Religious accommodations shouldn’t flummox employers, yet they still do

I've shared this story before, but it's worth re-sharing because (a) it's been a few years and I have many new readers, (b) it's really good, and (c) because it's super relevant to today's lesson.

I spent a high-school summer working on a warehouse loading dock. One of my co-workers was named Harland Jester. (I provide his name because he named his son "Court," and this context provides the necessary color for the rest of the story.)

Four days into my summer job, a co-worker pulled me aside and asked, "Did Harland get a hold of you yet?"

ABA President fixes the victim-blaming problem the ABA Journal created for working moms

Yesterday, I was highly critical of the ABA Journal for publishing a column that victim-blamed working moms for their lack of advancement in the legal profession. Then, ABA President Patricia Lee Refo did what she could to fix the injustice created by the journal of the organization she runs.

In her own column—Women's success in legal careers: Lack of advancement is not a 'woman' problem, it’s a 'profession' problem—Refo took apart the notion that female attorneys are to blame for their lack of upward mobility. They have not failed, Refo correct argues, their employers have failed them.

The American Bar Association must never again victim-blame working-parent attorneys for the discrimination they suffer

The ABA Journal recently published a column by
Susan Smith Blakely, a career counselor and former law-firm partner, that does a gross injustice to every law-firm working parent. 

Her piece, titled, Are women lawyers paying enough attention to upward mobility?, argues that women lawyers are responsible for the limited opportunities their employers have fostered upon them. By focusing on family instead of firm, she argues that they have chosen their priority and should not complain when career advancement passes them by.

Coronavirus Update 6–30–2021: Because of your vaccine hesitancy, COVID-19 is here to stay

Last week I asked you, my readers, for your creative ideas to incentivize more people to get vaccinated. 

Your thoughts—

Transgender bathroom access remains a solution in search of a problem

Yesterday, the Supreme Court declined to hear the appeal of a school district challenging the right of a transgender student to use the bathroom that corresponded to his gender identity, leaving in place the landmark 4th Circuit opinion holding that transgender bathroom restrictions constitute illegal sex discrimination.

This decision falls in line with the EEOC's recent statement on this issue for employers.

Coronavirus Update 6-28-2021: Television meteorologist April Moss correctly fired for on-air rant against employer’s Covid policies

WWJ CBS Detroit fired meteorologist April Moss after objecting on-air against her employer's COVID-19 policies. Moss paused her Father's Day weather forecast to say, "And speaking of a brand new week, I will be sitting down this week with Project Veritas to discuss the discrimination that CBS is enforcing on its employees. Tune in to Project Veritas for my full story." (Project Veritas is a controversial far-right activist group that uses hidden camera footage to attack its targets.)

Coronavirus Update 6-25-2021: Post-Covid pet-friendly workplaces?

"Does returning to the office mean bringing pets to work?" is a question that recently caught my eye as I was scrolling through my feed on LinkedIn (thanks David Miklas).

What the heck do we do with our pets as we return to the office? If Loula and Dante could talk, they'd tell you, "Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease don't take my parents away; we've gotten so used to having them at home with us every single day." 

For this reason, and as an enticement to get people back to the office, some businesses are considering going pet-friendly and opening their space to employees' four-legged companions.

Are you thinking about opening up your business to employees' pets?