Sexual misconduct isn’t a “mistake”

Vince McMahon is the former CEO and current Executive Chairman of the WWE. It's former CEO because he was forced to step down after it came to light that he had allegedly authorized $19.6 million in hush money payments to female employees who had accused him of sexual misconduct. (It's what earned McMahon his nomination for 2022's Worst Employer.) It's current Executive Chairman because he returned to that position earlier this year after previous stepping down for the same reason.

John Cena is a full-time actor and former WWE star who recently returned to the company. 

Consider the following recent Q&A between Cena and the Associated Press:

AP: Is it tough to reconcile the feelings you have toward Vince McMahon with the sexual misconduct accusations made against him? 

CENA: No. I mean, everyone has the right to have their perspective. I have the right to have mine. When you love somebody, you take them as imperfectly perfect as they are. We all make mistakes, we all have poor decisions. Lord knows I've made my collection of poor choices. That doesn't mean I’m not going to love somebody. There's no way I can go on record and say I don't love Vince McMahon.

Sexual misconduct is not a mistake. 

WIRTW #665: the “grim reaper” edition

Earlier this week, I joined the People Problem Podcast to discuss death at work. Grim as it might be, it's an issue that we all face way too often. We talked about appropriate bereavement leaves, how to handle when an employee dies at work, and what best to when a team member dies away from work. It's a can't miss episode (gallows humor included).

You can listen to the episode here and everywhere else you get your podcasts. (And don't forget to subscribe while you're there.)

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

6th Circuit confirms that private employers can do private employer things

Four employees of the J.M. Smucker Company sought religious exemptions from the company's Covid vaccine mandate. When the company refused, they sued, claiming that the mandate infringed on their First Amendment religious liberties.

The 6th Circuit easily concluded that the 1st Amendment does not apply to J.M. Smucker or limits its power to regulate its workplace as it is a private company, not a federal, state, or local government.

EEOC lawsuit highlights risks associated with not accommodating service animals

The EEOC has filed a disability discrimination lawsuit against Papa John's Pizza claiming that it denied the request of Michael Barnes, who is blind, to bring his service dog — Indie, a black lab — with him to work. After denying his request, the agency alleges, the pizza company fired Barnes. 

This seems like an easy accommodation request to get right, and yet so many employers get it wrong. Here's a handy Q&A for your next service animal accommodation request in your workplace.

What can you do about employee mass protests? (Hint: not much.)

The 25 employees of Mela Kitchen at Jack’s Hard Cider recently walked off the job in protest after owner Donald Hoffman created a new drink menu of cocktails with racially inspired named such as "The Caucasian" and "The Negro."

MSN quotes one employee, Emily Kate Hessler, on why she and her co-workers decided to engage in the mass protest.

Despite days of efforts from upper management trying to halt this cocktail and it's name, Friday comes and it's time to reveal this weekends special. I made a formal complaint to upper management and notified them that if the name isn't changed most of the scheduled staff will be walking. An email was sent to Donald informing him of our plan and his reaction was explosive.

WIRTW #664: the “CE” edition

Are you an HR professional in need of SHRM recertification credits? Will you be attending the Craft Brewers Conference in May? If you answered "yes" to both, then you're in luck. The Brewers Association just announced its Recertification Provider status with SHRM and will begin offering programs that qualify for SHRM recertification credits. CBC is the first of these programs.

SHRM will provide professional development credits for all seminars that take place as part of the THRIVE pre-conference workshop on Sunday, May 7 (which includes mine on ADA compliance, accommodations, and accessibility), in addition to select seminars in the main conference's THRIVE educational track. THRIVE is a day-long pre-conference workshop designed for owners, people leaders, HR, and diversity, equity, and inclusion practitioners that will provide an integrated dive into DEI, HR, and wellness topics for craft brewers of all sizes.

If you're planning on attending CBC let me know. I'll have more to share as we get closer to the event about when and where we can meet up. I'd love to buy you a beer.

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

Relaxing child labor protections is not the solution to our labor problem

Ohio's Senate recently passed legislation that, if signed into law, would make it easier for businesses to employ 14- and 15-year-old children. SB 30 would amend Ohio's current child labor laws to permit 14- and 15-year-olds to work later than 7 pm during the school term with "approval to do so from the person's parent or legal guardian." 

According to State Sen. Tim Shaffer, a Fairfield County Republican, he sponsored the bill to help solve Covid-related workforce shortages, in addition to teaching teens necessary work skills: "Learning how to show up on time, learning how to follow direction and execute commands and execute missions — I know at that age it was critically important for me. And this will certainly help employers across Ohio with their staffing problems as well."