July, 2019

Everything* that employers need to know about medical marijuana and the workplace

July 31, 2019 | by Eric B. Meyer

Image by CMElixirs from Pixabay

*Just about everything; enough to fill a 90-minute presentation that I’m giving tomorrow. Continue reading

Does over-accommodating an employee’s disability expose your business to ADA claims?

July 30, 2019 | by Eric B. Meyer

By Flickr user Tyler Silvest Wikideas1 (talk) 21:43, 7 November 2016 (UTC) – Here, CC BY 2.0, Link

Well, it could.

But, will the plaintiff win? That’s a different story. Continue reading

NJ says goodbye to salary-history questions for job applicants

July 29, 2019 | by Eric B. Meyer

Fight Club Soap - Omni Consumer Products (8646725933).jpg

De Wicker Paradise from New Rochelle, United States – Omni Consumer Products — Fight Club Soap – Logo Bar outdoor wicker is a favorite of ours! So is this find by tind., CC BY 2.0, Ligazón

The first rule of Fight Club is: You do not talk about Fight Club.

Well, it may not be the first rule in New Jersey workplaces – we’ve got plenty of those and many more added in the past 12 months – but the most recent rule in New Jersey: you don’t talk about salary history when interviewing job candidates. Continue reading

PA Supreme Court will decide whether two businesses can agree not to poach each other’s employees

July 26, 2019 | by Eric B. Meyer

Image Credit: Pixabay.com (https://pixabay.com/vectors/resume-unemployed-job-unemployment-2163673/)

Company A and Company B work together from time to time on certain projects. Both companies have invested a lot of time, money, and other resources into their respective workforces and do not want to risk employees switching companies. So, they enter into a no-hire or no-poach agreement; e.g., a ‘contract’ between two businesses where they agree not to hire the others’ employees during their business relationship and for some time after it ends.

Is that legal? Continue reading

Harassment training entirely via text message. Could this actually work?

July 25, 2019 | by Eric B. Meyer

Image by fajar budiman from Pixabay

Yesterday, I received an unsolicited email from a company called Pluto.

Pluto claims to offer a text message harassment training course that helps startups get compliant in less than 5 minutes a day. Continue reading

Can sexual harassment investigations create an intolerable and hostile work environment for the harasser?

July 24, 2019 | by Eric B. Meyer

Image Credit: Photofunia.com (http://photofunia.com/results/5d37ca3746867947238b45bf)

Sympathetic: sym·pa·thet·ic Continue reading

The case of Al Franken and why good workplace investigations are so darn important

July 23, 2019 | by Eric B. Meyer

CC BY 3.0

via Wikimedia Commons

Yesterday, The New Yorker published Jane Mayer’s piece entitled “The Case of Al Franken,” which is “a close look at the accusations against the former senator.”

TL;DR

🔥🚒👨‍🚒Firefighter fired for hostile social media posts may have been discriminated against🔥🚒👨‍🚒

July 22, 2019 | by Eric B. Meyer

U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Seaman Barry Riley [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

A white South Carolina firefighter posted threats on Facebook that he would run over Black Lives Matters protesters.

The fire department began receiving complaints about these posts. Plus, the posts violated various provisions of the employee handbook. So, the next day, the firefighter was, err, fired. (For more on the initial lawsuit, you can read this story from CBS News.)

Fast forward three years and the firefighter is this close to a federal jury hearing his race discrimination claims. Continue reading