What does a $100,000 H-1B visa fee mean for American businesses?

Donald Trump's recent Proclamation raises the fee for foreign nationals seeking entry into the U.S. on an H-1B to $100,000. 

[T]he entry into the United States of aliens as nonimmigrants to perform services in a specialty occupation under section 101(a)(15)(H)(i)(b) of the INA ... is restricted, except for those aliens whose petitions are accompanied or supplemented by a payment of $100,000.

This restriction lasts at least 12 months, with only narrow "national interest" exceptions.

WIRTW #773: the 'free speech' edition

"Whoever would overthrow the Liberty of a Nation, must begin by subduing the Freeness of Speech; a Thing terrible to Publick Traytors."

— Benjamin Franklin, The New-England Courant, July 9, 1722.

"If there is a bedrock principle underlying the First Amendment, it is that the government may not prohibit the expression of an idea simply because society finds the idea offensive or disagreeable."
— U.S. Supreme Court, Texas v. Johnson (1989).

"The Thought Police would get him just the same. He had committed — would still have committed, even if he had never set pen to paper — the essential crime that contained all others in itself. Thoughtcrime, they called it. Thoughtcrime was not a thing that could be concealed for ever. You might dodge successfully for a while, even for years, but sooner or later they were bound to get you."
— George Orwell, 1984.

"Free speech is neither a privilege nor a partisan luxury. It's the oxygen of democracy. Without it, elections are hollow, dissent is branded illegitimate, or worse, and truth becomes whatever those in power decree. History shows that silencing speech is both the path by which authoritarians rise and the tool by which they endure."
— Jon Hyman, September 18, 2025.

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

Documentation + Process + Conduct = the three things you need to best bulletproof your termination decisions

How do you fireproof your workplace decisions from discrimination lawsuits? By doing exactly what Kent State University just did.

A transgender professor sued after being denied a leadership role and campus transfer, claiming sex discrimination. On appeal, the 6th Circuit affirmed the summary dismissal of the case, because the employer had its ducks in a row.

Here's what happened, and why the university won.

Outrage mobs shouldn't run your HR department. Employers need process, not panic, when the internet comes calling.

Outrage mobs shouldn't run your HR department. Yet Vice President JD Vance is urging the outrage mobs on. "When you see someone celebrating Charlie's murder, call them out and call their employer." That was his closing call to action as guest host of Charlie Kirk's podcast yesterday.

Plenty didn't need the nudge. Within 24 hours of Kirk's killing, employers nationwide—from media outlets to universities, airlines to retailers—were disciplining or firing staff over posts deemed "insensitive" or "celebratory" of his death.

A cottage industry of doxxing quickly formed. A site originally branded Expose Charlie's Murderers (since rebranded Charlie Kirk Data Foundation for obvious legal reasons) began cataloging names, employers, and posts. Activists like Laura Loomer pledged to ruin careers.

When does the workday begin and end for a remote worker?

With the rise of remote work, wage and hour laws have forced employers to grapple with what should be a straightforward question: When does a remote employee's workday actually begin and end?

In Lott v. Recker Consulting, the Southern District of Ohio offered a clear answer.

Kiara Lott and 130 of her fellow Patient Care Associates worked from home as call-center reps. Their day started with the familiar remote routine: coffee, logging in, Duo security, VPN, ADP timekeeping, Microsoft Teams, and then opening the phone system and workflow tools to handle patient calls.

They sued under the FLSA, claiming they weren't paid for the minutes spent booting up, logging in, authenticating, and later shutting down. The employer countered that all of that was non-compensable "preliminary" or "postliminary" time.

WIRTW #772: the 'drooly zerberts' edition

On this week's episode of The Norah and Dad Show, I check in with Norah as she kicks off her sophomore year of college. We talk about her experiences pledging a sorority, balancing two jobs, navigating classes, and how the dorm food is holding up.

It's a fun conversation about growth, responsibility, and finding your footing in year two of college life.

Below is a quick clip to whet your appetite.

You can listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, Amazon Music, Overcast, on our website, or through your favorite podcast app. And if you enjoy it, please like, review, and subscribe—it really helps us grow!

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

'Come on you Gunners!' as pretext for discrimination?

My family are Gooners. For the uninitiated, that means we're Arsenal Football Club supporters. My 17-year-old son is the most passionate of the lot.

