Why I’m a management-side lawyer

Every now and again it’s worth pulling a post out of the archives for a rerun.

Today, I look all the way back to April 15, 2008, for one of these reruns, to answer the question—

Why am I a management-side attorney?

Is employee copying of documents protected activity or unlawful stealing?

It’s a situation that plays out all too often. An employee emails a slew of documents to a personal email address, or drags them into a personal Dropbox, or copies them to a stick drive.

Your first instinct is to assume that the employee is engaged in something nefarious, fire the employee, and even sue for misappropriation of trade secrets/confidential information.

But might there be something else going on? What if, instead of competing against you, the employee is preparing to go to battle against you in a discrimination lawsuit?

Does an employee have a right to copy your documents to prepare a discrimination lawsuit?

SNL tackles #MeToo, but what should you do when employees discuss #MeToo at work?

How do you discuss sexual harassment and other sexual misconduct with your friends and colleagues?

Saturday Night Live, in one of its most brilliant sketches in a long time, offers a suggestion.


Or, rather, a suggestion not to have the conversation at all.

WIRTW #491 (the “rage” edition)

Last Friday, Fake ID played to a packed house at The Symposium, an old school rock club in Lakewood, Ohio. And, they absolutely brought down the house. Here’s their set closer, Rage Against the Machine’s “Killing in the Name.”


Why am I posting of video of a bunch of teen and preteen kids playing music? For starters, my daughter is the lead singer, and I think they’re very worthy of sharing.

Also, Fake ID teaches us a couple of employment lessons.

Age is not a valid predictor for success. Fake ID is comprised of two 11 year olds (including Norah) and three 14 year olds. In my opinion, they perform well above their young ages suggest. Don’t judge your employees, or prospective employees, by their age, judge them on their abilities and talents, whether old or young.

Talent is not a substitute for hard work. What impresses me most about how well Fake ID performs isn’t the performance, but all of the time and effort they put in to honing it. Lots of great talent wastes away by laziness and apathy. Your best employees will be the ones that work the hardest, period.

You have one more chance to catch Fake ID live this month, at Sky Zone Highland Heights, tomorrow, January 27, from 7 - 8:30 pm. No cover for the music, regular jumping rates apply.

Here’s what I read this week.

The Wile E. Coyote method of noncompete litigation

Wile E. Coyote. Forever chasing the Roadrunner. Always ending up falling off a cliff or crushed under a giant boulder.

Noncompete litigation. Sometimes you win an injunction. Sometimes the court drops a big boulder on your head.

Employee leave rights and the flu

I’m typing today’s post from my bed, where I convalesce with the flu.

Since I’m at home with the flu, I thought it worthwhile to discuss the leave-of-absence rights of employees with this illness.

Walmart (yes, Walmart) has now done more for worker rights than the U.S. government

Image by Sven via Wikimedia Commons

Earlier this month, Walmart announced sweeping additions to how it compensates its employees.