One of the unexpected byproducts of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic is a corresponding rise in union organizing and other union-related activity. This crisis has magnified attention on key union agenda items and talking points such as worker safety and higher pay. Unions have not been shy about pressing these issues. "Striketober" is in full effect, with more than 100,000 workers walking off the job in the past week alone. According to The Wall Street Journal, employees are angry and are increasingly turning to labor unions to vent.
Tuesday, October 19, 2021
“Striketober” highlights union organizing concerns for Ohio craft breweries
One of the unexpected byproducts of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic is a corresponding rise in union organizing and other union-related activity. This crisis has magnified attention on key union agenda items and talking points such as worker safety and higher pay. Unions have not been shy about pressing these issues. "Striketober" is in full effect, with more than 100,000 workers walking off the job in the past week alone. According to The Wall Street Journal, employees are angry and are increasingly turning to labor unions to vent.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Monday, October 18, 2021
Netflix’s termination of the organizer of a trans employee walkout very well might be legal
Late Friday, The Verge reported that Netflix fired one of the leaders of an internal trans employee resource group who was organizing an employee walkout later this week. The employee had been encouraging trans employees and allies to walk off the job in protest of Netflix's handling of the Dave Chappelle special The Closer (in which the comedian and the streamer have been criticized for the special's transphobic content).
According to the report, Netflix fired the employee based on its suspicion that s/he leaked confidential metrics on the Chappelle Special to Bloomberg, including how much Netflix paid for it and how many have streamed it.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Saturday, October 16, 2021
UPDATE: HIPAA (mis)information and the Covid vaccine
Earlier this week I wrote about a national payroll provider that shared some very incorrect information about an employer’s HIPAA responsibilities on its website.
That company, ADP, saw my post and reached out to me to let me know that they updated their article.
“I saw your blog that highlighted an oversight from one of our writers on our Spark Blog. It was good to see in that we were able to correct it immediately.”
(Sadly, the Oxford comma omission persists, but I’ll take my victories where I can get them.)
You can find their updated article here.
Well played, ADP. 👏
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Friday, October 15, 2021
WIRTW #600: the “Here, there, and every … where” edition
This week I rejoined my good friends Marc Alifanz and Kate Bischoff on the Hostile Work Environment podcast to discuss the Season 2 finale of Ted Lasso.
Spoiler alert: you should absolutely avoid listening until you complete Season 2. We discussed the employment law and human resources beats we saw in the episode, including Nate's descent into darkness, the fallout of Sam's big choice, and the actions of Trent Crimm, Independent. You'll also hear talk of mannequins, sky diving, and arugula.
Find it wherever you get your podcasts, including Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify, Google Podcasts, and Stitcher.
Here are the best things I read online this past week that I think you should be reading, too.For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Thursday, October 14, 2021
Coronavirus Update 10-14-2021: We still don’t know what OSHA’s vaccine standard says … but we’re getting closer
Late Tuesday, news broke that OSHA had submitted in vaccine mandate Emergency Temporary Standard to the White House’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs for its review. What does this mean? It means that OSHA has taken the first important step towards publishing the ETS and implementing its vaccine mandate for employers with 100 or more employees.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Wednesday, October 13, 2021
Coronavirus Update 10-13-2021: Unfortunately I need to keep clarifying misconceptions about HIPAA
I came across the following information on the website of a prominent national payroll provider:
Q: In what ways can/should HR departments capture and record employee vaccination information? What are the HIPAA implications?
A: When it comes to recording this data, it's a good idea to keep it separate from other employee information on file. It should not be part of standard employee records and should be accessible to as few people as possible. Because vaccination records are covered under HIPAA regulations, businesses must ensure they're diligent about securely collecting, recording and storing this information to limit the risk of compromise.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Tuesday, October 12, 2021
Coronavirus Update 10-12-21: A prior Covid infection is not a defense to an employer’s vaccine mandate
"I don't need the vaccine; I've already had Covid and have superior natural immunity" is a popular refrain from some people who've been infected with Covid and, for that reason or another, are hesitant to get the Covid vaccine.
Does that argument hold up against an employer's vaccine mandate? According to two federal courts that recently examined the issue, the answer is a clear no. Kheriaty v. Regents of the Univ. of Calif. (decided 9/29/21 by a California federal court judge) and Norris v. Stanley (decided 10/8/21 by a Michigan federal court judge) each examined whether an employee was entitled to a preliminary injunction against their employer's vaccine mandate.
