WIRTW #611: the “masthead” edition

Early on in the pandemic, I rebranded and renamed the Ohio Employer Law Blog to the Coronavirus Law Blog. The change was part marketing savvy and part recognition of the reality that for the then-foreseeable future the Covid-19 pandemic would be all that mattered to employers. 

Nearly two years later? The name and masthead remain the same.

Yet, even with Omicron keeping cases at near-record numbers, hospitals still full, and Covid still claiming thousands of American lives per day, it's at least starting to feel as if we are rounding the corner into the home stretch of the pandemic.

So don't worry. I'll let you know when the pandemic is over. It'll be when I change the masthead back to this:

Here's what I read this week that I think you should be reading, too.

Coronavirus Update 1-27-22: Whole Foods 1 – Maskhole 0 😷

You have every right to believe that masks are a form of government control or a satanic tool. You're very wrong, but you are free to believe what you want to believe. 

What you aren't free to do, however, is to act on those beliefs when they run counter to the rules of the employer for which you work or the business you want to enter. 

Case in point: Manning v. Whole Foods Market Group.

Coronavirus Update 1-26-22: OSHA doesn’t need an ETS to go after your business’s Covid-safety deficiencies

With the Supreme Court effectively killing OSHA Covid-19 vax-or-test Emergency Temporary Standard, and OSHA now officially withdrawing it, employers might think that they are beyond the reach of OSHA for Covid safety-related issues. If you are one of those employers that thinks this way, you are very mistaken.

Consider Sanoh American, a Findley, Ohio, auto parts supplier. OSHA recently cited and fined it $26,527 for ignoring guidelines to limit Covid-19 exposure in its facility. While the company had social distancing and mask policies in place, it failed to follow or enforce them. As a result, 88 of the company's 270 Findley employees (nearly one-third of the local workforce) tested positive for Covid-19. Five of those positive employees were hospitalized and two unfortunately died. OSHA determined that one of those deaths was work-related.

The 2nd nominee for the “Worst Employer of 2022” is … the claim-filing clinic

Suppose you have a group of unhappy employees. They don't like their working conditions. They don't like their pay. They generally want to work somewhere else. When they give you their notice, do you:

(a) Let them walk. 
(b) Engage them to see what will entice them to say.
(c) Sue them for an injunction to stop them from leaving.

If you chose (c) you are ThedaCare, a Wisconsin healthcare system. You are also the 2nd nominee for the Worst Employer of 2022.

Coronavirus Update 1-24-22: I’m a Covid statistic

It was a calculated risk. I've been so careful for the past 22 months. We don't socialize outside of a very small bubble. We don't eat in restaurants or go to bars unless we can be outside. We've given up concerts and traveling. I wear my KN95 mask everywhere. 

But before Omicron changed the Covid-19 narrative, I decided that my firm would sponsor the Ohio Craft Brewers Conference. I also agreed to speak at the event. And we timed the launch of our brand new Craft Beer Practice Area around the conference. 

It was a safe event. Vaccines or negative tests were required of all attendees. Masks were mandatory at the event unless eating or drinking. I wore my KN95 mask everywhere. I was still nervous about spending three days out of town. But at my request, my firm had made a substantial financial investment in the event. So I packed my KN95 masks and my hand sanitizer, and off I went.

Twenty-four hours after returning home I felt my first symptoms — a scratchy throat and a mild dry cough. That's it. But having been out and about, I decided to home test. Negative.

WIRTW #610: the “humor is the best medicine” edition

On behalf of myself and my daughter, I'd like to thank everyone for all of the kind words of encouragement and support I received for our most recent podcast episode. Whenever you go through any sort of trauma, you feel like you're in it alone. What I learned through the many of you who took the time out of your busy lives to email, comment, or message is that we are not alone and that so many have gone through similar experiences. That community of shared experiences offers a tremendous amount of comfort.

If you've yet to listen, please do so (Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts). If you have listened, please share. And if you've shared, please re-share somewhere else. Norah wants to make something positive out of her experience to help people by talking about and de-stigmatizing mental health issues. It's a conversation that is long overdue and very needed. 

I do want to take a moment to address one critique we've received from one very small corner of the internet, which has been bothering me and that I don't want to leave unanswered — that because we chose to attack this issue with some humor, we are devaluing the seriousness of the situation and are not taking mental health issues seriously. Nothing could be further from the truth. No one (and I mean no one) has the right to tell someone else how to process trauma. Some do so with anger or sadness. Some with quiet reflection. And some with serious discussion. Consistent with our personalities, we process with humor and sarcasm. It doesn't mean we're not taking the situation seriously or making light of it. Quite the opposite. It just means we're coping the best we can. I can assure you that no one takes what Norah went through and is going through more seriously than she and our family.

Here's what I read this week that I think you should be reading, too.

If you treat employees like they are fungible, they will act like they are fungible

I spent the past few days at the Ohio Craft Brewers Conference promoting my new venture, OhioBeerLawyers.com. In addition to being one of the event's sponsors, trying to network in as Covid-safe of a way as possible, and learning about the business of craft beer, I also was a presenter. My chosen topic was how to hire and retain employees in the midst of the Great Resignation. 

I thought of my presentation as I read about the situation at Noah's NY Bagels in Vacaville, California. The restaurant's entire staff of 15 quit their jobs en masse in protest of their manager's (unjust, in their view) termination. The story took off after a TikTok, posted by one of the employees and captioned, "Say no to toxic management," went viral.