How?!?!?!?!? In McKinney v. G4S Government Solutions, Inc. (opinion here), an African-American employee claimed that his employer fostered a racially hostile work environment. Among other things, the plaintiff alleged that: a co-worker used the n-word in his presence; a fire chief told the plaintiff that the company had hired a “colored…
The Evil HR Lady, Suzanne Lucas, beat me to it. On Tuesday, Suzanne wrote here about a volunteer firefighter, who is white. And that white firefighter brought a watermelon to the fire station as a gift for his co-workers. According to this Fox 2 report, 90 percent of his co-workers are…
Humility is not my middle name. Actually, it’s “Hercules.” (It’s not Hercules). But, it’s not “Humility” either and I rarely turn down the opportunity to say, “I told you so.” So, remember when I told you a few weeks ago how NFL owners would have a tough time legally firing…
Oh, do I have some Monday Motivation for you! Last Friday, I spoke at an HR conference about the EEOC’s latest enforcement trends. Part of the discussion addressed stereotyping. That’s because the 2017-2021 Strategic Enforcement Plan for the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission focused on addressing discrimination based on employees’ perceptions of others.…
And it has nothing to do with the First Amendment and freedom of speech. ICYMI, some NFL players decided to protest during this week’s games. On September 23, at a rally for Alabama Republican Senate candidate Luther Strange, President Donald Trump called upon National Football League owners to fire NFL players…
Remember when I told you (in this blog post, this article, and this tv interview) that private-sector employees have no First Amendment right, while government employees have limited free-speech rights? I lied. Actually, I was telling the truth. Today’s blog post proves that. Michael Todd Snipes was a law enforcement officer…
Allow me to explain. When is a lateral transfer a discrimination lawsuit? [cue music] Today’s lesson comes from the DC Circuit’s recent decision in Ortiz-Diaz v. HUD. Here’s how the appellate court summarized the facts and issues: Samuel Ortiz-Diaz was a criminal investigator in the Office of the Inspector General at the…
Following a tumultuous weekend in Charlottesville, VA, where a white nationalist march turned deadly, it appears as though at least one attendee will return home from the rally to find himself unemployed. “Unite the Right” attendees are getting outed on social media and apparently losing their jobs. Seth Millstein at…
The heat is most definitely on. Google and the myth of free speech at work. So, have you heard the news about the Google employee — well, now ex-Google employee — who authored and posted a diversity (anti-diversity?) memo to the company intranet. Yeah, that didn’t go over so well.…
For the first time, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals has recognized that “an extreme isolated act of discrimination can create a hostile work environment.” Yep, one word can cost you many dollars! In this particular case (Castleberry v. STI Group; opinion here), the plaintiffs claimed that, when working on a…