Archive for July, 2003

Economic news — mostly good, some bad

Thursday, July 31st, 2003

First the good news.

The U.S. economy grew faster than expected April-to-June, boosted by gains in business spending and government spending for the war in Iraq. Second quarter GDP rose at a 2.4% annual rate, faster than the 1.4% rate each of the previous two quarters. This was much better than Wall Street was [...]

George Lenard on General |

Headlines added to my blawg

Wednesday, July 30th, 2003

I’ve just added a new feature to this blawg — syndicated headlines that automatically update. See box on left. The first entry is labor and employment headlines from Mondaq. The link is to a bookmark at the bottom of the blawg where you’ll find the headlines. These are linked to articles, [...]

George Lenard on General |

In coworker harassment case, 4th Cir. discusses "because of sex"; constructive knowledge from failure to provide adequate complaint procedure

Thursday, July 24th, 2003

In Ocheltree v. Scollon Prods., Inc. (4th Cir. July 18, 2003), following a jury verdict for the plaintiff, the Fourth Circuit rejected the employer’s contention that verbal conduct consisting of frequent and explicit sexual gestures and conversation that could be characterized as (quite extreme and explicit) “guy talk” or “locker room talk” was not actionable [...]

George Lenard on General |

Story on discrimination claims for hiring retail employees for good-looking appearance, inspired by Abercrombie case

Thursday, July 24th, 2003

New York Times Story by Steven Greenhouse quotes Donna Harper, supervisory attorney in the EEOC’s St. Louis office, among others, in discussing possible race, gender, national origin, age, and disability claims that may arise when companies use “branding” and their perceptions of customer preferences in selection of employees.

Check this site for summary by plaintiff’s [...]

George Lenard on General |

8th Circuit case refines "regarded as" prong of ADA definition of disability

Friday, July 18th, 2003

Ollie v. Titan Tire Corp. (8th Cir. July 15, 2003) involved an asthmatic employee whose preemployment physical report said he was “medically able to do the essential functions of the job with accomodations listed below.” The space below said he “may have difficulty in areas with dust and fumes.” The employer took this [...]

George Lenard on General |