$1,351,253.34. That's the amount a federal judge has ordered the Empire Diner, its owner, Ihsan Gunaydin, and its manager Engin Gunaydin to pay a group of 107 servers and kitchen workers based on an illegal tip scheme.
Tuesday, September 20, 2022
Employers, repeat after me: “Tips belong to employees, not employers.”
$1,351,253.34. That's the amount a federal judge has ordered the Empire Diner, its owner, Ihsan Gunaydin, and its manager Engin Gunaydin to pay a group of 107 servers and kitchen workers based on an illegal tip scheme.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Monday, September 19, 2022
The NLRB is inching towards Weingarten Rights for all employees
In NLRB v. J. Weingarten, Inc., the U.S. Supreme Court held that employees covered by a collective bargaining agreement are entitled to request the presence of a union representative during an investigatory interview that the employee reasonably believes may result in disciplinary action.
Which brings us to last week's Board decision in Troy Grove.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Friday, September 16, 2022
WIRTW #642: the “get off our backs” edition
Can you please get off our backs? By "our," I mean management-side labor lawyers.
Like any other attorney, management-side labor lawyers have a job to do and an ethical obligation to represent their clients zealously. Union organizing and recognition is a decided in an election, in which a majority of employees need to choose to unionize. What are employers supposed to do, roll over and let the union walk in unimpeded? As their lawyers we are simply playing our roll in this process. That's all. Is it adversarial? Sure. Does it sometimes get heated? Of course. But management is entitled to be represented just as do the employees seeking to unionize.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Thursday, September 15, 2022
Pre-employment pregnancy testing?
I was tagged on Twitter to address this situation.
My friend did a drug test for a part time job for the local school district. When she got her results, she found out that the district also did a pregnancy test. Besides ethical issues, this seems like a legal red flag given she wasn't told this would be done.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Wednesday, September 14, 2022
Lyfting independent contractor status
If I asked you to identify Lyft's business, how would you answer?
"They're a transportation company," you'd say. There's no other correct answer … unless you ask Lyft.
Lyft will tell you that it's a tech company, not a provider of transportation.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Tuesday, September 13, 2022
The 10th nominee for the “Worst Employer of 2022” is … the sex offender supervisor
The most disturbing case I ever handled involved a company that hired a registered sex offender as a supervisor, who then raped a female subordinate.
Today’s “Worst Employer” nominee is very much in that tragic and devastating vein.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Monday, September 12, 2022
Spotting the employment law issues in “She-Hulk"
Donny Blaze was a former student of Kamar-Taj, having dropped out after failing to adhere to their strict teachings. He left, however, with a souvenir, a sling ring, which sorcerers use to open mystic portals. Blaze then uses the sling ring, along with what he learned during his time at Kamar-Taj, to spice up his otherwise very pedestrian cabaret magic act.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Friday, September 9, 2022
WIRTW #641: the “slim shady” edition
Guess who's back, back again…
After a semi-intentional summer break, The Norah and Dad Show — the podcast I host and produce along with my 16-year-old daughter — is back for Season 2. You find us everywhere podcasts are available, including Apple, Spotify, Google, Overcast, Amazon, Stitcher, and via our website. If you're new to the show, please make sure you go back and check out all of Season 1.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Thursday, September 8, 2022
How broad is potential liability for retaliation? THIS broad.
In 2016, Tom Pettay sued his former employer, DeVry University, for age discrimination. The trial court dismissed Pettay's lawsuit on summary judgment. Following that dismissal, the employer filed a motion asking the trial court to award them $4,004.39 for the cost of deposition transcripts used in support of the summary judgment motion. While Pettay's appeal of the court's award of costs was pending, the Ohio Supreme Court held that a prevailing party cannot recover the costs of deposition transcripts.
As a result, Pettay again sued DeVry (or, more accurately, its successor in interest, Cogswell Education), claiming that it retaliated against him by pursuing a frivolous motion for the costs of the deposition transcripts.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Wednesday, September 7, 2022
Like herpes, the NLRB’s efforts to liberalize its joint employer standard just won’t go away
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Friday, September 2, 2022
WIRTW #640: the “Wickens Workshop” edition
When you take over a practice group and are tasked with building it, you naturally have to think of ways to market and grow it. Presenting semi-regular seminars for clients, prospective clients, and referral sources was low hanging fruit. I can talk about employment law all day long. Just give me a topic, a microphone, and an audience, wind me up, and let me go to work. Thankfully, my cohorts in our Employment & Labor Practice Group feel the same way.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Thursday, September 1, 2022
Checking the pulse of the American worker on labor unions as we enter Labor Day Weekend
The following stats should be eye-opening for any business owner, CEO, or board of directors.
- 71 percent of Americans "approve" of labor unions, the highest reported approval rating since 1965.
- 70 percent of non-union employees say that they would consider joining a union, up 141% in just three years.
- Unions win approximately 75 percent of all representation elections.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Wednesday, August 31, 2022
Pizza shop closure is a teachable lesson on union avoidance
We are truly heartbroken to announce that we've made the difficult decision to permanently close both Knead Slice Shop and Knead Market effective immediately (August 23, 2022), regardless of the outcome or the occurrence of the requested union election.
