WIRTW #167 (the fable-ulous edition)

Earlier this week, the Supreme Court issued what I believe will end up being one the most significant employment decisions of the last decade—Staub v. Proctor Hospital. This case has to ability to gut summary judgment in any discrimination case (except age) in which a supervisor is accused of having a discriminatory animus. (And are there any discrimination cases in which a supervisor does not have some role in the adverse action?) Many of my blogging brethren have chimed in on this case. Here’s a survey of the 10 best I’ve read:

• With a Friend Like Justice Scalia ... Cat’s Paw Decision Not Very Employer Friendly – from Michael Fox’s Jottings By An Employer’s Lawyer
• US Supreme Court Holds Employers May Be Liable Under “Cat's Paw” Theory – from California Workforce Resource Blog
• U.S. Supreme Court UNANIMOUSLY green-lights even MORE discrimination claims – from The Employer Handbook Blog
• U.S. Supreme Court Allows “Cat's Paw” Theory of Liability in Discrimination Cases – from Daniel Schwartz’s Connecticut Employment Law Blog
• Employers Liable for Supervisor Bias – from Tim Eavenson’s Current Employment
• Supreme Court Upholds “Cat's Paw” Theory In Employment Discrimination Cases – from World of Work
• Cat’s Paw is In: Supreme Court Issues Unanimous Pro-Employee Decision in Staub v. Proctor – from New York City Employment Lawyer
• The Effect of a Cat’s Paw on Social Media and Employment Law – from Social Media Employment Law Blog
• Supreme Court Decides Cat’s Paw Issue in Staub v. Proctor Hospital. Part I — The Decision – from George’s Employment Blawg
• Opinion recap: “Cat’s paw” theory upheld – from SCOTUSblog

Here’s the rest of what I read this week:

Social Media & Workplace Technology

• Sexting and Other Bad Career Moves – from Evil HR Lady, Suzanne Lucas
• Lawyer Fired For Comment Made on Twitter – from Molly DiBianca’s Going Paperless
• Gay Teacher Terminated For Blog Post on Same-Sex Relationship – from Joe’s HR and Benefits Blog
• Facebook and employers: new ways to get information about employees – from John Holmquist’s Michigan Employment Law Connection
• Social Media and Employment Law: Six Things You Need To Know – from Monster Thinking
• Md. Agency Suspends Facebook-Password Policy – from Delaware Employment Law Blog
• Who Owns Your Contacts and Communications? – from Social Media Today
• Update, Update, Update Your Document Retention Policies! – from Social Networking Law Blog
• On the temptation to declare “email bankruptcy” – from Bob Sutton
• Cosmic Law and social media – from Jay Sherherd’s Gruntled Employees
• Posting Patient Photos—The Newest Example of Social Media Implications for the Workplace – from Digital Workplace Blog
• What is a reasonable cost that should count as loss under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act? – from Internet Cases

Labor Law

• Private vs Public vs Federal Unions: Weighing in On Wisconsin – from Michael Haberman’s Omega HR Solutions
• NLRB Proposed Rule Draws 6500 Comments, Controversy – from Vorys on Labor
• Poll Shows Majority Support Public Employee Unions and Collective Bargaining – from George’s Employment Blawg
• White House to NLRB: Cool the Rhetoric – from Workplace Prof Blog
• Are Unions Obsolete? – from Manpower Employment Blawg

Discrimination

• Training video made things worse, cost employer $930,000 – from Stephen Meyer’s HR Cafe
• We Fought the EEOC, and We Won – from Alabama Employment Law Report
• Must “Adverse Employment Action” be Tangible? – from Wyatt Employment Law Report
• What’s Wrong With “Diversity” Preferences For Whites? – from Discriminations

HR & Employee Relations

• March Mayhem Bracket For Employers: Biggest Workplace Headaches – from Fisher & Phillips’s Labor Letter
• Let the Madness Begin – from Employment Essentials
• Professionalism and HR – from Sindy Warren at the Warren & Hays Employment Law Blog
• The Workplace Bill of Rights by Workplace Fairness – from David Yamada’s Minding the Workplace
• An Alternative to Indemnification Language for Koncision’s Confidentiality Agreement – from Koncision
• The Key to the Defendant Apology: Say What You Mean, and Mean What You Say – from Litigation PostScript. Persuasion Strategies for Litigators
• Job Descriptions: Administrative Hassle or Best Friend? – from Restaurant Law Blog
• Workplace (aka “fake”) spouses—a lot of hype, but here’s how to avoid problems. – from Employment and Labor Insider

Wage & Hour

• Not all Home Depot Assistant Managers are Created Equal … or at least Similarly Situated – from The Wage and Hour Litigation Blog
• Court of Appeal Limits Employers’ Discretion to Set the Workweek/Workday – from What’s New in Employment Law?
• SCOTUS Denies Cert in Novartis FLSA Case – from Philip Miles’s Lawffice Space
• Warehouse Workers Allege Wage Theft, Demand Pay Stubs – from Workplace Fairness
• Federal Judge Finds Two Dollar General Assistant Store Managers To Be Exempt Executives – from Wage and Hour Law Update
• City of Columbus May Require Employees Returning from Sick Leave to Provide Doctor's Note – from Employer Law Report
• ABA’s 2010 Family and Medical Leave Act Report is Out – from Wisconsin Employment & Labor Law Blog

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