In each case, the Court sided with the employer and rejected the employees' pre-existing immunity arguments.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Monday, October 11, 2021
Coronavirus Update 10-11-21: World Mental Health Day
Yesterday was World Mental Health Day. It was also day 579 of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Covid-19 has altered all of our lives; all employees are dealing with stress, anxiety, and isolation.19 months into the pandemic, more than 45 million Americans have been diagnosed with Covid-19, 733,000 have died, and millions more have suffered debilitating illnesses. These are actual people, not just statistics, and we all know someone this virus has impacted.
Many of us have dealt with the stress of layoffs, furloughs, lost income, closed businesses, and the stress that flows from figuring out how to pay the bills and feed our families.
Parents have balanced the second job of homeschooling (or at least assistant homeschooling) their kids against their primary job of their actual paying job.
While life has returned to some semblance of normalcy, there remain many too many of us who are unvaccinated and, thanks to Delta, we all still live with the worry of contracting this virus merely by stepping out into the world.
As a result, some of your employees are working with and through mental health issues of varying degrees caused by all of this stress, change, and loss. Some will be dealing with the exacerbation of pre-existing mental health issues, and some will have what I am calling Covid-19 PTSD.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Friday, October 8, 2021
WIRTW #599: the “34” edition
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Thursday, October 7, 2021
Coronavirus Update 10-7-21: EEOC brings its first pandemic-related lawsuit over a denied WFH accommodation
The fact that an employer temporarily excused performance of one or more essential functions when it closed the workplace and enabled employees to telework for the purpose of protecting their safety from COVID-19, or otherwise chose to permit telework, does not mean that the employer permanently changed a job’s essential functions, that telework is always a feasible accommodation, or that it does not pose an undue hardship. These are fact-specific determinations.EEOC's What You Should Know About COVID-19 and the ADA, the Rehabilitation Act, and Other EEO Laws
According to the EEOC, just because an employer previously offered remote work during the pandemic for some or all employees does not mean that remote work is an appropriate accommodation for any specific employee after it recalls employees to the physical workplace.
What does this look like in practice? A lawsuit the EEOC recently filed will test its limits.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Wednesday, October 6, 2021
Employment law lessons from “Ted Lasso” — Let’s talk about medical confidentiality
The penultimate episode of Season 2 of Ted Lasso ended with an absolute gut-punch of a cliffhanger.
(Spoiler Alert — Turn Back Now If You're Not Caught Up)
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Tuesday, October 5, 2021
Coronavirus Update 10-5-21: Would you rather? Get fired? Or get the Covid-19 vaccine?
Last week I asked a simple question on LinkedIn:
If your employer is mandating the Covid vaccine, would you rather get fired or get the shot?
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Monday, October 4, 2021
Whistleblowing and self-help discovery: lessons from Frances Haugen, the Facebook whistleblower
"Can she do that?" That was the question my wife asked me as we watched last night's interview of Frances Haugen, the Facebook whistleblower, on 60 Minutes.
The "that" was the revelation that Haugen stole a trove of confidential documents just prior to quitting her job to support her allegations against her employer.
"It depends," I told my wife, offering the stock lawyer answer to most questions.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Friday, October 1, 2021
WIRTW #598: the “Would you rather?” edition
As workplace vaccine mandates continue to dominate the headlines, employees continue to threaten to quit their jobs if forced to get jabbed as a condition of their employment.
Whether that threat is sincere or idle makes a huge difference to employers in the most difficult hiring and labor market of our lifetimes. If employees will really quit when faced with a vaccine mandate by their employers, then those employers need to think long and hard over whether to implement the mandate and risk creating job vacancies that they cannot fill.
Thus, over on my LinkedIn page, I've been running a short, one-question survey to determine employees' attitudes about vaccine mandates.
If your employer is mandating the Covid vaccine, would you rather get fired or get the shot?
Please click here to go to the survey and offer your opinion on this single, multiple-choice question. I'll share the results early next week.
Here are the best things I read online this past week that I think you should be reading, too.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Wednesday, September 29, 2021
Coronavirus Update 9-29-21: We need to talk about the rise in anti-Semitism and Nazi symbolism
"You're being a Nazi by mandating masks and vaccines."
"'Papers, please.' I refuse as a condition of entering a store or attending a concert."
