WIRTW #670: the “dope” edition

"Write a rap about employment lawyer Jon Hyman."

That was the prompt I gave to ChatGPT. I think what it came up with is pretty, pretty good.

* * *

Listen up, y'all, let me tell you a story

'Bout a lawyer named Jon Hyman, he's got all the glory

He's an employment law expert, with knowledge so vast

If you need legal advice, he's the one to ask

Jon Hyman, Jon Hyman, he's the man

He'll fight for your rights, he's got a solid plan

Employment law is his game, he's got the skills

He'll win your case, just pay your bills

He's got a blog called "Ohio Employer Law"

Where he shares his wisdom, and he never withdraws

He's got the answers to all of your questions

His legal advice is a legal injection

Jon Hyman, Jon Hyman, he's the man

He'll fight for your rights, he's got a solid plan

Employment law is his game, he's got the skills

He'll win your case, just pay your bills

He's got the passion, he's got the drive

He'll never give up, he'll always strive

To protect your rights, and make things right

He's the legal eagle, he's got the might

Jon Hyman, Jon Hyman, he's the man

He'll fight for your rights, he's got a solid plan

Employment law is his game, he's got the skills

He'll win your case, just pay your bills

So if you need a lawyer, don't hesitate

Jon Hyman's the man, he's got what it takes

He'll fight for your rights, he'll make things right

Jon Hyman, he's the legal eagle in sight.

(That 💩 is dope!)

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

Intentional misgendering IS sexual harassment

Jane works as a cashier at a donut shop. She is a transgender female who identifies by a female name and female pronouns. Her supervisor, Lisa, however, refuses to use Jane's preferred gender. She uses Jane's male legal name, male pronouns, and "dude" when referring to her, despite Jane's frequent requests for her to use female pronouns and the preferred female name. Lisa would similarly encourage customers not to use Jane's preferred name or pronouns.

Did Lisa create a hostile work environment based on Jane's sex? 

You bet she did.

Your anti-harassment obligations are 24/7/365

"I did not know that a workplace policy could be enforced when you're not at work."

Those are the words of former Tennessee Representative Scotty Campbell, spoken to a reporter a mere six hours before he resigned his seat in State General Assembly after a bipartisan ethics subcommittee concluded that he had sexually harassed two female  interns. 

Tip credits, tip pools, and slutty vegans

Bar Vegan in an affiliate of Slutty Vegan, a plant-based restaurant chain that finds itself in the crosshairs of a wage-and-hour collective action lawsuit challenging how it pays its tipped employees. The issue focuses on the bar claiming a tip credit and paying its tipped bartenders less than the statutory minimum wage. That practice, in and of itself, is legal. What makes it allegedly illegal in this case, however, is how Bar Vegan distributes tips among its staff, and more specifically that it permits non-tipped employees to participate in a tip pool with its tipped bartenders.

That's an FLSA no-no.

The 5th nominee for the “Worst Employer of 2023” is … the dog dumper

"You can only keep one, your current job or your family pet; which do you choose?" Most would choose the family pet. Which is why it’s so appalling that Clearlink CEO James Clarke used the example of an employee who sold his family dog to enable his return to the working from the office as a sterling example of the type of work ethic expected of all of his employees.

WIRTW #669: the “Lamborghini” edition

Either I cashed in some sweet crypto and bought a Lamborghini … or someone hacked my Instagram account.

(Hint: it's the second one.)

The most frustrating part is that I can't recover the account. 2FA isn’t working correctly so I can't reset my password. As a backup to confirm I'm me, Instagram asks for a video selfie to compare against photos in my account. But no matter how many selfies I submit, Instagram won't confirm me.

So I'm in Instagram hell, with an account I can't access, but someone else can. Meanwhile, they're using the account to spam my followers with nefarious requests about a new bakery "I" am opening that I can only assume will get them hacked, too.

Help!

If you work at Instagram or Meta and can help me get my account back (or can direct me to someone who can) I'll be eternally grateful.

For now, don’t click any links in any of "my" Insta Stories or Insta DMs from "my" account.

In the meantime, and until further notice, I'll be using the Insta account for The Norah and Dad Show Podcast as my own (with my co-host's/daughter's permission). Please follow me there.

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

Please don’t use “fit” to justify an employment decision, no matter what the 4th Circuit just said

"You're not a good fit." 

This statement could mean a lot of things. 

It could be innocuous description of a host of performance issues. 

But it could also mean—

"You're not white."

"You're not male."

"You're not Christian enough." 

"You're too Brown. 

"You're too old."

"You're too disabled." 

With this background, consider Lashley v. Spartanburg Methodist College, which involved a teacher suing her former employer after it did not renew her contact because they "were not a good fit for each other." The teacher claimed "good fit" was pretext for retaliation based on her prior request for a disability reasonable accommodation.