The Department of Labor's breakup with liquidated damages in wage and hour investigations lasted only four years. Late last week, the agency announced that it would again seek liquidated damages (an amount equal to the unpaid wages themselves) in investigations, undoing a policy change made by the Trump administration.
Wednesday, April 14, 2021
DOL reopens the floodgate to liquidated damages in wage and hour investigations
The Department of Labor's breakup with liquidated damages in wage and hour investigations lasted only four years. Late last week, the agency announced that it would again seek liquidated damages (an amount equal to the unpaid wages themselves) in investigations, undoing a policy change made by the Trump administration.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Tuesday, April 13, 2021
The top 11 things you need to know about being sued by an (ex) employee
Because of the impending changes to Ohio's workplace discrimination law that take effect in two days, the filing of employment discrimination lawsuits in my state is seeing record numbers.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Monday, April 12, 2021
Coronavirus Update 4-12-2021: It’s time to end pandemic PTO hesitancy
I haven't taken a proper vacation in 25 months. We were supposed to go to Portugal last March, but then Covid happened. In the 13 months since, there's been little point in taking off from work for any length of time because I haven't been able to go anywhere. "I can't go anywhere, so I might as well work," has been a popular pandemic refrain (me included).
Americans were bad at vacations before Covid. The pandemic certainly hasn't helped our PTO hesitancy.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Friday, April 9, 2021
Coronavirus Update 4-9-2021: Income tax season has exacerbated the ongoing Covid plague of unemployment fraud
One of the lasting lessons of the Covid-19 pandemic for businesses is our broken state unemployment systems. State governments have paid out tens of billions of dollars in bogus unemployment claims. And with claims paid comes tax forms reporting the income related to those claims.
Consider the story of just one taxpayer, as relayed by the Wall Street Journal.
Michael Baird, a 33-year-old marketing manager in Chicago, hasn't lived in Texas for several years. And yet there was a tax form from the state of Texas sitting at his parents' house in Houston, showing that the state had paid him $1,014 in unemployment benefits.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Thursday, April 8, 2021
Title VII and “fringe" religions
"A pagan says she faced religious discrimination while working at Panera. Now, she’s suing." So reads the headline at the Washington Post. The plaintiff claims that after she told an assistant manager that she was pagan, her hours were cut and she was told they wouldn't be restored until she "found God" (in addition to other alleged workplace harassment).
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Wednesday, April 7, 2021
6th Circuit applies False Claim Act’s anti-retaliation protections to ex-employees
In the history of this blog's 3,603 posts, I've never written about the False Claim Act. If you've been waiting with bated breath for me to fix this omission, today's your lucky day, thanks to United States ex rel. David Felten, M.D., Ph.D. v. William Beaumont Hosp. (6th Cir. 3/31/21). Before diving into the Felten case, let's first take a 61-word peek at the False Claims Act and to what it applies.
The False Claims Act is a federal statute that imposes liability on people and companies that defraud the federal government, and further, relevant to Felten, permits private citizens (which the law calls "relators") to file lawsuits (known as qui tam claims) on behalf of the government and protects relators from retaliation when the lawsuit they are filing is against their employer.
At issue in Felten is whether the FCA's anti-retaliation protections only cover current employees, or whether they also extend to an employer's former employee who blows the whistle by filing a qui tam suit.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Tuesday, April 6, 2021
Coronavirus Update 4-6-2021: Is work from home not all it’s cracked up to be?
Three weeks ago I returned to the office. That return matched my start date at Wickens Herzer Panza. I decided that it'd be difficult, if not impossible, to learn a new firm and its systems, and build camaraderie and teamwork with my new co-workers, if I'm working remotely. Thus, I made the decision to break free of my self-imposed Covid cocoon and start working most days in person in the office.
