safe by what we say.

It's guarded by people who act when things tilt,
Who patch up the cracks before freedoms wilt.

So the next time a man comes to town with a grin,
And says, "I alone can make your side win,"—

Say, "Thanks, but no thanks. We've read this old plot.
We're the People. We matter. Like it or not."

---

Here's what I read this week that you should read, too.

Documentation wins cases

Charles Carroll worked as a high-ranking exec at IDEMIA, the company behind TSA PreCheck. He ran a new initiative called "Trusted Fan" and was involved in renewing a major TSA contract.

He was also in his 60s and had recently been diagnosed with prostate cancer.

A year after disclosing his diagnosis, and after delivering the TSA contract renewal, he was fired. The company said it was due to performance issues: lack of leadership, mishandling the Trusted Fan rollout, and frustrations around the contract renewal process.  

The Sixth Circuit upheld summary judgment for the employer across the board, including on Carroll's disability and age discrimination. Why? One word: documentation.

American Gestapo

Federal agents at Detroit Metro Airport detained attorney Amir Makled for 90 minutes. They asked him about his clients. They asked to search his phone.

Why? Because he represents a pro-Palestinian protester arrested at the University of Michigan.

According to the Detroit Free Press, Makled refused to turn over his phone, citing attorney-client privilege. But the message was clear: represent the "wrong" person, and you might be next.

This is not an isolated incident. It's part of a dangerous pattern. It's evidence of our quickening slide into authoritarianism. When the authorities target lawyers just for doing their jobs, democracy is on life support.

WIRTW #754: the 'due process' edition

"If you violated the law, you are not entitled to due process."
– Rep. Victoria Spartz, March 2024

Let that sink in. An elected official—sworn to uphold the Constitution—said that people who allegedly violated the law are not entitled to due process.

That's not just legally wrong. It's dangerous.

Due process is the mechanism by which we determine whether someone did violate the law. It's not a prize we give afterward. It's the protection we guarantee beforehand. That's literally the point.

We don't just arrest people and skip the trial part. At least, we're not supposed to.

But we're increasingly seeing a frightening trend of "disappearing" people:

⮞ Immigrants detained indefinitely without hearings, or worse, sent to awful prisons overseas never to be heard from again.
⮞ Protesters and students punished based on accusations, not findings.
⮞ Politicians demanding instant penalties before any legal process unfolds.

That's not how this works. That’s not how any of this works.

We can't cherry-pick the Constitution based on who we like or what someone's accused of doing. Once we start deciding who "deserves" due process, we're no longer a nation of laws—we're an authoritarian regime of vibes and vengeance.

Due process is what makes our system fair. It's what makes us America. If that's controversial, we've got problems bigger than politics.

---

Here's what I read this week that you should read, too. 

The 3rd nominee for The Worst Employer of 2025 is … The Coprophilic Chief

"[The chief's] actions not only fail to meet the standards of professional conduct but also appear intended to humiliate me and other victims." That's according to a North Bergen, NJ, police officer speaking to People Magazine about his boss, Police Chief Robert Farley.

"Failing to meet the standards of professional conduct" might be understatement of the year. Farley is accused of horrific and unacceptable behavior. 

This is NOT how the ADA is supposed to work

Some federal agencies within the Trump administration have delayed acting on employee requests for reasonable accommodations because they are still figuring out their return-to-office policies.

That's not how the ADA works.

The ADA doesn't allow employers to "wait and see" before engaging in the interactive process. It doesn't allow delays while leadership huddles over long-term telework plans. And it definitely doesn't permit an employer to ignore an accommodation request just because it's inconvenient or politically tricky.

PSA: Get your measles titer checked

I just had measles titer checked—and to my surprise, it came back really negative. That means I either never had the measles vaccine (which I definitely did, as a child) or my immunity has disappeared over time.

This matters because measles is one of the most contagious viruses on the planet. If you're not immune and you're exposed to someone with measles, you have a 90% chance of getting infected. And it's not just a rash and a fever. Measles can cause pneumonia, brain swelling, and even death.

Moreover, we're currently seeing measles outbreaks across the country in places where it hasn't shown up in years. While many adults assume they're protected, as I just learned that may not be the case.

A day without associates

BigLaw is under attack—not just from Trump's executive orders targeting law firms that have historically supported his political opponents or oppose his current policies, but from their own employees.

Above the Law reports that associates at some of the nation's biggest law firms are considering going on "recruitment strikes" (i.e., refusing to participate in law student recruiting) if their employers fail to push back against Trump's unlawful orders.

