Last week I reported that the employees of Creature Comforts Brewing Co. formed their own independent labor union, the Brewing Union of Georgia (aka BUG) and announced their intent to unionize their workplace.
Thursday, January 26, 2023
Update on Creature Comfort Brewing’s union organizing
Last week I reported that the employees of Creature Comforts Brewing Co. formed their own independent labor union, the Brewing Union of Georgia (aka BUG) and announced their intent to unionize their workplace.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Wednesday, January 25, 2023
Offensive social media posts doom airline employee’s discrimination claim
"If I were Black in America, I think I'd get down on my knees every day and thank my lucky stars that my ancestors were brought over here as slaves."
"Have you lost your cotton pickin' mind?"
"Too many [blue-eyed people] are reproducing with Brown Eyed People."
Those are three examples of Colleen Koslosky's (a former American Airlines customer service agent) Facebook posts that went viral and caused her employer to fire her.
She claimed the airline fired her because of her disability — nerve damage and edema in her leg — based on its prior denial of a reasonable accommodation. The employer, on the other hand, argued that it properly fired her after Koslosky's posts went viral, customers complained, and employees refused to work with someone they believed was "racist."
The 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals had little difficultly affirming the dismissal of Koslosky's lawsuit.
She … claims that a male American customer service employee who was not disciplined for his social media posts disparaging Trump voters — calling them "ignorant rednecks" and "uneducated racist white people." Koslosky does not argue American management knew about her colleague's inflammatory social media posts. This is dispositive. …
As Koslosky points to no evidence of pretext, we are thus left with one conclusion: American fired her because her racially insensitive social media posts violated its policies and generated an outcry from employees and customers alike. Because this is a legitimate justification for her ouster, we are not persuaded that the company violated any law here.
This employee had no business keeping her job or winning a discrimination lawsuit. Employees are absolutely responsible for what the post on their personal social media, and need to understand that their employer can, should, and will hold them accountable when warranted. In this case, it was warranted.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Monday, January 23, 2023
The BIG risk of misclassifying employees as independent contractors
A national auto parts distributor has reached a settlement with the Department of Labor to pay a total of $5.6 million in back pay and liquidated damages (plus interest) to 1,398 drivers misclassified as independent contractors. The payments to the individual drivers are as low as $40 and as high as more than $120,000.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Friday, January 20, 2023
WIRTW #657: the “Let me buy you a beer” edition
From Jan. 30 – Feb. 1, the Ohio Craft Brewers Conference is taking place in Cleveland. My firm and I are playing a prominent role.
- On Jan. 30 we are sponsoring the opening reception at Forest City Brewery, from 5:30 - 7 pm. If you've never been, it's an amazing space, a restored 19th century brewery building. It has the oldest (and, imho, most beautiful) beer garden in Ohio, and one of the oldest in the nation … although it might be a tad cold to fully enjoy it. Forest City also produces some of the best beer in NE Ohio — I recommend the Opening Day IPA and the Hootenanny (a kölsch). Finally, Apostle Jones, a local rock and soul band, is providing the musical entertainment. They are not to be missed. Look for me at the Wickens Herzer Panza table (where we'll have some nice giveaways) or milling about the brewery. Stop and say hi and I'll be sure to buy you a beer. This is an open event and you do not have to be registered for the conference to attend.
- On Feb. 1, at 11 am, I am speaking in the Fundamentals Room on Crafting Your Craft Brewery’s Employee Handbook.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Wednesday, January 18, 2023
What does Creature Comfort’s union announcement mean for your craft brewery?
The employees of Creature Comforts Brewing Co. recently held a rally to announce their intent to form a labor union. They also announced the formation of the Brewing Union of Georgia, an independent union created by the brewery's employees with the stated goal of spreading their movement across their state. Despite the union's "independence," it has received assistance and guidance from assistance from the United Campus Workers of Georgia and the Workers Center at the Economic Justice Coalition.
This is HUGE news for the craft beer industry.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Tuesday, January 17, 2023
Dress codes and gender biases
Women are prohibited from showing their bare arms.Women are required to cover their dress with a second layer.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Monday, January 16, 2023
Dr. King’s struggle has not ended
“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Friday, January 13, 2023
WIRTW #656: the “Dilenogate” edition
Until now, I've avoided writing about Dilenogate, the story that has gripped the Cleveland legal community and the nation.
- When an Employee Returns from FMLA Leave, Don't Be This Employer — via Jeff Nowak's FMLA Insights
- Maternity Leave Is Not "Sitting Around on Your Ass" — via Suzanne Lucas at Inc.com
- Firm Parts Ways with Lawyer Who Called Maternity Leave "Sitting on Your Ass", After Text Calling Maternity Leave "Sitting on Your Ass," Law Firm Looks oo Sit on Its Ass on Response, and "Collecting Salary from the Firm While Sitting on Your Ass" Is Certainly ONE Way for a Senior Lawyer to Describe Maternity Leave — via Above the Law
- Text accusing exiting lawyer of sitting on her keister during maternity leave leads to second departure — via ABA Journal
- Cleveland law firm, attorney criticized after social media post shows insulting text sent to attorney who left firm after maternity leave — via Cleveland.com
1.) Offer strong parental leave programs. The FMLA requires 12 weeks of unpaid leave. Consider offering more, or offering to cover the employee's pay for some/all of the leave. If you're not FMLA covered or the employee isn's FMLA eligible, consider mirroring the statute for your employees anyway.
