Tuesday, March 22, 2022

Does your craft brewery or other company have a code of conduct?


Meet Brienne Allan, a brewer at Notch Brewing in Salem, Mass. In May 2021 she asked a simple question in an Instagram Story— "What sexist comments have you experienced?"

What followed were hundreds upon hundreds of stories of sex-based discrimination, harassment, and other abuse.

Monday, March 21, 2022

I’m going to say this loudly for the people in the back: IT’S ILLEGAL FOR EMPLOYEES TO WORK FOR FREE


I woke up Saturday morning to a tweet asking me for my take on this job posting.


I'm going to say this one time, really loudly, for the people in the back.

FREE WORK IS ILLEGAL
(in almost all cases)

Friday, March 18, 2022

WIRTW #618: the “o sole mio” edition


Over the years I've shared a lot of videos of my daughter performing. At the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. At Ohio Bike Week. At the Best of Cleveland Party. On stage with Roger Waters. On stage with Rhett Miller. A lot of videos. (I'm a proud dad. What can I say?)

Here's another, albeit of a very different kind of vocal performance.


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

Thursday, March 17, 2022

Just because “caregiver” isn’t a protected class doesn’t mean it isn’t sometimes illegal to discriminate against them


No matter how many times you read our federal workplace anti-discrimination laws, you won't find the word "caregiver" among the litany of protected classes. Yet, it has been clear since the earliest days of this blog that in the proper circumstances "caregiver discrimination" is illegal.

Earlier this week the EEOC updated its Covid-19 guidance to discuss these caregiver-related issues.

Caregiver discrimination violates the laws enforced by the EEOC if it is based on an applicant’s or employee’s sex (including pregnancy, sexual orientation, or gender identity), race, national origin, disability, age (40 or older), or another characteristic covered by federal employment discrimination laws. Caregiver discrimination also is unlawful if it is based on the caregiver’s association with an individual with a disability, or on the race, ethnicity, or other protected characteristic of the individual receiving care.

Wednesday, March 16, 2022

In a stunning move, billion-dollar Starbucks investors urge the coffee retailer to go “union neutral”


Trillium Asset Management, which holds $48 million of Starbucks stock, is leading the charge on behalf of a billion-dollar-plus group of investors to push the coffee retailer to adopt a "union neutral" stance.

To date, more than 130 Starbucks stores in 26 states have petitioned the NLRB to unionize. Of the seven stores that have held elections so far, six have voted to unionize

According to the letter sent to both Mellody Hobson, Independent Chair of the Starbucks Board of Directors, and Kevin Johnson, its CEO (and obtained by CNBC), there exists grave investor concern that reports of Starbucks' "aggressive union-busting tactics" will harm the brand and its reputation (and, by extension, sales, profits, and, ultimately, share value).

Tuesday, March 15, 2022

Does your employment lawyer speak emoji and meme?


After a workplace discussion between employees about employees had been discussing concerns about a superior's management style, an employee goes to management to complain about having an unmanageable workload. That night, that same employee posts the following on his personal Facebook page. 
Just in case someone needed to know 🤷 
Employees don’t leave Companies, they leave Managers


At least 90 peple liked the post, including two co-workers who commented in support. The next day the employee was fired for alleged job performance mistakes. 

The fired employee files a charge with the National Labor Relations Board, claiming that he was fired in retaliation for engaging in protected concerted activity — his Facebook post. 

The NLRB concluded that the employee case presented a credible claim to litigate.
We conclude the Charging Party engaged in protected concerted activity because the Facebook post elicited support from coworkers over scheduling, management, and employee attrition, issues that had been topics of concern for employees. 
The post, as written, objectively sought to elicit support from coworkers and other employees—who were Facebook friends and would therefore see the post—regarding the perceived poor management practices that would lead to employee attrition.… [A]t least two of these employees' responses indicated their support for the Charging Party's message that bad management practices lead to a loss of employee morale and employee attrition.… Moreover, the Charging Party's post and the comments it elicited were a continuation of the Charging Party's earlier conversations with numerous other employees about the quality of the Employer's supervision.…
Non-text communications, such as emojis and memes, can be just as communicative as text and prose, and when they communicate a message the law treats them no differently. If your employment lawyer isn't conversive in emojis, memes, TikToks, and other newer forms of communication, it's time for a new lawyer. Your employees are speaking like this. You need to understand it, and so does your lawyer.

Monday, March 14, 2022

The 5th nominee for the “Worst Employer of 2022” is … the sh**ty superior


I thought I had seen all variety and manner of worst employer. Then Suzanne Lucas sent me this story.

Boss who gave employees energy drink 
mixed with colon cleanser gets sentenced