On a recent layover in an airport lounge, Donovan was wearing his Arsenal kit when a man walked by, pointed at the crest, and with a British accent said: "Oy, you got some dirt on your chest."

It took Donovan a minute to process. And then, barely missing a beat, he got up, walked over to the man, and asked, "Are you a Spurs fan?" ("Spurs," short for Tottenham Hotspur, Arsenal's North London neighbor and most despised rival.)

The man replied, "I am."

To which Donovan, at the top of his lungs, yelled: "PISS OFF!"

Then he turned and walked back to our table, leaving the man chuckling with his family.

Can we still trust the EEOC to enforce our anti-discrimination laws?

The EEOC exists to combat workplace discrimination. Employers depend on it for guidance, employees depend on it for protection, and its credibility is what makes civil rights law meaningful in the workplace.

That's why the recent allegations against the agency itself are so concerning.

Marc Seawright, a transgender man and the EEOC's former Director of Information Governance and Strategy, alleges in his recently filed EEOC charge that the agency instructed him to scrub every mention of LGBTQ+ identities from its outreach materials. The agency created these materials to help employers understand their obligations under Title VII as defined by the Supreme Court in the Bostock case. According to Seawright, his expertise is now being "leveraged to perpetuate discrimination against people like me."

SCOTUS just green-lit racial profiling. This is bad. Really, really bad.

The Supreme Court just gave ICE the constitutional thumbs-up to profile people based on race, national origin, language, job, or where they happen to be.

A lower court had blocked ICE from detaining people by relying on appearance, accent, or occupation as a proxy for immigration status. On appeal, the Supreme Court, through a shadow-docket order, lifted that injunction. In plain English, ICE can once again use these factors to decide whom to stop, question, and detain.

What would you do if ICE showed up at your door?

Last Thursday, nearly 500 federal, state, and local officers descended on Hyundai's under-construction EV battery plant. By the end of the day, 475 workers—most of them Korean nationals—were in custody.

The raid was massive: roadblocks, a boat fishing people out of a sewage pond, workers hiding in air ducts. Agents asked every worker for identifying information before clearing some to leave and detaining the rest. It was the largest single-site enforcement action in Homeland Security history.

Hyundai has said that some arrested were not its direct employees but contractors or subcontractors. Still, construction of the $5.5 billion facility is now halted. South Korea dispatched diplomats. Lawsuits will almost certainly follow.

WIRTW #771: the 'americana' edition

Should out to the best band in the land, Old 97's. On Wednesday they will receive a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2025 Americana Awards & Honors in Nashville. This honor is so well earned. They are an alt-Americana pioneer who have been making great music with the same lineup since 1994. In my humble opinion, this is also long overdue. 

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

Does the NLRA protect the lone-wolf complainer?

When does the National Labor Relations Act protect as "concerted" the workplace complaints of a "lone wolf"? More often than you think.

In Miller Plastic Products, Inc. v. NLRB, A fabricator questioned whether the company at which worked early during the Covid pandemic was truly "essential." He challenged return-to-work protocols at an all-hands meeting and again later during a one-on-one with his manager, and urged a coworker with health risks to speak up. Days later, he was fired for "talking, attitude, and productivity."

Waxing philosophical: workplace speech vs. anti-discrimination law

Federal anti-discrimination laws protect people, not the content of their speech. Amy Wax, a Penn law professor (who, frankly, should have known better) just learned this lesson the hard way.

The law school disciplined her for what the it labeled "flagrant unprofessional conduct" stemming from a string of statements she made—some in the classroom, others in media—that denigrated racial minorities and others, including:

• Insinuating that Black people are inherently inferior to whites.
• Asserting the U.S. would be "better off with more whites and fewer nonwhites."
• Telling a Black colleague it's "rational to be afraid of Black men in elevators."
• Dismissing interracial marriage as misguiding advertising.
• Commenting on a podcast that Black women are "single moms with a bunch of guys who float in and out."
• Saying same-sex relationships are selfish and not about community or family.
• Claiming the country is better off with "fewer Asians" and describing them as resentful and envious of Western achievements.

Wax sued, claiming that punishing her for years of inappropriate racist, sexist, and homophobic statements was discrimination against her as a White Jewish woman.

WIRTW #770: the 'season 4' edition

This week marks the launch of season 4(!) of The Norah and Dad Show podcast.

