A Q&A on service animals at work

The EEOC has sued Hobby Lobby, accusing the arts-and-crafts retailer of refusing to reasonably accommodate a cashier by declining her the use a service dog and ultimately firing her.

The agency shares the details in its press release:

According to the suit, the employee advised her manager that she needed to bring her fully trained service dog to work to assist her with symptoms caused by PTSD, anxiety and depression. The company's human resources representative met with the employee to discuss her request but concluded the dog would present a safety concern because a coworker or customer might be allergic to or trip over the dog, or the dog might break something. Even though Hobby Lobby allows customers to bring service dogs and other dogs to the store, managers were unwilling to allow the employee's service dog in the store to see whether there was an actual safety concern. Hobby Lobby ultimately terminated the employee when she could not work without her service dog.

Having a disability is NOT an excuse for mistreating others

I've written before about BrewDog (here and here), the multinational Scottish craft brewery accused by hundreds of former employees of systemic mistreatment through its sexist and misogynist work environment. The brewery's founder and CEO, James Watt, stands at the center of much of controversy and most point to him as the root cause of most of the allegation.

Earlier this week, Watt appeared as a guest on The Diary of CEO podcast. During the interview, Watt blamed his pattern of mistreatment of employees him possibly being autistic.

Forced religion and work do not mix

I believe that everyone's relationship with God (whether you call that deity God, Yahweh, Jesus, Allah, Vishnu, Buddha, something else, or nothing at all) is personal. I have no opinion on your spiritual relationship, as should you have none on mine. Thus, I get mad whenever someone tries to shove their religious beliefs down my throat. Not only do I not care, but I can guarantee that you will not change my mind. Proselytism is one small step removed from fanaticism, and rarely, if ever, has anything good come from religious fanaticism.

I share the above as prologue to today's discussion, which focuses on a Title VII lawsuit the EEOC recently filed against Aurora Pro Services, a North Carolina residential home service and repair company, alleged to have required employees to participate in religious prayer sessions as a condition of employment.

WIRTW #632: the “it's been a week” edition

From the Supreme Court's opinion terminating the constitutional right to abortion … to other Supreme Court opinions allowing and endorsing the open carry of firearms, prayer in public schools, the public funding of religious schools, and global warming … to the grim details of the near end of our republic laid bare by the brave Congressional testimony of Cassidy Hutchinson, it's been one hell of an exhausting, sad, and enraging week.

Weeks like this one demand a breather. So today, no law (other than the below list of links to read). Just music. 

Enjoy my daughter's cover of Alanis Morissette's "Hand in My Pocket", recorded live at her gig last weekend at Akronym Brewing. (She's quite the busy musician this summer; you'll find all of her upcoming gigs listed on her website, including upstate New York, on July 15.)

Everyone please have safe, relaxing, and peaceful holiday weekend, full of family, food, and frivolity. I'm not feeling particularly patriotic these days, but I'll nonetheless find a way enjoy my burgers, beer, and breather. 🍔 🍺 😌

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

Court dismisses employees’ race discrimination claims against Whole Foods based on prohibition of BLM masks

A group of Black and non-Black Whole Foods employees claimed that their employer unlawfully discriminated against them because of their race and their association with people because of their race based on their employer's prohibition of the wearing of "Black Lives Matter" face masks starting in June 2020 following the death of George Floyd.

“Abortion discrimination” = illegal pregnancy discrimination … even after Dobbs

Is it legal to fire an employee who has an abortion? This is question that a lot of employers and employees will now be asking in light of the Supreme Court's decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization that that there is no constitutional right to abortion.

As controversial and divisive of an issue as abortion is (perhaps now more than ever), the law is clear that an employer cannot fire an employee for having one. Nothing the Supreme Court did in Dobbs changes this.

Federal appeals court rejects reliability of electronic signatures on employment agreements

During a webinar I recently conducted on employee handbooks, someone asked me a question about the best practice between wet signatures vs. e-signatures on handbook receipts. I answered that either was fine, but at least with the digital footprint of an e-signature you avoid the disingenuous "that's not my signature," or the "I don't ever remember signing that" we sometimes hear from plaintiffs in deposition. 

Then I read Barrows v. Brinker Restaurant Corp.