The Employer Handbook Blog

Court concludes that two co-workers’ alleged plot to murder an employee-plaintiff was not retaliation

June 21, 2018 | by Eric B. Meyer

Image Credit: Pexels.com (https://www.pexels.com/photo/parking-parking-lot-underground-garage-2996/)

A probation officer in Chicago sued her employer for discrimination and retaliation. At trial, she won her retaliation claim.

While the case was on appeal, the plaintiff claimed that her boss threatened to hit her in the parking lot and, in a separate incident, coordinated with another co-worker threatened to get the plaintiff alone to cause her bodily harm.

The plaintiff alleged that this “murder plot and attempt” was evidence of more retaliation. Is she correct? Continue reading

You may be able to litigate older trade secret misappropriation claims in federal court. Here’s how.

June 20, 2018 | by Eric B. Meyer

Image Credit: Pixabay.com (https://pixabay.com/en/stamp-characters-label-informant-143799/)

Until a few years ago, if an employer wanted to pursue a claim for misappropriation of trade secrets, it probably had to do so in state court under state law. The Defend Trade Secrets Act of 2016 changed all that. The DTSA is a federal law that created a private federal civil cause of action for trade secret misappropriation. So, now, if an employee takes your precious trade secrets, you can sue under federal law in federal court. And, in certain circumstances, you can collect your attorney’s fees if you prevail. The DTSA has real teeth!

But, what if you learn that an employee misappropriated your trade secrets before the DTSA took effect on May 11, 2016. Are you stuck in state court? Continue reading

Racist posts on Facebook are apparently a really bad look for an HR professional. #shrm18

June 19, 2018 | by Eric B. Meyer

Image Credit: Pixabay.com (https://pixabay.com/en/social-social-networks-1206612/)

I use the term “professional” loosely.

That is to say, not at all. Continue reading

Hey HR! Here are 9 ways that you may want to update your employee handbook #SHRM18 #TheEmployerHandbook

June 18, 2018 | by Eric B. Meyer

Image Credit: Pixabay.com (https://pixabay.com/en/update-upgrade-renew-improve-1672346/)

If you’re new to the field, you’ll have to take our word on it. But, HR-compliance professionals know that drafting an employee handbook that is 100% compliant got a lot tougher over the past several years.

Let’s forget about paid-sick-leave laws, ban-the-box, and other state/local law matters. I’m just talking about how strict the National Labor Relations Board had become in interpreting employee handbook policies for union and non-union employers. (Remember that the National Labor Relations Act is not limited to unionized employers.)

Fortunately, relief is on the way. And I have nine ways in which you can now update your handbook with the blessing of the Board’s General Counsel. Continue reading

Why would a judge have awarded UC benefits to a white guy fired for making racial slurs?

June 15, 2018 | by Eric B. Meyer

Image Credit: Pixabay.com (https://pixabay.com/en/eyes-surprise-wow-expression-open-312093/)

Yesterday morning, I read my friend Jon Hyman’s post on LinkedIn about a lawsuit in which a person of color alleged that various supervisors and managers:

Frequently called him the “n-word”;
Told him to “reach his black hands out” while handing him a box; and
Offered him a banana while saying, “Monkeys like bananas.”

Allegedly, a group of white employees also hung a sign in the workplace that said, “WHITE ONLY.” Continue reading

An employer tried to enforce an arbitration agreement. The one it never signed.

June 14, 2018 | by Eric B. Meyer

Image Credit: PXhere.com (https://pxhere.com/en/photo/854901)

Well, there’s always a chance the court might, you know, enforce it.

You think? Continue reading

Instead of going to HR, can a victim of sexual harassment make a CITIZEN’S ARREST?

June 13, 2018 | by Eric B. Meyer

By No machine-readable author provided. Klaus with K assumed (based on copyright claims). [GFDL, CC-BY-SA-3.0 or CC BY-SA 2.5], via Wikimedia Commons

Is that really a thing? A citizen’s arrest?

Tell ’em Big Bird. (I think that’s from the same episode where Elmo tried to effect a citizen’s arrest on Oscar The Grouch by sitting on top of his trash can until the Sesame Street PD arrived. But, I may be mistaken.) Continue reading

I got you a supercharged HR thinking cap to address harassment problems at work

June 12, 2018 | by Eric B. Meyer

Image Credit: Pixabay.com (https://pixabay.com/en/hat-cowboy-felt-cowboy-hat-western-1217914/)

After a two year hiatus, the EEOC reconvened its Select Task Force on Harassment yesterday to hear from an array of scholars, attorneys, other stakeholders about ways to promote a harassment-free workplace. Continue reading

And here are 3.5 million more reasons not to enforce a 100%-healed ADA policy

June 11, 2018 | by Eric B. Meyer

Image Credit: Pixabay.com (https://pixabay.com/en/muscles-strong-man-bodybuilder-2026322/)

Now, don’t say that I haven’t warned you.

A few years ago, I offered 112,500 ADA reasons not to force an employee to stay home until 100% healed. The following year, I told you to 86 the “100% cured” policy for employees returning from FMLA leave, with a reminder a few months later that a 100% healed policy = 100% violation of the ADA.

Some folks just don’t learn. Continue reading

What I have for you today is even better than a Bryan Colangelo post-mortem!

June 8, 2018 | by Eric B. Meyer

Image Credit: Pixabay.com (https://pixabay.com/en/shirt-dress-white-clothes-clothing-2345417/)

My thorough rundown of all things Bryan Colangelo will have to wait until next week when I serve as a guest contributor to the Philadelphia Business Journal.

Today, however, I’ve got your hook up! Continue reading