I thought about this decision as I read this article in the Wall Street Journal: After Covid, Should You Keep Working From Home? Here’s How to Decide.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Monday, April 5, 2021
Coronavirus Update 4-5-2021: The Covid lawsuits are coming
Thirteen months into the pandemic, the COVID-related employment lawsuits are starting to roll into courthouses. Consider the following, all of which made headlines over the past couple of weeks.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Thursday, April 1, 2021
No foolin': the most meaningful changes to Ohio's employment discrimination law take effect in two weeks
Two weeks from today, H.B. 352 takes effect and brings the most significant changes to Ohio's workplace discrimination statute since its passage decades ago. What are these changes?
- Creates a universal two-year statute of limitations for all employment discrimination claims.
- Requires individuals to file an administrative charge with the Ohio Civil Rights Commission as a prerequisite to filing a lawsuit.
- Unifies the filing of age discrimination claims to the same procedures and remedies as all other protected classes.
- Eliminates individual statutory liability for managers and supervisors.
- Caps non-economic and punitive damages based on the size of the employer.
- Establishes an affirmative defense to hostile workplace sexual harassment claims not alleging that did not result in an adverse, tangible employment action, when 1) the employer exercised reasonable care to prevent or promptly correct the alleged unlawful discriminatory practice or harassing behavior, and 2) the employee failed to take advantage of any preventive or corrective opportunities provided by the employer or to otherwise avoid the alleged harm.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Wednesday, March 31, 2021
Coronavirus Update 3-31-2021: Covid-19 vaccination cards will be required to do lots of things, including possibly even working
According to the Wall Street Journal, Covid-19 vaccination cards are our only proof of vaccination status and will soon be as essential as a drivers' license or passport. With no national or statewide centralized databases of vaccination records, the piece of paper you receive with your vaccine dose is your only proof of vaccination.
The article suggests that we'll need this record to do lots of things moving forward, such as travel. What about returning to in-person work? Can employers ask for or require that employees provide proof of vaccination?
According to the EEOC, the answer is yes as to the ask.
Is asking or requiring an employee to show proof of receipt of a COVID-19 vaccination a disability-related inquiry?
No. There are many reasons that may explain why an employee has not been vaccinated, which may or may not be disability-related. Simply requesting proof of receipt of a COVID-19 vaccination is not likely to elicit information about a disability and, therefore, is not a disability-related inquiry. However, subsequent employer questions, such as asking why an individual did not receive a vaccination, may elicit information about a disability and would be subject to the pertinent ADA standard that they be “job-related and consistent with business necessity.” If an employer requires employees to provide proof that they have received a COVID-19 vaccination from a pharmacy or their own health care provider, the employer may want to warn the employee not to provide any medical information as part of the proof in order to avoid implicating the ADA.
The question then becomes what does an employer do if an employee cannot provide proof of vaccination? If the vaccine is mandatory and a condition of employment, it can deny access to the workplace or even terminate, provided that it is considering exceptions for employees' disabilities and sincerely held religious beliefs, practices, and observances. If the vaccine is not mandatory, why ask for the vaccine record in the first place?
We are entering a very interesting era of privacy, including employee privacy. If you are not mandating the vaccine, while you are within your legal right to ask about vaccination status, why would you? Do you really want to catalogue your employees' vaccination status and for what purpose?
* Photo by Marco Verch Professional Photographer on Flickr [Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0)]
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Tuesday, March 30, 2021
Let's meet employees where they are on their pronouns
In Meriwether v. Hartop, the 6th Circuit recently decided that a state university cannot force a professor to use students' preferred gender pronouns, and permitted the prof to proceed with his lawsuit challenging the school's discipline for his misgendering.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Monday, March 29, 2021
Supporting our AAPI employees in their time of crisis
The stats are jarring, disturbing, and scary. During the past year of the COVID-19 pandemic, there have been nearly 3,800 reported anti-Asian hate incidents, including shunning, slurs, and physical attacks. That number represents a stunning 46 percent increase over the prior year, and still just a small percentage of the actual number that has occurred. These incidents culminated last week in Robert Aaron Long shooting and killing eight people at three Atlanta-area massage parlor.