We respect the right of workers to organize under the National Labor Relations Act or other appropriate laws. We hope our workers will recognize our related right as an employer, especially a small employer, during these extremely difficult operational times, to close our entire business operation.
We continue to wish our employees well.
That's what a pizza shop posted to its Instagram last week, announcing its decision to shutter all of its operations, permanently.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Tuesday, August 30, 2022
NLRB re-writes law on employees displaying union logos at work
Tesla's General Assembly plant maintained the following dress code: "It is mandatory that all Production Associates and Leads wear the assigned team wear." For production associates, "team wear" consists of a black cotton shirt with the Tesla's logo and black cotton pants with no buttons, rivets, or exposed zippers, all which Tesla provides.
In the Spring of 2017, however, certain production associates started wearing black t-shirts with the phrase, "Driving a Fair Future at Tesla," along with the logo for the United Auto Workers.
Tesla banned the UAW shirts under its "Team Wear" policy, claiming that the ban limited the risk of alternative clothing damaging vehicles on the production line and made it easier to keep track of employees on the shop floor.
In a split 3-2 decision, the NLRB held that Tesla unlawfully prohibited its employees from wearing shirts with the UAW's logo.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Monday, August 29, 2022
The 9th nominee for the “Worst Employer of 2022” is … the active shooter
“This is it. I’m done.”
That’s how one elderly employee described to police her recent experience in an active shooter drill conducted by her employer, Catholic Charities of Omaha, that went as planned but also went very, VERY wrong.
The employer hired John Channels to stage the exercise. It did not tell its employees: (1) that the drill was planned or happening; (2) that Channels would be using a real assault rifle loaded with blanks; (3) or that Channels would stage victims (actors covered in fake blood) around the building for added realism. It also failed to inform the local authorities of the drill, who responded as if it was a real and legitimate active shooter situation.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Friday, August 26, 2022
WIRTW #639: the “Gr8” edition
How does your organization help build collegiality among employees?
At my kids' school they do it in the Lower and Middle School with Family Groups, and in the Upper School with Houses (just like in Harry Potter, complete with a year-long House Cup competition).
Each Family Group or House is comprised of a cross-grade mix of students. The goal is to build school spirit, classmate and faculty camaraderie, and student leadership skills.
One of the Middle School's best traditions is Community Building Days, two days of non-academic activities shortly after the start of the school year to help everyone get to know one another better. It always takes place on the Thursday and Friday of the second week of school (yesterday and today), and the entire Middle School sleeps over at school on Thursday night.One additional rite of passage for the middle schoolers is what's known as "Gr8 Night." They sleep over at school for one additional night, the Wednesday night leading into Community Building Days, to further build their leadership skills and to decorate the Middle School in preparation for the arrival of the 6th and 7th graders the next day.
Yesterday morning, the 8th graders welcomed everyone driving onto campus (that's Donovan, in yellow on the left). He looked excited and happy, (relatively) well rested, and ready to tackle what the faculty has to throw at him over the next two days. I can't wait to hear all about it.
Employers, what are you doing to help build camaraderie and collegiality among your employees? The past two and a half pandemic years have been rough on workplace morale and teamwork. I'm curious to learn what you're doing to help bring back some of the sense of "team" that the pandemic and remote work stole from us? Drop a note in the comments below and I'll share some the best or more interesting ideas in a future post.
Here's what I read and listened to this past week that I think you should be reading and hearing, too.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Thursday, August 25, 2022
The wage and hour implications of employee electronic surveillance
Every 10 minutes at random points the company took a screenshot of her computer monitor and a photo of her face. The company was using that information to pay Carol (and every other worker) only for the minutes when they appeared be active according to the photos. If, for example, the photo happened to capture Carol during a moment of inactivity (for example, a 30-second interval when she went to get a cup of coffee), it would dock her for the entire 10-minute span. As you can imagine, the digital tracking actually missed a lot of Carol's work, including any work she did offline. She's working, but the company thinks she's not working, and it's going to dock for that any perceived increments of inactivity.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Wednesday, August 24, 2022
Pro athletes should never get a pass on harassment
Kenny Lofton is one of the most beloved players in history of the Cleveland Guardians, née Indians. He spent the best years of 17-year career anchoring center field for the Cleveland teams that won six AL Central titles and earned two World Series berths.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Tuesday, August 23, 2022
“Gaslighting” in the workplace
“That’s not how I told you to complete that project. Why did you do it that way? It’s all wrong.”
“Why didn’t you show up to the meeting? Of course I invited you.”
“Harassment complaint? You never made any harassment complaint.”
These are all examples of gaslighting in the workplace.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Monday, August 22, 2022
Lessons from Platform Beer’s mass layoff
According to Scene Magazine, late last week Platform Beer Co. notified between 25 and 30 of its local brewery employees that their employment was no longer needed. They were laid off.
That facility brews, tests, cans, packages, and warehouses most of Platform's offerings. The impacted employees were offered severance packages in accordance with their age and tenure.
When I hear "mass layoff," I immediately think of the WARN Act. WARN stands for Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification. It's the federal statute that requires 60 days' advance notice of mass layoff or plant closure (or 60 days' pay in lieu of the notice). But it does not apply to every mass layoff or plant closure, only those of a large enough employer that impacts a large enough number of employees.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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