"What's next, quarantining the unvaccinated into camps?"
"Vaccine mandates violate the Nuremberg Code."
"Do I need to remind you of the late 1930s and into the '40s in Germany and the experiments with Josef Mengele? What was it? A shot? These were crimes against humanity."
And on, and on, and on. I've had enough.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Tuesday, September 28, 2021
Coronavirus Update 9-28-21: White House issues Covid vaccine mandate guidance for federal contractors and subcontractors
If your business is a federal contractor or subcontractor, you have until December 8 to ensure that your employees are fully vaccinated against Covid-19, according to guidance published late Friday by the White House's Safer Federal Workforce Task Force. There is no testing-in-lieu option available for these employees.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Monday, September 27, 2021
Coronavirus Update 9-27-21: Repeat after me. “A vaccine mandate is not coercive.”
Today's post is for anyone who believes that a workplace vaccine mandate is coercive or deprives employees of their free choice not to get vaccinated.
A federal court recently upheld an employer's vaccine mandate for its employees. In and of itself that holding is not earth shattering or even particularly newsworthy. In fact, it's consistent with virtually every other case in history to rule on a vaccine mandate at work.
This case stands out to me not because of what it held, but because of what the judge said about the free choice employees still maintain on whether or not to get the Covid vaccine, despite their employer's mandate:
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Friday, September 24, 2021
WIRTW #597: the “Sorry Antivaxxer” edition
If you've visited me on LinkedIn or Twitter (and if we're not connected on both, please fix that immediately), you may have noticed I describe myself in my bios as the "Master of Workplace Schadenfreude." What is Schadenfreude? It's a German word that is most commonly translated as "enjoyment obtained from the troubles of others." My research, however, reveals that it has as many as four different potential philosophical underpinnings, which I've synthesized as the following: Taking joy in someone else getting what they deserve because of who they are or what they've done, and celebrating that you're not in their shoes.
No matter how you define it, today's share is dripping with Schadenfreude.
Meet sorryantivaxxer.com, a repository of stories of anti-vaxxers who, because of their own un-sound and stubborn beliefs, needlessly died or came close to dying from Covid. It's a who's who of right-wing pundits, QAnon cultists and other fanatics, religious leaders and zealots, and even health care providers, all of whom opposed, shunned, or spoke out against the Covid vaccine and paid the ultimate price as a result.
Any death is sad, but what's especially sad about these is that each was almost 100 percent preventable if they had just done the one thing that could have prevented them from dying from Covid—taking the damn shot.
Please don't end up on sorryantivaxxer.com. If you're not yet vaccinated, do as soon as possible. Serious illness and death is almost entirely preventable. But you do need to join the 182 million of us who are fully vaccinated.
Here are the best things I read online this past week that I think you should be reading, too.For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Thursday, September 23, 2021
Coronavirus Update 9-23-21: If you’re tired of reading what I have to say about workplace vaccine mandates, now you can listen to what I have to say
A huge thank you to the producing team at WCPN's The Sound of Ideas and host Rick Jackson for inviting me on to yesterday's program to discuss President Biden's workplace vaccine mandate. It was a fun and engaging 17 minutes of conversation, and I always enjoy doing live radio. (Also, thanks, Rick, for plugging the blog.)
If you missed it live, The Sound of Ideas archives all of its shows on its website, and you can (re)listen to yesterday's here.
Here's a quick preview, a clip of me laying out the pros and cons of the vaccine mandate from an employer's perspective.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Tuesday, September 21, 2021
Coronavirus Update 9-21-21: Covid-19 has now killed as many Americans as the Spanish flu
Covid-19 just passed a grim, sad, and preventable milestone. It has killed as many Americans, 675,000, as the last pandemic we suffered, the 1917 Spanish flu. That's more than 226 9/11s.
What makes Covid-19 so much worse than the 1917 pandemic is that we know so much more and we should have been able to end this long before reaching this point.
More than anything else, we have a virus-slowing, life-saving vaccine that 45 percent of the country has failed to fully take. Before the vaccine, we had face masks that a similar percentage of our country railed and rallied against.
As a nation, many too many of us have chosen politics over science, and fiction over reality. As a result, too many have died, and more have fallen ill and suffered.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Monday, September 20, 2021
Coronavirus Update 9-20-21: Fetal stem cells and vaccine-mandate religious exemptions
As the debate over religious exemptions to workplace Covid vaccine mandates, one hospital has taken a unique approach to verify the sincerity of its employees' anti-vax religious beliefs.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Friday, September 17, 2021
WIRTW #596: the “Waterloo" edition
It was a busy week in the Hyman house last week, with middle school soccer games and rock 'n' roll gigs all over town for my kids. I'm happy to report that Donovan led his team to a hard-fought 3-3 tie in his first-ever sports event of any kind (which he followed up with a 13-0 romp). Okay, led might be a tad strong. He played, and that’s all that matters.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Wednesday, September 15, 2021
Coronavirus Update 9-15-21: Do mandatory vaccination policies have an adverse impact on minority employees?
With President Biden's announcement of his plan to vaccinate all employees of employers with 100 or more employees, the nation is keenly focused on workplace mandatory vaccination policies. This has led some to question whether the President's plan unlawfully discriminates against minority employees.
There is little doubt that vaccination rates among Blacks and Hispanics lags behind that of Whites (which isn't that great to begin with). At the latest count, only 43% of Black Americans and 48% of Hispanic Americans are vaccinated, compared with 52% of White Americans. The reason for this greater vaccine hesitancy within minority communities is understandable and well documented, particularly when the government is promoting or flat-out requiring the vaccine. See the Tuskegee Experiment (one of our nation's greatest embarrassments … and that's saying a lot).
All of this begs the question — is a mandatory vaccination policy discriminatory against Blacks and Hispanics. Or, more technically speaking, does such a policy adversely impact them?
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Tuesday, September 14, 2021
Employment law lessons from “Ted Lasso” – dating the boss
If you've not yet watched episode 8 (Man City) of the current second season of Apple TV+'s Ted Lasso and you don't want to be spoiled, now would be a good time to click the back button on your browser or close your email. Good? Okay. No grumbling; you've been warned.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Saturday, September 11, 2021
Coronavirus Update 9-11-21: Here is why the vaccination ETS that Biden has directed OSHA to issue is likely illegal
President Biden has directed OSHA to issue an Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) mandating that all employers with 100 or more employees mandate the Covid vaccine for its employees or mandate weekly Covid testing.
TL;DR: (As much as it pains me to have to write this) OSHA’s Covid vaccine mandate ETS is almost certainly illegal. Here’s why.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Friday, September 10, 2021
WIRTW #595: The “future of paid leave" edition
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Thursday, September 9, 2021
BREAKING NEWS: Biden to announce vaccine mandate for all employers with 100 or more employees
CNN is reporting that President Biden will announce an executive order directing the Department of Labor to draft an emergency rule requiring that all businesses with 100 or more employees ensure all of their workers are either Covid vaccinated, or Covid tested once a week. This goes along with another expected executive order requiring all government employees and employees of government contractors to be vaccinated against Covid-19, with no option of opting out through regular testing.
The legality of the last two (federal employees and federal contractor employees) is not in question. President Biden is absolutely within his authority to mandate as to both.
But as to other employers? If someone wants to explain to me how the Department of Labor can mandate Covid vaccinations or testing for employers, I'm all ears. Because unless I totally misunderstand administrative law (and I don't think I do), that type of measure needs to be enacted via a law passed by Congress and signed by the President, and not by executive order.
This is a developing story, which I will update as necessary. Stay tuned.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Coronavirus Update 9-9-21: Don’t forget about overtime laws when paying employees pandemic-related bonuses
If you pass any restaurant these days you'll almost certainly see a sign like this one:
"Now hiring: $________ sign-on bonus."
I've seen that blank filled in with numbers as high a $1,000 to work at a fast-food restaurant.
Employers are paying these bonuses because they continue to struggle to fill job vacancies in the tightest and toughest labor market I've ever witnessed.
If you find yourself in this position, do not forget about the wage and hour implications of these bonus payments, specifically their inclusion in the "regular rate" for purposes of calculating an employee's overtime premium.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Wednesday, September 8, 2021
Coronavirus Update 9-8-21: Ohio court reverses itself, orders that hospital does not have to administer ivermectin to its Covid patient
Last week I reported on a trial court case out of Butler County, Ohio, in which a common pleas judge granted the wife of a hospitalized Covid patient an order requiring the hospital to administer ivermectin (a livestock de-wormer approved for human use in small doses for the very limited purpose to treat certain parasites and skin conditions) to her husband at her (and her doctor's) request.
On Labor Day, a different judge of that same court reversed the prior ruling and denied a preliminary injunction to the wife. You can read Judge Oster's full order here.
The (loaded) question the court faced was as follows:
Should an injunction be granted to force a hospital to honor the prescription of a doctor that has not seen a patient and has no privileges at said hospital thus forcing the hospital to give ivermectin to a patient when the hospital's doctors, the FDA, CDC, and the AMA do not believe ivermectin should be a recommended way to treat COVID-19?
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Tuesday, September 7, 2021
“Ted Lasso" and the difference between illegal harassment and legal (but still wrong) bullying
If you're watching Ted Lasso, you're familiar with the story of Nathan Shelley, kit man turned coach turned Wonder Kid. Season 2 tells a fascinating story about Nate that is still unfolding. His arc has transformed him from a bullied kit man to an abusive coach, and from a loveable underdog to an insufferable a-hole. Episode 7 ended with Nate cruelly unleashing a tirade of anger on his replacement as the team's kitman, Will.
There is little doubt that Nate's mistreatment of Will and others is both uncomfortable to watch and a portrait of horrendous management. But is it illegal?
The answer is no.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Friday, September 3, 2021
WIRTW #594: the “three fests and a wine bar” edition
If you're in Northeast Ohio, let me suggest four ways for you to spend your time over the next couple of weeks — all involving my daughter and live music.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Thursday, September 2, 2021
The 12th nominee for the “Worst Employer of 2021” is … the Pregnancy Prognosticator
If I know one thing, and only one thing, as a man (okay, two things) it's these: NEVER joke about a woman's weight and never ask a woman if she's pregnant. The former will never end well. The latter may end with a lovely conversation about her impending bouncing bundle of joy and the perils of newfound parenthood. But it's also just as likely, if not more so, to end in tears and embarrassment.
An employer in the UK just learned these lessons the hard way, and earned my 12th nomination as the Worst Employer of 2021.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Wednesday, September 1, 2021
Shredding documents during litigation is a bad, bad idea (a “Worst Employer" nominee update)
Activision Blizzard was my 11th nominee for the Worst Employer of 2021. Among the alleged sins that earned its nomination — a key software developer named the hotel suite he'd use to groom female subordinates "The Cosby Suite."
The hits for this employer just keep on coming. The State of California's Department of Fair Employment and Housing, which is actively investigating Activision Blizzard for having a pervasive culture of harassment and abuse toward its female employees, now accuses the company of shredding documents relevant to the investigation.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Tuesday, August 31, 2021
Coronavirus Update 8-31-21: Despite FDA and CDC warnings to the contrary, Ohio court orders hospital to administer Ivermectin to Covid patient
Ivermectin is a high potency medication used to prevent or treat parasites in livestock. It's FDA-approved for limited use in humans, such as in specific doses for some parasitic worms, and there are topical (on the skin) formulations for head lice and certain skin conditions. It is not an anti-viral medication.
Yet, the drug has grown in popularity among conservatives, fueled by endorsements from people like Senator Ron Johnson and Fox News personalities Laura Ingraham and Sean Hannity. It is not approved to treat COVID-19 infections, and both the FDA and CDC have issued strong warnings against its use for that purpose. Nevertheless, reports of poisoning related to the use of Ivermectin have increased threefold this year, spiking in July, and feed stores in states with low vaccines rates selling out of the drug.Courts are now wading into the issue, but not how you'd expect.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Monday, August 30, 2021
Coronavirus Update 8-30-21: Vaccine mandates and unemployment compensation
DO NOT QUIT YOUR JOB
As the mandates are increasing and the “deadlines” fast approach, YOU SHOULD NOT QUIT YOUR JOB. Do not be fooled if your boss says you must resign. Make your boss fire you and do not sign anything or agree to anything that says otherwise. Do not agree with “voluntary resignation.” If you are fired, you are eligible for unemployment. Anything else and you are not.
–americasfrontlinedoctors.org
This statement, variations of which are making the rounds on social media and elsewhere online, is very, very wrong (at least in Ohio).
An employee fired for declining a vaccine mandate (for a reason other than a bona fide medical or religious excuse) is not eligible for unemployment.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Friday, August 27, 2021
WIRTW #593 (the “18 and life” edition)
17 years and 363 days ago, I married the love of my life. In two days, we'll celebrate our 18th anniversary.
The number 18 is significant. In Hebrew, each letter has a numerical value. The number 10 is the letter Yod, and the number 8 is the letter Het. Het-Yod spells the word Chai (חי), which translates in English to "life."
Chai is a perfect allegory for marriage. Life is not perfect, and neither is a marriage. Both have their ups and their downs. But, if you can find that someone with whom you not only enjoy the ups but can ride out the downs and come out the other side, you've done well.
I've done very, very well. Happy 18 Colleen.
Here's what I read this week:
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Thursday, August 26, 2021
Coronavirus Update 8-26-21: Incentivizing Covid vaccinations through insurance-premium penalties for the unvaccinated
Delta Air Lines will charge employees on the company health plan $200 a month if they fail to get vaccinated against COVID-19, a policy the airline's top executive says is necessary because the average hospital stay for the virus costs the airline $40,000.
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Wednesday, August 25, 2021
Coronavirus Update 8-25-21: Inside the Five responds to John Mandel, and they are not happy
An update on Monday's post, about a Toledo-area brewery that got canceled over a tweet by Senate candidate John Mandel congratulating a sick employee for reporting to work. The restaurant is none too happy with ol' Joshy.
One of its owners made their position on sick employees very clear to Toledo's WTVG:
It is our policy for employees to inform all management before coming to work. As soon as we found out, we sent our employee home.
The correct response. Sick employees don't work, period, especially during a global pandemic of an airborne virus.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Tuesday, August 24, 2021
Coronavirus Update 8-24-21: FDA grants full approval to Pfizer Covid vaccine … but will it make any difference
Yesterday, the FDA granted full and final approval of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine.
Calling the agency's approval "a pivotal moment" in the battle against Covid, FDA Acting Commissioner Dr. Janet Woodcock said:
While this and other vaccines have met the FDA's rigorous scientific standards for emergency use authorization, as the first FDA approved Covid-19 vaccine, the public can be confident that this vaccine meets the FDA's gold standard for safety, effectiveness and manufacturing quality that we require for an approved product.
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Monday, August 23, 2021
Coronavirus Update 8-23-21: I’ll have a side of Covid with my burger, please
PERRYSBURG, OH — @InsideTheFive is a cool brewery started by two NFL vets. Great food and spirited waitresses!
— Josh Mandel (@JoshMandelOhio) August 20, 2021
Even though Brianne was sick today, she came to work because she knew they were short servers.
These are the type of American workers that make our country strong. pic.twitter.com/o0VFkDkjuo
That is perennial political loser and 2022 Senatorial candidate Josh Mandel tweeting in support of a local restaurant.
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Friday, August 20, 2021
WIRTW #592 (the “welcome back” edition)
Covid has taken a lot from us. One of the things it robbed from this space is its weekly "What I'm Reading This Week" ("WIRTW") feature. For 591 pre-Covid Fridays, I published a list of the best workplace-related things I read on the Internet that past week.
Today (and hopefully for every Friday from this point forward), I am delighted to bring this feature back from its pandemic slumber.
Here is the 592nd edition of What I Read This Week.
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Thursday, August 19, 2021
Coronavirus Update 8-19-2021: The (Un)Healthy American, along with other more reputable organizations, help Americans dodge vaccine mandates
Meet Peggy Hall. She runs a website called The Healthy American.
What is The Healthy American? For starters, it's a website that NewsGuard ranks 22.5/100 (a failing grade no matter how you slice it), for, among other sins and errors, publishing false and irresponsible misinformation about the Covid vaccine.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Wednesday, August 18, 2021
Coronavirus Update 8-18-2021: Back to school presents fresh challenges for working parents and employers
Today my kids go back to school. 10th grade for Norah and 7th grade for Donovan. I am so thankful that their school is requiring universal masking regardless of vaccination status. Not all students, however, are so lucky. Only 10 states currently require masks in schools, while eight states outright prohibit schools and school districts from mandating them. That means that 32 states leave this decision up to individuals school districts and parents.
This presents a major problem. Just look at these headlines from schools that are already back in session.
- Florida school district calls emergency meeting after 5,500+ students forced to quarantine over COVID-19 outbreak
- Virus outbreaks temporarily close 4 Texas school districts
- Second George County school closes due to COVID-19 outbreaks
- Ash Fork Schools Close Temporarily After COVID-19 Outbreak
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Tuesday, August 17, 2021
Coronavirus Update 8-17-2021: Are your work-from-home employees working more one job from home?
This headline in the Wall Street Journal caught my eye: These People Who Work From Home Have a Secret: They Have Two Jobs.
A small, dedicated group of white-collar workers, in industries from tech to banking to insurance, say they have found a way to double their pay: Work two full-time remote jobs, don’t tell anyone and, for the most part, don’t do too much work, either.
Alone in their home offices, they toggle between two laptops.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Monday, August 16, 2021
Coronavirus Update 8-16-2021: With more businesses implementing vaccine mandates, more people turn to illegal fake vaccine cards
With more employers mandating vaccines for their employees, and businesses, cities, and schools doing the same for customers and other non-employee visitors, more people who resist the vaccine are turning to fake vaccine cards to remain employed or otherwise gain access.
As I wrote a few months ago, using a fake vaccine card is a federal crime. 18 U.S.C. sec. 1017 criminalizes the fraudulent or wrongful use of a government seal (in this case, that of the CDC). It is punishable by imprisonment of up to five years.
The illegality, however, hasn't stopped people, and the market is growing.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Friday, August 13, 2021
What Would Ted Do? #WWTD
First, there was my Golden Rule of Employee Relations: Treat your employees as you would want to be treated (or as you would want your wife, kids, parents, etc., to be treated).
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Thursday, August 12, 2021
Coronavirus Update 8–12–2021: Justice Department confirms that ADA applies to Covid “long-haulers"
A few weeks ago I opined that the ADA likely covers Covid long-haul symptoms as protected disabilities that employers must accommodate.
In recently published policy guidance, the Department of Justice agrees.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Wednesday, August 11, 2021
Coronavirus Update 8–11–2021: Mad as hell
How are you? Delta is spiking Covid infection rates to their highest levels since last winter. Hospitals are again facing a crisis of space. Breakthrough infections are a grim reality. Masks are again becoming part of our daily lives. How am I? I'm mad.
How mad? Mad enough to voice my resentment to WebMD.
"I am angry, I am resentful, and I think it’s a fair and appropriate response," says Jonathan Hyman, a Berea, OH, attorney who blames the unvaccinated for the backslide in pandemic progress.
Hyman has been following the difficult guidelines health experts have been urging from the beginning. He has been masking up, avoiding large gatherings, postponing travel, and he signed up to receive the vaccine as soon as it was available.
"We have been responsible, I did everything I was supposed to do," says Hyman, 48, who didn't visit his parents for 18 months to keep them safe. "Yet here we are, 16, 17 months later, and it feels like we're in the exact same place we were last summer, and it’s all because some people refuse to do the responsible things they were told to do."
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Tuesday, August 10, 2021
Coronavirus Update 8–10–2021: Vaccines and religions accommodation requests
"I need an accommodation for your mandatory vaccination policy. The vaccine is against my religion."
As more employers roll out vaccine mandates, more will be faced with this exact scenario.
Title VII requires an employer to reasonably accommodate an employee's sincerely held religious beliefs, practices, or observances, as long as the accommodation does not impose an undue hardship.
Two, and only two, religions, however, actually support people not getting vaccinated as a tenet of the religion — Christian Scientists and the Dutch Reformed Church. There are an estimated 106,000 Christian Scientists in the United States, and 194,000 members of the Reformed Church. That's a tidy total of 300,000 potential religious objectors based on their religion's actual teachings, period (or only 0.25% of all employees). But that minuscule number does not end the inquiry.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Monday, August 9, 2021
Coronavirus Update 8–9–2021: CNN fires three employees for lying about vaccine status
CNN — which is requiring all in-person employees to be fully vaccinated — has fired three employees for going into the office unvaccinated.
In the past week, we have been made aware of three employees who were coming to the office unvaccinated. All three have been terminated. Let me be clear — we have a zero-tolerance policy on this. You need to be vaccinated to come to the office. And you need to be vaccinated to work in the field, with other employees, regardless of whether you enter an office or not. Period. We expect that in the weeks ahead, showing proof of vaccination may become a formal part of the WarnerMedia Passcard process. Regardless, our expectations remain in place.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Friday, August 6, 2021
The 11th nominee for the “Worst Employer of 2021” is … the Cosby Suite
If you're my age, when you hear the name Activision you think of games like Kaboom!, Pitfall!, and the Atari 2600. If you're younger you might think of Tony Hawk's Pro Skater or Call of Duty. No matter your age, after you read this lawsuit, you'll only be able to think, "OMG, what the hell is wrong with them?!"