2.) Ramp up/down policies. Plenty of employees work their full 40 right up until their due date, and jump right back into the deep end of work as soon as their leave ends. But consider a phase out and a phase in with reduced hours on both ends. It helps the new mom's physical health leading up to childbirth and her mental health in returning to work.
3.) Schedule flexibility. Parenting isn't a nine-to-five job. It's a 24/7/365 job that is really good at throwing curveballs to parents. Late nights with little sleep. Unexpected doctor appointments. Visits to the pediatric ER. Do you want a sleep deprived or otherwise distracted employee at work. You certainly won't get their best. So try to be as accommodating and understanding as possible. Flexible hours and remote work help ease the stress caused by the unexpectedness of raising a newborn.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Thursday, January 12, 2023
Employers, for the love of God, please stop banning employees from discussing their wages
I came across the following recent post on the legaladvice subreddit.
Work for a brewery. GM and owner … informed everyone that we needed to sign a contract essentially stating that if ANY employee was found to be discussing wages, they would be terminated immediately.… As of last week, GM let everyone know that any employee who hasn't signed the paper will be looked at as a voluntary resignation. I should probably add that, of course, we have no union.
This is what we labor and employment lawyers call … what's the term … ILLEGAL.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Tuesday, January 10, 2023
Settlement highlights wage and hour risks of remote work
The City of Cleveland has agreed to pay $50,000 to settle the wage and hour claim of a City Hall employee who claimed that she wasn't paid overtime while working from home during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Eve Bonvissuto, an assistant administrator in the city's public safety department's medical unit, had claimed $68,709 in overtime pay. She alleged that the city had misclassified her as exempt, and that city had no timecard or time-tracking system in place at the time for remote workers.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Monday, January 9, 2023
A supersized harassment settlement highlights the extra care employers must take when employing minors
How bad must sexual harassment be for an employer to settle a harassment case for $2 million? This bad.
AMTCR—the owner of 18 McDonald's franchises across California, Nevada, and Arizona—will pay $1,997,500 to resolve a sexual harassment lawsuit filed by the EEOC.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Friday, January 6, 2023
WIRTW #655: the “FTC did WHAT?!?!” edition
Yesterday, the FTC broke the employment law internet when it announced a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that, if it takes effect, would ban all employment-related non-compete agreements on a national level.
- Provide that noncompete clauses are an unfair method of competition, and, as a result, would ban employers from entering noncompete clauses with their workers, including independent contractors; and
- Require employers to rescind existing noncompete clauses with workers and actively inform their employees that the contracts are no longer in effect.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Thursday, January 5, 2023
While I was away, Congress pumped life into workplace rights of pregnant employees and new moms
Two laws — the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act and the Providing Urgent Maternal Protections (PUMP) for Nursing Mothers Act — took effect when President Biden signed the Consolidated Appropriations Act just before Christmas.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Wednesday, January 4, 2023
Just because the law may not require first aid training in your workplace doesn’t mean it’s not a good idea
There is no law or regulation that requires employers to have a person or persons trained to provide first aid in the workplace. Instead, OSHA's standards (here and here) merely require that an employer ensure prompt first aid treatment for injured employees, either by ensuring that emergency treatment services are within a reasonable proximity of the worksite, or by providing for the availability of a trained first aid provider at the worksite.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Tuesday, January 3, 2023
Do you know what to do when an employee suffers a severe accident at work?
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Thursday, December 22, 2022
’Twas the Employment Law Night Before Christmas (2022 edition)
In what has become an annual tradition for my final post of the year, I bring you the holiday classic, 'Twas the Employment Law Night Before Christmas … tweaked for 2022.
To all of my readers, connections, and followers, new and legacy, thank you all for reading, commenting, and sharing throughout the year. Please have a happy and, most importantly, healthy and safe holiday season. I'll see everyone on January 3, 2022, with fresh content to kick off the new year.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Wednesday, December 21, 2022
Announcing the WINNER of the Worst Employer of 2022
The votes have been counted … and in the end it wasn't all that close. The WINNER of The Worst Employer of 2022 is
The Murder Enabler
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Tuesday, December 20, 2022
Avoiding liability missteps with year-end bonuses
As employers plan for year-end bonus payments to employees, you need to learn the difference between nondiscretionary bonuses, discretionary bonuses, and special occasion bonuses (such as holiday or other gifts). Otherwise, you risk finding a Department of Labor lump of coal in your wage and hour stocking.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Monday, December 19, 2022
Your religion isn’t a license to discriminate (but we may need to accommodate you anyway)
Pronouns confuse me. It's not that I want to misgender anyone. In fact, quite to the contrary, I try really hard to get people's pronouns correct when addressing them or speaking about them. To me, it's a simple matter of common decency. My efforts to get them correct, however, doesn't mean that they still don't confuse me. When I grew up, I learned that "they" refers to a group of people. Thus, when someone refers to someone else as "they," my brains says, "more than one." It's just difficult, but I still try to get it right.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Friday, December 16, 2022
WIRTW #654: the “gifts” edition
What's the best holiday gift you've ever given or received? With the holidays quickly approaching, this is the question Norah and I tackled on this week's episode of The Norah and Dad Show.
Find us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Overcast, Amazon Music, Stitcher, internet, and everywhere else you listen to podcasts. And while you're in your podcast player of choice, hit the subscribe button to ensure that you never miss a future episode.
Before I sign off for 2022, I'll be back next week with two gifts for you — the winner of The Worst Employer of 2022 (Wed.) and this year's telling of The Employment Law Night Before Christmas (Thurs.).
Here's what I read this past week that you should be reading, too.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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