WIRTW #393 (the “Darth Trump” edition)

The Internet was invented in 1983. It’s taken me 32 years to figure out why. The Internet was invented so that someone could replace audio of Darth Vader with audio of Donald Trump in Star Wars clips.

Darth Trump wins the Internet.

Here’s the rest of what I read this week:

#ElderlyChristmasSongs and age discrimination

Yesterday, #ElderlyChristmasSongs trended on Twitter. Yes, it’s meant to be a joke, and, yes, some were even funny. Now here’s the part where I get to play Employment Law Scrooge.

Alcoholism and ADA: former USC coach Steve Sarkisian files suit over his termination

On October 12, USC fired its head football coach, Steve Sarkisian. Yesterday, Sarkisian filed a 31-page, 14-count complaint in California state court challenging his termination. The crux of his claims? That USC violated state disability-discrimination laws by terminating him because of his disability and failing to accommodate his disability—alcoholism. 

There is no doubt that the ADA protects alcoholism as a disability. The law, however, draws a line between protected addiction and unprotected on-the-job misconduct , even when the former causes the latter.

This case will test the limits of that line.

U.S. Chamber takes on the NLRB’s Theater of the Absurd

If you’ve been reading my blog for any length of time, what I am about to tell you should not come as a shock—I’m not a huge fan of the current iteration of the NLRB.

Yes, labor unions have a right to exist, and, yes, employees have the right to join them, and, yes, unions have the right to collectively bargain for wages, hours, and other terms and conditions of employment. When the NLRB operates correctly, it balances the rights of employers, unions, and employees to maintain industrial peace. Currently, the NLRB is not operating correctly.

My main critique of the NLRB is not with its handling of the 7% of the American workforce that is collectively bargained (although that has issues too), but instead with its handling of the other 93%. The NLRB has waged a war over the past five years on the issue of protected concerted activity, and nowhere do the NLRB’s opinion and my opinion differ more than over the issue of employee handbooks and workplace policies.

Can you legally deck the workplace halls?

The holiday season is in full swing. Gifts are flying off the shelves, FedEx is delivering too many Amazon-logoed boxes to count, and lights, trees, and wreaths are everywhere.

What about the workplace? Can you legally decorate for the holidays at work? And, if you do, does the law require that you accommodate all religions in your holiday displays? The answer might surprise you.

WIRTW #392 (the “miles and miles and miles” edition)

Yesterday afternoon was the Fall Play-In at my daughter’s school. It’s essentially a music recital for the kids in grades K – 5 who take private music lessons. Amid a chorus of Christmas and classical pieces on the grand piano, Norah rocked The Who’s I Can See For Miles on her Fender, which she recently started learning. Like always she’s her own toughest critic. To me, and everyone else there, she sounded great.

Here’s the rest of what I read this week:

Are you prepared for an active shooter at your workplace?

Today’s post was going to be about accommodating different holiday traditions at work, but that post will have to wait. Yesterday, San Bernardino happened.

It’s not right that we have to think about how to respond if an active shooter enters your workplace. It’s not right that the phrase active shooter is even part of our vocabulary. But, we do, and it is. And your business needs to know how to respond in the event this evil enters your business.

Thankfully, your friendly neighborhood Department of Homeland Security has put together a guide on how to respond to an active shooter [pdf].