Your AAPI (Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders) employees are hurting. Here are some thoughts on how we, as their employers, can best support them.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Friday, March 26, 2021
Coronavirus Update 3-26-2021: 5 Considerations for Drafting Your COVID-19 Vaccination Policy
At some point over the next several months, most of your employees will receive one of the various COVID-19 vaccines that the Food & Drug Administration has approved for Emergency Use Authorization. As your employees consider whether and when to obtain the vaccine, you, as their employer, have numerous issues to consider regarding the vaccination status of your employees. You should also formalize these decisions in a written Vaccination Policy that you provide to each of your employees, so that everyone is on the same page as to your requirements and expectations regarding the vaccine.
What are the five key issues every employer should be considering and incorporating into a COVID-19 Vaccination Policy? You'll have to head over to the Wickens Herzer Panza website to find out.
* Photo by Joshua Hoehne on Unsplash
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Thursday, March 25, 2021
Coronavirus Update 3-25-2021: Ohio legislature foolishly and dangerously limits the authority of the governor to respond to public health crises
"I can tell, as you're smirking at me not wearing a mask, you are not good at public health. This is not your lane, you need to get out of it."
Here was House Minority Leader Emilia Strong Sykes' floor speech criticizing the override vote for Senate Bill 22
— Tyler Buchanan (@Tylerjoelb) March 24, 2021
"You are not good at public health," she tells maskless GOP colleagues pic.twitter.com/RYUCR1yxlx
That's Ohio House Minority Leader Emilia Strong Sykes chastising her Republican colleagues for their support of Senate Bill 22, which Governor DeWine vetoed on Tuesday, and the state legislature overrode that veto yesterday.
What is S.B. 22? It limits the authority of the governor, Ohio Department of Health, and local health departments to respond to a public health crisis such as the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Wednesday, March 24, 2021
Coronavirus Update 3-24-2021: Which of your employees should you bring back to work
For the past year, an astounding 44 percent of employees have been working remotely full time, and two-thirds of employees have been working remotely at least one day per week. With vaccination rates on the rise and offering a light at the end of the pandemic tunnel, employers are starting to plan for bringing employees back to the physical workplace.
These decisions involve a lot of key questions an employer needs to answer in planning for where employees will work in a post-vaccine, post-pandemic world.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Tuesday, March 23, 2021
The 7th nominee for the “Worst Employer of 2021” is … the penny pincher
The law of every state I can think of requires that an employer timely provide a departed employee with his or her last paycheck. I know of no law that says how that final payment must be paid. There should be a law, however, that prohibits an employer from doing so by dumping a pile of oily pennies in someone's driveway.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Monday, March 22, 2021
Coronavirus Update 3-22-2021: Covidiots at Whole Foods
"I'm Jewish; I don't have to wear a mask." That's what the maskless woman (shopping with her maskless teenage daughter) in front of me in line yesterday at the Whole Food fish counter said to the employee who politely reminded her that the mask she was holding in her hand was required to be on her face while inside the store.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Friday, March 19, 2021
Coronavirus Update 3-19-2021: CDC is now recommending COVID-19 screening tests of asymptomatic employees of certain employers
The CDC is now recommending that certain non-healthcare employers test asymptomatic employees for COVID-19. According to the CDC, this screening "may be useful to detect COVID-19 early and stop transmission quickly" and can be done in done "in addition to symptom and temperature checks, which will miss asymptomatic or presymptomatic contagious workers."
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Thursday, March 18, 2021
Coronavirus Update 3-18-2021: Employers facing lawsuits for failing to pay for pre-shift Covid screenings
In the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, I asked this question: "Are employers legally responsible for paying workers for the time it takes to record their body temperatures before entering the workplace?"
My answer was a legal, "Probably," and a moral, "Definitely."
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Wednesday, March 17, 2021
Coronavirus Update 3-17-2021: CDC allows large employers to establish vaccination sites
Yesterday, the CDC released guidance permitting large employers to establish temporary sites to vaccinate employees.
