I thought we were beyond blaming the victim for sexual harassment

This post will be apolitical. I’d hold the same opinion whether the speaker of the comments I intend to discuss was a D, an R, or a something-else. As it stands, however, the speaker happens to be Donald Trump. So, if you don’t want to read something negative about the Republican nominee for President, click over to something else.

Hey, look, it’s me on the Channel 5 news!

Yesterday, I had the pleasure of an interview with Megan Hickey of Cleveland’s Channel 5. We talked about OSHA’s new fines that took effect yesterday.

 

Employers, ignore 7th Circuit’s rejection of Title VII LGBT protections

In Hivley v. Ivy Tech Community College (7th Cir. 7/28/16) [pdf], the 7th Circuit ruled that Title VII does not prohibit sexual-orientation discrimination. In doing so, this appellate court has taken a position directly contrary to that of the EEOC, which has concluded that Title VII expressly prohibits LGBT discrimination under the rubric of gender non-conformity-as-sex-discrimination.

The entire 42-page opinion is worth your time to read. It is a thorough analysis and summary of the state of the law (pro and con) of LGBT employment discrimination. Do not, however, dismiss this Court’s dismissal of Hivley’s claim as anti-LGBT. Instead of anti-LGBT rights, consider the 7th Circuit as pro-precedent. Indeed, even though the plaintiff loses her case, the Court has a lot to say on whether the result, which the Court believes Title VII mandates, is morally justified:

WIRTW #423 (the “final frontier” edition)

The Icarus Craft (with gold record)

As you can tell from reading this weekly column, I’m a bit of a music fan. I’ve also always been fascinated by outer space. In another life (one in which I’m actually good at science) I’d like to think I was an astrophysicist instead of a lawyer.

Thus, this bit of news, c/o Jack White’s Third Man Records, is particularly cool:

On July 30th, in celebration of our 7th anniversary, Third Man Records will reveal our attempt to play the first phonographic record in space — a gold-plated 12” master of Carl Sagan’s “A Glorious Dawn” (a moving arrangement of Sagan’s sagacious words culled from his magnificent Cosmos series, previously pressed and distributed as a 7” in their first year of operation, 2009). This record marks our 3 MILLIONTH RECORD PRESSED! The vessel tasked with the mission —The ICARUS CRAFT — is a custom-built “space-proof” turntable attached to a high-altitude balloon.

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

OSHA says “negative” to post-accident testing

Buried in OSHA’s impending final rule on electronic reporting of workplace injuries and illnesses is this little nugget. OSHA believes that you violate the law if you require an employee to take a post-accident drug test. Let me repeat. According to OSHA, you violate the law if you automatically drug test any employee after an on-the-job accident.

Allow me to pause while this sinks in.

EEOC offers guidance for Youth@Work

Do you employee minors? If so, you should be aware of the wage-and-hour laws for child labor. The Department of Labor, however, isn’t the only federal agency taking a look at your under-18 employees. Recently, the EEOC launched an entire portal devoted to the issue.

The microsite, entitled Youth@Work, is the agency’s education and outreach campaign to promote equal employment opportunity for teenage workers.

For God’s sake, think before you email

I have lots of readers. Thousands upon thousands. Do you know who doesn’t read my blog, however? Former DNC Chair (and Congresswoman) Debbie Wasserman Schultz. How do I know? Because, if she does, she would have read this: