WIRTW #509 (the “he did not just say that” edition)

CNN reports that billionaire real estate magnate Sam Zell recently said the following while speaking at a real estate investment trusts trade association:

I never promoted a woman because she was a woman. I never demoted a woman because she was a woman. My issue is what do you do, what do you produce, how do you interrelate to the rest of the business. I don’t think there’s ever been a, “We gotta get more pussy on the block, OK?”

To make matters worse, this is the same guy who, eight years ago, The New York Times alleged to be running a company rampant with sexual harassment and debasement, including executives openly discussing the “sexual suitability” of female employees.

Thank you, Sam Zell, for being “Exhibit A” of why my  job here is far from over.

Here’s what I read this week:

Discrimination

• Not even George Costanza could’ve pulled this one off… — via Eric Meyer’s The Employer Handbook Blog
• Medical inquiries and the ADA — via Robin Shea’s Employment & Labor Insider
• #MeToo’s Impact Isn’t Pretty–for Men or Women — via Evil HR Lady, Suzanne Lucas
• Seeking “Young and Fresh” Workers. Uh-Oh… — via The Emplawyerologist
• 55% of Americans Are Cool with their LGBTQ Coworkers — via Workology

Technology

• CrossFit Employee Fires Off A Bunch Of Homophobic Tweets, Immediately Gets Sent To Time Out [Update] — via Deadspin
• Roseanne Barred from ABC: How to Protect Your Business from Social Media Meltdowns — via HR Hero Line
• Best Practices When Fishing for Non-Email eDiscovery — via Technologist
• My top employee constantly texts and surfs the web — via Ask a Manager
• The key to cybersecurity education? Simulation programs — via HR Dive

HR & Employee Relations

• How to Hire an Employment Law Attorney for Your Business — via Dan Schwartz’s Connecticut Employment Law Blog
• Man-Bashing Training — via Kate Bischoff’s tHRive HR & Consulting Blog
• Is it all right to swear on the job? — via Ragan.com
• Welcome to the No Vacation Nation — via EntertainHR

Wage & Hour

• Tackling Depositions in Wage and Hour Misclassification Suits — via Trade Secret / Noncompete Blog
• Report: Wage Law Violations Result in Billions of Dollars in Total Payouts — via The D & O Diary
• Why? A Serious Health Condition under the FMLA – Part 9. — via Michigan Employment Law

Labor

• Sixth Circuit Looks to Seventh and Ninth Circuits in Reviving Firefighters Title VII Suit against Union — via Currents
• Fever-Pitch: NLRB Chairman Fires Back At Senators, Confirms Agency Will Address Joint-Employer Issue Through Rulemaking — via Labor Relations

OSHA & Safety

• Five Tips For Dealing with Smartphone-Addicted Teammates — via Workplace Diva
• The Joint Commission Issues Seven New Workplace Violence Prevention Recommendations — via OSHA Law Blog

* Photo by Alexander Andrews on Unsplash