The CDC says that employers should consider opting for an on-site vaccination program if they have a large number of employees with predictable schedules and enough space to set up a pop-up clinic while still allowing for COVID-appropriate social distancing.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Tuesday, March 16, 2021
The 6th nominee for the “Worst Employer of 2021” is … the deportation threatener
Full disclosure — I love Tate's Bake Shop's gluten free cookies. Prior to gluten free Oreos hitting supermarket shelves (I dare you to tell them apart from their full-glutened sibling), I bought Tate's gluten free chocolate chip cookies all of the time. The allegations raised by this story, however, gives me great pause in ever buying their cookies again.
It seems that Tate's is in the middle of a union organizing campaign and the baker is alleged to have threatened with deportation undocumented workers who support the union.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Monday, March 15, 2021
Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes
Today brings BIG changes for my career and me. It's my first day of work at Wickens Herzer Panza after relocating my practice and joining its Board of Directors, Litigation Department, and Employment & Labor practice team (which I'll help guide).
I am beyond excited for the opportunity and platform my new home offers my practice, my clients, and me. Stay tuned for some exciting ideas about how I can better help your business proactively solve your workforce problems.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Friday, March 12, 2021
Coronavirus Update 3-12-2021: What does the American Rescue Plan mean for employers?
Yesterday, President Biden signed the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, aka the $1.9 trillion Covid relief bill. It's the most significant economic relief bill we've seen in decades. Here are four key provisions to which employers should be paying attention.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Thursday, March 11, 2021
Coronavirus Update 3-11-2021: Happy 1st Birthday COVID-19 Pandemic
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Wednesday, March 10, 2021
Coronavirus Update 3-10-2021: John Oliver on unemployment
One of the lasting lessons of the COVID-19 pandemic is that our state unemployment systems are old and broken, and desperately need to be modernized and fixed. While the $1.9 trillion Covid relief package that President Biden is expected to imminently sign provides for a $300 federal unemployment bonus for a few months, that is the tiniest of bandaids on this very large problem.
Thankfully, we have John Oliver to offer his commentary on this important issue.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Tuesday, March 9, 2021
Coronavirus Update 3-9-2021: CDC says fully vaccinated people can safely visit fully vaccinated Grandma (but still have to keep wearing masks at work)
Yesterday, the CDC issued its long-awaited guidance on how fully vaccinated people can safely visit others.
- Other fully vaccinated people indoors without wearing masks or staying 6 feet apart; and
- Unvaccinated people from one other household indoors without wearing masks or staying 6 feet apart if everyone in the other household is at low risk for severe disease.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Monday, March 8, 2021
Coronavirus Update 3-8-2021: Local judge in hot water over “China Virus” comments
Rule number one of this blog has always been, "Don't criticize judges whom you might appear in front of." Rules, however, are made to be broken, and some issues are just too important to ignore.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Thursday, March 4, 2021
Coronavirus Update 3-4-2021: Please pay your employees for time off related to the Covid vaccine
Earlier this week, the House passed an extension of the FFCRA as part of its $1.9 trillion Covid stimulus bill. (I'll cover its details in a future post, but if you're curious now, head over to Jeff Nowak's FMLA Insights.)
One of the new measures in this proposed extension is the inclusion of leave taken by an employee to obtain a COVID-19 vaccine or recover from any injury, disability, illness, or condition related to the vaccine.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Wednesday, March 3, 2021
Coronavirus Update 3-3-2021: As states lift mask mandates, remember that the law is always a floor and not a ceiling
I just announced Texas is OPEN 100%.
— Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) March 2, 2021
EVERYTHING.
I also ended the statewide mask mandate.
With that announcement, Texas joins Mississippi (whose governor made the same announcement yesterday) and many of the other usual suspects with no rules mandating that people wear masks or other facial covering in public or at work.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Tuesday, March 2, 2021
The 5th nominee for the “Worst Employer of 2021” is … the safety ignorer
Nine days before Christmas, one of my neighbors posted the following on my community's Facebook page.
Any prayer warriors on here, please keep the roofer who just fell off one of the townhouses in your prayers. It doesn't look like he's moving. So so sad 😢.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Monday, March 1, 2021
Coronavirus Update 3-1-2021: If “doing the right thing” doesn’t motivate you to take COVID-19 safety seriously, then consider the impact on your business if you don’t
The sign on the door of Platform Beer's Columbus, Ohio, taproom reads: "The entire Platform Columbus crew has quit. The taproom is closed until further notice. Thank you!"