According to the lawsuit the State of California is bringing against Activision Blizzard, "During a company event … [key World of Warcarft developer Alex] Afrasiabi would hit on female employees, telling [them] he wanted to marry them, attempting to kiss them, and putting his arms around them. This was in plain view of other male employees, including supervisors, who had to intervene and pull him off female employees. Afrasiabi was so known to engage in harassment of females that his suite was nicknamed the 'Cosby Suite' after alleged rapist Bill Cosby."
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Thursday, August 5, 2021
Coronavirus Update 8–5–2021: Debunking dangerous anti-vax theories and organizations like The Solari Report
You've read my posts from earlier this week, listened to the newly self-appointed quarterback of Team Vaccine Mandate, and decided to require the Covid vaccine for all of your on-site employees. After you announce your mandate, an employee enters your office to present the following ultimatum: "I'll get the vaccine," the employee tells you, "as soon as you sign off on this document."
The employee then hands you the following form, which it found on a website called The Solari Report.
Form for Employees Whose Employers Are Requiring Covid-19 Injection
— The Solari Report (@solari_the) August 2, 2021
This puts employers in a box. This is a form every employee who is faced with this needs to submit to the authorized officer of their company. It is 100% legally accurate, forces them to respond to your questions ttps://t.co/stuFAl0888">pic.twitter.com/stuFAl0888
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Wednesday, August 4, 2021
Coronavirus Update 8–4–2021: The dam is breaking on mandatory Covid vaccines, and the flood is coming
The news on mandated Covid vaccinations is coming fast and furious, from courts, governments, and private businesses.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Tuesday, August 3, 2021
Coronavirus Update 8–3–2021: What the CDC’s new mask guidance actually says and means
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Monday, August 2, 2021
Coronavirus Update 8–2–2021: Employers, now is the time to mandate Covid vaccines
As short as a few weeks ago, I'd have told you that the choice to get vaccinated is a personal one, and that employers that mandated the Covid vaccine for their employees were over-stepping into their employees' medical privacy.
That was before last week's news that the Delta variant has taken hold and taken off. As we now know that Delta is more transmissible than the chickenpox or the common flu, impacting younger people, and likely more dangerous than prior variants, our country is in a dark place with this virus, and it's rapidly getting darker.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Friday, July 23, 2021
Coronavirus Update 7–23–2021: We talkin’ bout masks! We ain’t talkin’ bout the vaccine, we talkin’ bout masks.
I'm not proud of this but i just made a scene in public for the first time in my life… I walked into a Starbucks and they asked me to put a mask on! I yelled this is ridiculous, so I turned around and walked out. I know what you're thinking… My first mistake was walking into a Starbucks:)
I came across the post written by the former Hercules actor a couple of nights ago while perusing my LinkedIn feed. Three things came to mind.
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Thursday, July 22, 2021
Coronavirus Update 7–22–2021: How the ADA and FMLA apply to Covid long haulers
The risks associated with Covid-19 aren't limited to the 625,000 Americans this virus has killed or the 2.3 million hospitalizations. One of the greatest risks comes from the fact that nearly one-third of Covid-19 patients will develop long-haul symptoms that long outlast the actual infection, and further that nearly one-third of all Covid long haulers had asymptomatic Covid cases. These long-haul symptoms can include fatigue, respiratory problems, "brain fog," body aches and muscle pain, abdominal issues, and loss of smell and taste. They can be quite debilitating and last for months or longer.
If you have an employee experiencing one or more of these long-haul symptoms, what are your legal obligations to that employee under ADA and FMLA?
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Wednesday, July 21, 2021
Coronavirus Update 7–21–2021: Employers, now is the time to ready your back-to-school plans
Children nationwide are getting ready to go back to the school for the 2021 – 22 school year, the third school year students and their parents will be living and dealing with, Covid-19.
Here's what we know about what this school year will look like.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Tuesday, July 20, 2021
When protected concerted activity isn’t protected
Netflix has fired three marketing executives for criticizing their co-workers over Slack. According to The Hollywood Reporter, "the executives in question thought the messages were private. An insider says an employee stumbled across several months’ worth of these messages and reported it."
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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