VOTE for the ‘Worst Employer of 2018’ — polls are open

All year long, I've been sharing examples of the worst employers in America. My goal? Compile them at the end of the year and then turn it over to you, my readers, to pick the worst of the worst.

Today is your opportunity to help pick the Worst Employer of 2018.

I've narrowed my list down to my choice for the top 15 naughty employers.

Voting will take place over two rounds, a preliminary round and a final round.

In the preliminary round — which runs from today until Nov. 21 at 11 pm — you will be able to vote for up to 4 choices. (For ease of reference, I've summarized each nominee, as well has hyperlinked back to the original nominating post.)

I will then tally the votes, and, in early December, I'll be back with the finalists, to offer everyone the chance to vote one last time to name The Worst Employer of 2018.

Vote, share this post with your friends, colleagues, and social networks, and, most importantly, learn something from the mistakes of these 15 very worthy nominees.


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When you employ a Satanist #HappyHalloween

Rosemary's Baby, the classic 1968 horror film, tells the story of a pregnant woman who (spoiler alert: correctly) assumes that a satanic cult wants her baby. What does Rosemary's Baby have to do with employment law?

In honor of Halloween, I bring you the story of Irving Cortez-Hernandez, a "Catholic-Satanist" who prayed to the Devil for his pregnant co-worker to miscarry, and as a result lost both his job and his religious discrimination lawsuit.

Abortion discrimination = pregnancy discrimination

Is there a more controversial topic than abortion? As controversial and divisive as it might be, the law is pretty clear that an employer cannot fire an employee for having one.

Anti-Semitism at work

The devastating events of this past weekend served as a sobering reminder that anti-Semitism not only still exists, but it's thriving.

The reality is that anti-Semitism never went away. It has always been there, bubbling under the surface. The current climate in our country, however, has given it permission to boil over.

WIRTW #529 (the “new music Friday” edition)

From time-to-time I like to use this Friday real estate to share new music I'm listening to. Today's  new music also has a pretty cool origin story.

My wife and I vacationed in Sedona, Arizona, in July. And, as most Sedona tourists do, we took a jeep tour through the red rocks. Our tour guide was Brandon Decker. Over the course of our two hour tour we chatted, not just about Sedona, its history, and its mysticism, but also about our families, jobs, and lives outside of the jeep. 

We learned that when he's not driving tour jeeps, Brandon Decker is a professional musician. And not only a professional musician, but a professional musician with a new album about to drop and a national tour about to begin. We did some digging of our own afterwards. He's very accomplished in the Southwest, with seven albums and the title of 2011's Arizona Songwriter of the Year.

We told him about the musician in our family, too. Which led to an invitation for Norah to join him on stage when he stops in Cleveland on November 8.

So check out decker., and his unique brand of psychedelic Americana. I think you'll enjoy it.

Here's what I read this week:

From the archives: The Employer Bill of Rights

I recently came across an interesting blog, entitled, 10 Workplace Rights You Think You Have — But Still Don't. Written by plaintiff-side employment lawyer Donna Ballman, it suggests that employees have far fewer workplace protections than they might think, and rights like wrongful termination, free speech, and workplace privacy simply do not exist.

That post got me thinking about a post I wrote 7 years ago — The Employer Bill of Rights.

How many n-bombs does it take to create a hostile work environment?

Smelter v. Southern Home Care Services (11th Cir. 9/24/18) answers the question, "How many n-bombs does it take to create an unlawful hostile work environment?"

So as not to bury the lede, the answer is one.