Someone needs to take away Elon Musk’s twitter access

The reality is that this guy (who is independently wealthy) did no actual work, claimed as his excuse that he had a disability that prevented him from typing, yet was simultaneously tweeting up a storm.

That was Elon Musk's very public, and very offensive, tweet to a former Twitter employee who had asked whether the company still employed him, as his network access had been inactive for nine days and no one from HR could confirm his employment status.

The 3rd nominee for the “Worst Employer of 2023” is … the awful accommodator

You'd think a nonprofit that provides programs for people with disabilities to build self-reliance through employment services would know a thing or two about the ADA's requirements for reasonable accommodations.

Then there's Innovative Services NW, which the EEOC just sued for it's failure to accommodate a janitor suffering from a degenerative hip disorder. He had asked for a stand-up vacuum to push instead of a backpack vacuum to wear. Not only did ISNW not accommodate him, but it also fired him for his inability to wear that backpack vacuum.

WIRTW #663: the “growth” edition

Growth comes in many forms.  For my son, it came in the form of a daily injection of growth hormones since the age of seven. 

Because of his Noonan Syndrome, he's genetically predisposed to being short statured. That fact that I'm 5' 7" and his mom 4' 11" also didn't help his cause. Donovan was barely on the growth chart, and his doctors projected his full adult height at a mere 5' or 5' 1". Shortly after his 7th birthday he took his first dose of growth hormones, a daily injection. It was his decision after he was deemed not tall enough for a new bike he wanted. His endocrinologist at the time thought my wife and I were out of our minds for letting Donovan decide if and when to start treatment. To us, however, if he's the one taking the needle, he should have some say in the if and the when. 

Earlier this week Donovan took his final dose, a decision made by his current endocrinologist that he's received all of the possible medical benefit from the more than 2,700 injections he took over nearly eight years.

He's now close to 5' 7", with another inch or two still to grow. That's what I call growth.

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

Class action lawsuit highlights the risk of AI in hiring and other employment decisions

Yesterday, news broke of a class action lawsuit filed against HRIS provider Workday claiming that its artificial intelligence systems and screening tools disproportionately and discriminatorily disqualify Black, older, and disabled job applicants. 

The named plaintiff, Derek Mobley, is a Black man over the age of 40 who suffers from anxiety and depression. He alleges that he applied for 80-100 positions since 2018 that use Workday as a screening tool and has been denied every time despite his qualifications. 

Mobley claims that Workday's artificial intelligence unlawfully favors applicants outside of protected classes through its reliance on algorithms and inputs created by humans conscious and unconscious biases. 

Tweets, honest beliefs, and terminations

@realDonaldTrump I am the VP of HR in a comp outside of philly an informal survey of our employees shows 100% AA employees voting Trump!

On July 24, 2016, Kathleen Jungclaus — the 55-year-old then-VP of HR for Waverly Heights Ltd. — tweeted the above. A couple of months later, someone anonymously notified Jungclaus's superiors of the tweet. When confronted, Jungclaus initially provided shifting explanations of the tweet's origins but ultimately admitted posting it. As a result, Waverly fired her for violating its social media policy (which she had drafted). After Waverly replaced her with someone 12 years her junior, Jungclaus sued for sex discrimination, age discrimination, retaliation, and hostile work environment.

Do your business’s philosophy, values, and vision match your mission statement

On this week's episode of The Start A Brewery Podcast, I join hosts Laura Lodge and Candace Moon, along with guests Ren Navarro (the owner/operator of Beer. Diversity., and my co-presenter at the upcoming Craft Brewers Conference) and Jason Gladfelter (of Vombuds, LLC) to discuss how a business's mission statement should align with and reflect its philosophy, values, and vision. 

We discuss the important questions of "Who are you?" and "What do you collectively as a team and a business represent?" While we answer these questions in the context of starting a brewery, the issues we discuss and the lessons we teach are applicable to any business of any size, startup or established, small or big.

The 2nd nominee for the “Worst Employer of 2023” is … the child labor abuser

According to the Department of Labor, Packers Sanitation Services, the country's largest food safety sanitation services, employed at least 102 children — ranging in age from 13 to 17 — in hazardous occupations in meat processing facilities across eight states.

The hazardous conditions to which Packer required the children to be exposed included working with hazardous chemicals and cleaning meat processing equipment including back saws, brisket saws and head splitters. At least three of the children suffered injuries while illegally working for Packer.