What if these associates take it one step further and actually walk off the job in protest? Would the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) protect their concerted work stoppage?

WIRTW #753: the 'autocracy' edition

"Politics don't belong on LinkedIn."

I've been seeing that sentiment a lot lately in the comments on my posts about what's happening to our country.

And I get it. Politics for the sake of politics probably belongs on other platforms. But in today's interconnected world, the lines between politics, society, and business are more blurred than ever. This isn't politics for the sake of politics. This is about defending the democratic foundations that underpin a functioning society—one in which businesses can operate with stability, the rule of law is respected, and lawyers and law firms can serve clients within a system that values justice, accountability, and fairness.

Take, for example, the latest report from the Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem) project, which concludes that the U.S. is on the verge of losing its status as a democracy. If current trends continue, we could soon find ourselves grouped with countries like Hungary, India, and Turkey—nations that still technically hold elections, but where the outcomes are about as surprising as the ending of a Hallmark Christmas movie.

For those unfamiliar, V-Dem is one of the leading global democracy trackers. It measures things like election integrity, press freedom, and judicial independence. Their latest report places the U.S. firmly in the "trending poorly" category. We're sliding away from being a true democracy and rapidly approaching what experts call "electoral autocracy"—a polite way of saying the system still exists, but it's rigged enough that those in power don't have to worry too much about losing.

According to V-Dem, we're already deep into democratic decline. Trump has expanded presidential power by pardoning Capitol rioters and installing loyalists in key positions, undermined democratic institutions by targeting independent agencies and the press, and aligned with autocratic tendencies by distancing us from our traditional allies and global democratic norms.

If we don't pull the emergency brake soon (as in, within the next six months), we may end up looking back on this moment the way people felt watching the final episode of Game of Thrones—realizing too late that the good days were already behind us.

This isn't a left vs. right issue. It's not about partisanship. And it's not about politics. It's about democracy.

And for professionals on a platform like LinkedIn, these conversations aren't just acceptable, they're essential. The health of our democracy directly affects my business—lawyering. As a lawyer who works within—and deeply values—the rule of law, these issues are not abstract. They impact my business, my clients, and the systems on which I rely every day.

That's why I write about them. And it's why I'll keep doing it no matter how many people slide into my comments to tell me, "Politics don't belong on LinkedIn."

---

Here's what I read this week that you should read, too.

Teen employment is about education, not filling low-wage labor gaps

I'm a firm believer in the value of teenagers holding part-time jobs.

My first was as a mobile DJ, spinning records at Bar/Bat Mitzvahs, weddings, and sweet 16 parties. I also bussed tables in a nursing home dining room and unloaded giant rolls of fabric from trucks at a warehouse. Each job taught me about hard work, punctuality, taking direction, and dealing with people. They also taught me the value of money and the importance of earning my own spending cash.

That kind of experience is invaluable. It builds character, work ethic, and confidence. It's why both of my kids work, even though most of their friends do not. Just because I can provide walking-around money doesn't mean I should. If my daughter wants to drive a car, she'd better have the money to put gas in it and help cover the insurance. That's part of my responsibility as a parent—getting them ready for adulthood.

But what we're seeing now in some states (including Ohio) is something very different.

A teachable moment on digital communication security

An editor at The Atlantic was accidentally added to a high-level Signal group chat where Trump administration officials were planning military strikes in Yemen.

Yes, you read that right. A journalist, in a chat with top government officials, while they were actively discussing where and when to launch missiles.

It's an appalling breach of national security. It’s also a teachable moment for employers.

If the highest of federal officials can accidentally include a reporter in a thread outlining imminent military action, your company's employees can accidentally include the wrong person in a message about a client, a deal, a product launch, or a sensitive HR issue.

WIRTW #752: the 'this is 40' edition

"Could the President decide that he wasn't going to appoint or allow to remain in office any heads of agencies over 40 years old?"

"I think that that would be within the President’s constitutional authority under the removal power."

That exchange took place earlier this week between Judge Karen Henderson, a Reagan appointee to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, and Deputy Assistant Attorney General Eric McArthur during proceedings over the termination of board members from two independent federal agencies, the National Labor Relations Board and the Merit Systems Protection Board.

The claim that Trump has the constitutional authority to fire employees based on their age is appalling on its own. The Age Discrimination in Employment Act, which protects employees 40 and older, has plenty to say about that claim.