Norah and I chat about our summer, which included a trip to Boston + a trip to Peniche, and her getting settled in for her sophomore year away at college. It also included some unwanted visitors getting to know Norah a little too well (which you can hear all about in the clip below).

As an aside, we had a great summer having Norah home. It is different having an adult-aged child, and I genuinely enjoyed getting to know my daughter as an adult and developing a different type of relationship with her. 10/10. Highly recommended.

You can listen to this full episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, Amazon Music, Overcast, the web, and everywhere else you get your podcasts. And while you're there, hit the subscribe button to make sure you get new episodes delivered to you when they drop every other Tuesday.

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

Marijuana legalization ≠ job protection

In Flannery v. Peco Foods, the 8th Circuit just provided a sharp reminder of how far the gap can be between what's "legal" for individuals and what's protected in the workplace.Flannery was fired after a drug test showed THC in his system. He said it came from CBD oil, pointed to the company handbook, and argued his levels were under the listed threshold. None of it mattered. He worked in an at-will employment state, and the court said plainly: employers can terminate "for good cause, no cause, or even a morally wrong cause."

That same lesson applies in Ohio, even after the state legalized recreational marijuana use last year and medical marijuana five years earlier.

Here's what Ohio law says about marijuana and employment:

Defending the "kitchen sink" discrimination lawsuit

Arnett Moore, a 51-year-old Baptist Black man, worked as a Division Manager for Avon. When Avon restructured, the company compared the performance of division managers in the region. Moore's numbers came in last. The decision-makers documented the process, applied objective sales data, and had multiple levels of approval. As a result, Avon fired Moore.

Moore then sued. First, he said Avon discriminated against him because of his disability or perceived disability Then he added sex. Then age. Then, race. And even religion. In the end, his complaint alleged six different forms of discrimination.

WIRTW #769: the 'slavery' edition

Donald Trump wants to make slavery great again.

In a rant on Truth Social, he fumed: "The Smithsonian is OUT OF CONTROL, where everything discussed is how horrible our Country is, how bad Slavery was… We are not going to allow this to happen.… This Country cannot be WOKE, because WOKE IS BROKE."

I can't believe I have to write this, but yes, slavery really was THAT BAD. Worse than bad. It was a centuries-long system of forced labor, racial terrorism, family separation, rape, murder, and dehumanization. It was chattel slavery—the commodification of human beings—on a scale unmatched in the Western world. It was, without exaggeration, the greatest moral stain on American history. Saying otherwise only displays your ignorance and bigotry.

Read the rest of this post at my Authoritarian Alarm Substack. (And while you're there, don't forget to subscribe.)

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

🚨 The Fifth Circuit Just Took Aim at the NLRB – And Potentially Every Federal Agency 🚨

This week, the Fifth Circuit handed down a decision in SpaceX v. NLRB that could fundamentally alter how federal labor law—and much of the administrative state—functions.

The court upheld injunctions blocking NLRB enforcement proceedings, ruling that the Board’s structure is likely unconstitutional because its members and administrative law judges are insulated from at-will removal by the President.

The 8th nominee for The Worst Employer of 2025 is … The Gender Corroborator

Policies on paper don't protect people. Training does. And this Buffalo Wild Wings location failed… spectacularly.

In April, 18-year-old Gerika Mudra went to dinner with a friend. When she went to the women's restroom, a server followed her in, banged on the stall door, and shouted: "This is a women's restroom. The man needs to get out of here."

Gerika—who is a biracial lesbian, not transgender—came out and said, "I am a lady." Instead of apologizing, the server doubled down: "You have to get out now." Feeling she had no other way to be believed, Gerika unzipped her hoodie to show she had breasts. Only then did the server leave. She has now filed a charge of discrimination against the restaurant

Your contracts are a culture test

Contracts are a culture test. This winery failed.

This summer, my daughter, a singer/songwriter, had a contract to perform four gigs at a local winery. She played the first three. Then, the winery's GM emailed her to say they were "going in a different direction" with their music and her "vibe no longer fit." He canceled her fourth gig.

Here's the problem: The contract (their contract; they proposed it and drafted it) only allowed them to cancel for "unforeseen circumstances." Changing the "vibe" plainly doesn't qualify. She politely pointed that out in an email response and asked when to expect payment. Crickets. For over a week.