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Blogroll update — new St. Louis category and a couple more employment/HR blawgs
Been upgrading the Bloglines.com - supplied blogroll at right, which doubles as my personal reading list (OK I don’t really keep up on all of it every day!)
Added a new folder for St. Louis and some more labor & employment blawgs (see below).
What the heck. I know most readers are here [...]
I’ve said it before — mandatory arbitration of employment claims is no panacea
A while back (6/11/04), Law.com carried this story from The Recorder: “$3.5M ADR Award Against 24 Hour Fitness Unsealed” (by Alexei Oreskovic)
Requiring employees to signing agreements to arbitrate all claims arising out of their employment sounded great to many people for a number of reasons.
Two of the reasons arbitration was considered so wonderful: [...]
Racial harassment and fatal workplace violence generate novel employment discrimination claim
A shooting at the Lockheed Martin plant in Meridian, Miss. on July 8, 2003, in which an employee killed six co-workers and injured nine others before committing suicide is now being cast as the ultimate racially hostile work environment.
AP reported July 3: “Lawsuit filed in Lockheed Martin plant shooting”
A federal lawsuit filed by 47 [...]
Opening up this Blawg’s garage door for a peek at the clutter
Regular readers may have heard me periodically bemoaning how I just fall further and further behind in my blawging, and have a vast backlog of unposted but interesting stuff.
Well, now I have a new solution, thanks to Bloglines.com.
I’ve been using Bloglines as a newsreader and to keep the “blogroll” on this blawg for a few [...]
Wal-Mart class action: So, what did the judge say in his opinion and what are some lessons for employers?
In ruling in favor of class certification in Dukes v. Wal-Mart Stores, the judge wrote an 84-page opinion. In this blog entry, I will summarize and comment on some highlights of this lengthy document.
Key points include: the role of subjectivity in promotion and pay decisions; criticism of Wal-Mart’s diversity program; and several aspects of [...]
More on exit interviews, other termination nuts and bolts suggestions
Following my recent post on exit interviews, I ran across some additional useful information (for HR types more than lawyers) on exit interviews and suggestions for implementing terminations, whether voluntary or involuntary (as opposed to making involuntary termination decisions)
First,About.com’s Human Resources Blog has this: “How to Improve Exit Interview Participation Rates” (by Beth N. [...]
Positive perspective on ADA
Triangle Business Journal had this story recently: “ADA has not wrought doom and gloom on employers” (by Richard R. Rogoski)
After 12 years, most employers not only have adapted to the law, but have discovered that some of their best employees are those with disabilities. . . People are a lot more accepting and the majority [...]
Some educational opportunities — are you up to speed in these EEOC, ADA, and labor law areas?
I’m not advertising here - just ran across a couple of seminars that sounded good, so I thought I’d pass them along. Plus, sometimes just looking at the agendas makes you think about issues you need to learn more about or take action on.
First, what is billed as an “exciting EEOC seminar to be [...]
New Demo ticket eschews class warfare, adopts more inclusive divisive language
Reuters (via Yahoo! News) reports: “Kerry, Edwards: We’ll Fight for ‘Real People’”
Democratic White House contender John Kerry and John Edwards, his new running mate, vowed on Thursday to fight for “real people” and portrayed President Bush as a patron of “a few at the top.” Read more
A subtle but important improvement over Dick Gephart’s [...]
Exit interviews
Workforce Management has this: Sample Exit Interview
Exit interviews are an excellent practice for legal reasons, as well as more general HR and business purposes.
Employees are never more likely to give candid feedback to a company than when they are walking out the door.
Given the (epidemic) frequency of constructive discharge claims in employment [...]
Labor photography: peruse the images from a great collection
A while back over at Workers Comp Insider, I saw this: Lost Labor: Images of Vanished American Workers 1900-1980.
If you like labor history and photography, here’s a great place to while a way some of your spare time (huh?)
For more than 20 years, visual artist Raymon Elozua has been assembling a vast collection of [...]
When it rains it pours; St. Louis named "Blawg City USA"
One of the crazy things about the law business, particularly in litigation, is the dramatic ups and downs in the workload.
Now it’s way up for me for at least the next 10 days, so my blogging will be way down.
That’s the figurative reference to the old Morton Salt slogan in my headline.
But [...]
Racial harassment claim rejected despite racial slurs, Klan graffiti
In Herman Jackson v. Flint Ink, 03-2189 (8th Cir. 6/7/04), the Eight Circuit affirmed summary judgment for the employer, holding that racially offensive slurs were infrequent and few in number and thus not sufficient to establish a hostile work environment.
The court also held that that burning cross graffiti in the company’s locker room was a [...]