— Malibu StⒶsi 🏴 (@MalibuStasi) February 27, 2021
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Friday, February 26, 2021
Coronavirus Update 2-26-2021: Adaptability
Adaptability to change is itself a hallmark of successful education.
– Peter Hilton
2020 – 2021 has been a different school year for everyone. My kids are fortunate in that their school, Lake Ridge Academy, has been open for full-time, in-person instruction for the entire school year. There have, however, been key changes in the name of safety. For example, the school made the decision not to participate in interscholastic sports this year. My son was able to participate on the Middle School robotics team, with the competition submitted remotely. My daughter had the benefit of participating in the Upper School's fall play, which was staged outside in the warm autumn weather.
The Upper School musical, usually presented on stage in late February, presented a different set of challenges. An outdoor performance is simply not an option in the harsh winter climate of Northeast Ohio. An indoor live performance is also not an option because it simply cannot be executed safely within COVID-19's limitations.
So what did the school do? It adapted. Instead of performing a live, in-person musical, it spent the past several months filming its first-ever movie musical, which it will stream March 5, 6, and 7. And my daughter, Norah, has the lead role.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Thursday, February 25, 2021
The 4th nominee for the “Worst Employer of 2021” is … the socially distant mass discharger
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Wednesday, February 24, 2021
Coronavirus Update 2-24-2021: How much does it cost an employer for not following COVID-19 safety rules?
OSHA has cited a Missouri auto parts manufacturer for failing to implement and enforce coronavirus protections, which ultimately lead to an employee's death. The details, from OSHA's news release.
Two machine operators … who jointly operated a press tested positive for the coronavirus just two days apart, in late August 2020. The two workers typically labored for hours at a time less than two feet apart; neither wore a protective facial mask consistently. Ten days later, two more workers operating similar presses together tested positive. On Sept. 19, 2020, one of the press operators fell victim to the virus and died.The total penalty? $15,604. For someone who died during a global pandemic because of his employer's irresponsibility
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Tuesday, February 23, 2021
Coronavirus Update 2-23-2021: John Oliver tackles Covid and other safety issues in the meat packing industry
Last year I nominated Tyson Foods for 2020's Worst Employer because some of its managers started a cash buy-in betting pool on which of its employees would fall ill with COVID-19.
This past weekend, John Oliver did a scathing indictment of Tyson Foods and others for their health and safety record during the pandemic and otherwise.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Monday, February 22, 2021
Coronavirus Update 2-22-2021: Get ready for the glut of Covid whistleblower tag-along claims
The headline reads, "Ex-Manager Sues Ample Hills in Lawsuit Alleging Harassment and Unsafe COVID-19 Protocols" (emphasis mine).
Here's the lede:
Bryce Mottram, a former general manager at one of quirky ice cream purveyor Ample Hills' scoop shops, has filed a lawsuit in New York Eastern District Court alleging that he was fired from the company in retaliation for speaking up about instances of sexual harassment and unsafe COVID-19 workplace protocols at the company.
I firmly believe that for the next year-plus, just about every employment-related lawsuit will contain a COVID-19 whistleblower tag-along claim.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Friday, February 19, 2021
The number one reason not to have a labor union
You would think that an employee who purposely defecates on the workplace floor in an act of revenge against his boss and then brags about it is worthy of termination. And you'd be correct 100 percent of the time … unless that employee is a member of a labor union. An arbitration board cited the employee's lengthy, faithful service record to the company and other mitigating circumstances in reinstating him.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Thursday, February 18, 2021
How do you define success?
This week I had the pleasure of guesting on Pat Perry's Success Wave podcast. During our half-hour-plus conversation, Pat and I discussed a variety of topics, including lawyering in the time of COVID-19 and the key issues I see employers facing in 2021. We also talked about some general business questions, such as this one: How do I define "success." Here's my answer.