Even more disturbing, however, are the broader implications of the government's argument. Replace "over 40" with "Black," "female," "gay," "lesbian," "transgender," "Muslim," "Jewish," "disabled," or any other protected class. By McArthur's reasoning, those terminations would be just as lawful under Trump's "constitutional removal power." The government is arguing that Trump has the constitutional authority to remake the federal workforce into one only comprised of while, male, cisgender, under 40, non-disabled, Christians.

That argument isn't just legally dubious—it's a direct attack on the principles of equal opportunity and non-discrimination that underpin our society and our democracy. If accepted, it would open the door to a federal workforce shaped entirely by a President's personal biases, rather than merit, experience, or the law. The Constitution does not grant any President unchecked power to purge employees based on protected characteristics. This isn't about removal authority. It's about whether the rule of law still applies, even when the President finds it inconvenient to his agenda.

---

Here's what I read this week that you should read, too.

EEOC issues guidance on "DEI-related discrimination," but doesn't bother to define it

What is "DEI-related discrimination at work?" No one knows, including the EEOC.

Late yesterday, the EEOC released two new policy documents aimed at eliminating "unlawful DEI" in the workplace: What You Should Know About DEI-Related Discrimination at Work and What To Do If You Experience Discrimination Related to DEI at Work (the latter even available as a poster-sized PDF).

The most revealing line appears in the opening sentence of the "What You Should Know" document: 

"Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) is a broad term that is not defined in Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964."

Of course it's undefined, because DEI is not illegal.

This is what a constitutional crisis looks like

"For more than two centuries, it has been established that impeachment is not an appropriate response to disagreement concerning a judicial decision. The normal appellate review process exists for that purpose." – Chief Justice John Roberts

Translation: If you don't like a court ruling, you appeal. You don't ignore it. You don't retaliate against the judge. And you don't call for their impeachment.

And yet… here we are.

Yes, segregation is still illegal, and also amoral

Image via wiki commons, cc license

I can't believe I have to say this in 2025, but here we are … it's illegal and amoral to have racially segregated facilities in your business.

Why you shouldn't hate lawyers (or at least not all of us)

The LinkedIn comments on my recent post about Donald Trump targeting the Perkins Coie law firm really caught me off guard. I expected some debate and pushback. What I didn't expect, however, was the level of vitriol directed at lawyers and the legal profession in general. The anger, the contempt, the full-blown hatred, just for people doing their jobs.

I get it. Lawyers aren't winning any popularity contests. We're perceived somewhere between used car salesmen and that guy who takes up two spots in the parking lot. The lawyer jokes never stop. ("What do you call 1,000 lawyers at the bottom of the ocean? A good start." "Why don’t sharks attack lawyers? Professional courtesy." I've heard them all.)

Properly functioning boards of directors must hold CEOs accountable for their words and actions

Boards must hold CEOs accountable for their words and actions. Case in point: last week Tesla/SpaceX CEO Elon Musk resharing a post suggesting that Hitler wasn't responsible for the Holocaust, shifting blame instead to "public sector workers."

It's a statement as reckless as it is offensive, and it raises a bigger question: When a CEO behaves like this, where is the board of directors?

WIRTW #751: the 'losing' edition

"The Government's arguments … threaten to upend fundamental protections in our Constitution. But ours is not an autocracy; it is a system of checks and balances. Our Founders recognized that the concentration of power in one branch of government would spell disaster."

So wrote Judge Sparkle L. Sooknanan of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, in her order granting summary judgment in favor of Susan Tsui Grundmann and restoring her to her position as one of the three members of the Federal Labor Relations Authority. On February 10, 2025, President Trump had abruptly terminated her without explanation, notice, or a hearing, and termination which Judge Sooknanan concluded was unlawful and in violation of the FLRA's enabling statute.

If you want to follow the status of all of the lawsuits currently pending against Donald Trump and his administration, check out Just Security's Litigation Tracker. If you're keeping track at home, As of yesterday, 119 lawsuits (and counting) have been filed against the current Trump administration challenging its actions. Trump has lost most thus far.

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Here's what I read this week that you should read, too.

This is what effective HR looks like

"It's my job to stand up and be the buffer between politicals and career employees, and I'm just trying to do my goddamn job. They have no idea who they picked a f—king fight with."

That's Traci DiMartini, the ousted head of human resources at the IRS, speaking out after she says she was fired for telling agency employees that DOGE had orchestrated their firings.