Don’t forget your b.s. meter when conducting workplace investigations

By now, you’ve likely heard about the plagiarism flap that has embroiled the GOP following Melania Trump’s Monday-night convention speech.

In case you missed it, Melania Trump (or her speechwriter) is accused of copying parts of Michelle Obama’s 2008 DNC speech for Mrs. Trump’s 2016 oration.

Decide for yourself:

Ohio appellate decision sends working moms back to the 1950s

Employee claims her supervisor advised her not to apply for an open position because, “she is a single mother with kids and if [she] had to take time off work, it would jam [us] up for getting someone to cover the scheduling.”

Employee sues for gender discrimination. She wins in a landslide, right?

Court permits use of employee’s own racist Facebook posts in race-discrimination case

I read with interest this morning’s post on Eric Meyer’s Employer Handbook Blog, entitled, Court says employee’s Facebook page on race stereotypes is fair game at trial. The post discusses a recent federal court decision which permitted an employer to impeach at trial a race-discrimination plaintiff with her own racial Facebook posts.

WIRTW #421 (the “D-Man” edition)

Happy 8th birthday (yesterday, actually) to the best son a dad could ask for. He hasn’t had the easiest 8 years, but he’s always smiling and making people laugh. And for that (and too many other reasons to list) we love him to pieces.

When COBRA and workers’ comp collide

Every now and again I get a question from a client to which I don’t know the answer, or the answer surprises me. It doesn’t happen that often, and when it does I’m man enough to admit it.

Yesterday I received just such a question. Must an employer continue the health insurance of an employee out of work with a workers’ compensation injury?

Why #BlackLivesMatter should matter to employers

Earlier this week, an African-American Nashville police officer was decommissioned for changing his Facebook profile photo to that of Black Panther National Chairman Bobby Seale and Huey Newton holding a Colt .45 and a shotgun. The photo became iconic in the 1960 for the Black Power movement. Elsewhere in Tennessee, the Memphis police department suspended two police officers for Snapchatting a picture of a white person pointing a gun at a cartoon image of a black child running through a home.

Then, Cleveland Browns running back Isaiah Crowell Instagrammed this image, with the caption, “Mood: They give polices all type of weapons and they continuously choose to kill us...#Weak.”

Paternalism vs. pregnancy discrimination

Paternalism and pregnant workers do not mix. Case in point? According to this EEOC press release, the agency has sued a North Carolina retail-furniture franchise for pregnancy discrimination.