The best response to the end of Roe v. Wade came from a company called DICK’S

Within hours of the Supreme Court announcing its decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, Lauren Horbart, the President and CEO of DICK'S Sporting Goods, posted the following on LinkedIn.

At DICK’S, our teammates are the heart of our business, and we are committed to protecting their health and well-being.… 

In response to today's ruling, we are announcing that if a state one of our teammates lives in restricts access to abortion, DICK'S Sporting Goods will provide up to $4,000 in travel expense reimbursement to travel to the nearest location where that care is legally available. This benefit will be provided to any teammate, spouse or dependent enrolled in our medical plan, along with one support person.

We recognize people feel passionately about this topic -- and that there are teammates and athletes who will not agree with this decision. However, we also recognize that decisions involving health and families are deeply personal and made with thoughtful consideration. We are making this decision so our teammates can access the same health care options, regardless of where they live, and choose what is best for them.

WIRTW #631: the “(not so) Good Ship BrewDog” edition

Job interview: "Are you planning on having kids? Do kids feature in your five-year plan? Because we want someone in this role for a minimum of five years."

Answer: "I've never wanted kids. Never have; never will. I've been told I probably can't have kids anyway."

Follow-up phone call: "You're the best candidate for the job. You're everything that we've been looking for. You'd be absolutely perfect for the role. But we need to clear things up with this whole 'kids' thing."

Answer: "I don't want them, it's not part of my plan, and I can't anyway."

Final conversation: "We can't hire you because of the whole 'marriage and babies' thing."

That what Alice Hayward claims happened to her at BrewDog when she applied for a promotion from bar work into a sales position, as reported by the BBC in the Good Ship BrewDog podcast. I've absolutely devoured this six-episode podcast over the past several days. (Bonus points for the narrator's lovely Scottish brogue.)

If you're curious about the damage that a toxic work culture can cause, I cannot more highly recommend this podcast. While the entire show is a master class in how not to manage employees, I thought episode 5 — which focuses on BrewDog's expansion into the U.S. — was the standout.

Good Ship BrewDog also underscores why I decided to become a beer lawyer. Our industry is cool, fun, and full of great people. Yet, there is still so much work to do.

Before I get to this week's list of links, I'll leave you with this thought I found on Instagram.

Regardless of how "hype" or "good" the beer is, stop supporting breweries … who perpetuate problem behavior.

Businesses have little financial incentive to cease misogynistic, homophobic, transphobic, racist, and other problematic behavior if we who stand against it and believe it's dangerous and wrong keep supporting them with our wallets. 

Or, to put it another way (quoting Jim Vorel in Paste Magazine, from a recent story on another brewery, Tired Hands — more on their story next week): "If we look away, the beer world's sexism will always return to the status quo."

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

THIS is how you help a struggling employee

Peter Gabriel sits on my personal Mount Rushmore of musical artists. He's also its longest resident, first etched during my high school years. I did not get the chance to see him play live, however, until the summer of 1994, Aug. 8, to be precise. He played the Stabler Arena at Lehigh University, a warm-up gig for his set six days later that would close the Woodstock '94.

Paula Cole, who had not yet struck it big herself, was Peter's main backing vocalist. She joined that tour for its final two legs, replacing Sinéad O'Connor. 

For that final leg of the tour (which included the date I attended), Peter added Don't Give Up to the set, a song originally made famous for Peter's duet with Kate Bush on the So album. The show I attended was one of the first (if not the first) at which the band performed Don't Give Up. Unfortunately, about half-way through, Paula Cole had a bit of a problem with the lyrics and went completely silent through her part while band kept playing.

Peter jumped in. "It's been a while since we've done this one." Paula then composed herself enough to finish the song (beautifully and brilliantly, I might add).

But it's what happened next that stuck with me for the past 28 years. 

Is there a statute of limitations on old social media posts?

"LET ME SALUTE TO HITLER THE GREAT. He said 'i would have killed all the jews of the world, but I kept some to show the world why i killed them.'"

"F**k that Jew."

"who bothering ya!!! Let me at em! Lol if it's a Jew give me their @ and I'll do it 😂 😂 😂"

These are three examples of many recently discovered blatantly and offensively anti-Semitic tweets allegedly posted by Ismail Quran, Cleveland's "Police Officer of the Year" for 2019.

The thing is, they all pre-date Quran joining the department, and some are a decade old.

Apple becomes the latest national retailer to succumb to the union wave

Workers at the Towson, Maryland, Apple Store made history by becoming the first such store to vote to unionize. It wasn't close, with 65 "yes" votes and 33 "no" votes (12 eligible employees failed to cast a vote). Apple joins Starbucks, Amazon, and REI as major national retailers bit by the union bug, with petitions pending a myriad more Starbucks outposts, other Amazon facilities and Apple Stores, and other retailers such Trader Joe's and Target. In other words, the union wave is becoming a tsunami.

If you're wondering what's fueling this historic drive to organize, the Department of Labor thinks it has some answers.

The DOL believes it all comes down to employees demanding a voice.

The 8th nominee for the “Worst Employer of 2022” is … Vince McMahon

Over the years (for now former) WWE Chairman and CEO Vince McMahon has been accused of some awful treatment of employees. For starters, wrestling's first ever female referee accused him of rape after she refused to perform fellatio on him. And then there was 1994's criminal trial in which the United States accused McMahon of supplying illegal steroids to wrestlers. (For the record, McMahon was exonerated of both allegations.) These allegations don't include others of mistreatment of wrestlers, such as allegedly allowing for the unsafe working conditions that led to the in-ring death of Owen Hart, or not providing wrestlers health insurance because they are classified as independent contractors and not as employees.

But it's the allegations against Mr. McMahon that The Wall Street Journal brought to light last week that has earned him his nomination as the Worst Employer of 2022.

WIRTW #630: the “just like heaven” edition

I love sharing clips of my daughter playing music. It's made for such a cool catalogue of her growth as an artist over the years. So, here's a snippet of her cover of The Cure's Just Like Heaven from her show a couple of weekends ago. 

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Norah has quite the busy summer of music with gigs all over Northeast Ohio (and maybe even a gig or two outside of Ohio). Stay tuned for more clips as the summer progresses.

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