You can listen to the full episode on Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Wednesday, February 17, 2021
Pop culture as a means to break down inherent biases and prejudiced divides
Think about it. If you want to know where the American public is, look at the money being spent on advertising. Did you ever five years ago think every second or third ad out of five or six you turn on would be biracial couples. [Applause] No, I'm not being facetious. The reason I'm so hopeful is this new generation. They're not like us. They're thinking differently. They're more open. And we have to take advantage of it.
Those were the words of President Biden last night, speaking about race relations during his CNN Town Hall.
He's 100 percent correct.For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Tuesday, February 16, 2021
Coronavirus Update 2-16-2021: Are you monitoring your remote employees?
According to this article at Wirecutter.com, employers are using the COVID-19 pandemic as a justification to enhance their monitoring of employees' activities, specifically remote employees.
As COVID-19's spread has prompted an expansion of work-from-home policies across various industries, the use of more-pervasive monitoring software, also known as "tattleware" or "bossware," has increased. The New York Times demonstrated how this software works, but the idea is simple: Once the software is installed, an employer has deeper access and even live monitoring tools for everything you do on your computer, including which applications you open, what websites you visit, and how much time you spend doing different activities. Employers can use this data to track your attendance or periodically snap screenshots of your screen. Some software can even monitor the music you listen to, your facial expressions, your tone of voice, or your writing tone throughout the day. To what purpose depends on the type of work you do—and whom you do it for.
According to Brian Kropp, VP of Research for Gartner, the number of companies that use this "tattleware" has increased from 10 percent pre-COVID to 30 percent currently. It's an epidemic all on its own.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Monday, February 15, 2021
Coronavirus Update 2-15-2021: CDC updates quarantine guidelines for vaccinated individuals
Must individuals who are fully vaccinated (i.e., have received both vaccine doses) against COVID-19 quarantine if they have been in close contact with someone who has a confirmed case of the virus?
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Friday, February 12, 2021
Coronavirus Update 2-12-2021: Doctor wrongly fired for doing the right thing with expiring COVID vaccine dose
"Ten doses of the Covid-19 vaccine would expire within hours, so a Houston doctor gave it to people with medical conditions, including his wife." So reads the lede in this New York Times story.
What happened next? He was fired.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Thursday, February 11, 2021
Coronavirus Update 2-11-2021: CDC updates its masking guidelines; should you do the same for your business?
The CDC just updated its masking guidelines, now recommending that individuals wear two masks—a well-fitting surgical mask underneath a cloth mask.
Should you be recommending or requiring the same for your business, both for employees and visitors?
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Wednesday, February 10, 2021
“I’m here live. I am not a cat.”
If you were on the internet yesterday, you likely came across the story of the lawyer who accidentally presented as cat during a Zoom court hearing. The Texas lawyer had accidentally left on a cat filter during a video conference call and was unable to turn it off.
“I’m here live, I’m not a cat,” says lawyer after Zoom filter mishap
— Lawrence Hurley (@lawrencehurley) February 9, 2021
“I can see that,” responds judge pic.twitter.com/HclKlAUwbM
While this story provided everyone a much-needed laugh, it does offer two important points: one about a lawyer's ethical duty of technological competence, and another about the importance of a sense of humor and empathy.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Tuesday, February 9, 2021
Coronavirus Update 2-9-2021: Time off for the COVID-19 vaccine
At some point over the next few months, some (most?) of your employees will receive the COVID-19 vaccine. Depending on the rules of your state, the nature of your business, and the age or medical issues of your employees, some may already have. I've previous covered the legal issues surrounding the vaccine, here, here, and here. Today I want to cover a practical issue—time-off related to the vaccination.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Monday, February 8, 2021
Have you felt the pain of a wage/hour investigation or lawsuit?
For the past three years, the Department of Labor has been trying to get employees PAID for their unpaid overtime and minimum wages. That's PAID, as in the Payroll Audit Independent Determination program, a creation of the Trump administration that allowed employers to self-report FLSA violations to the Department of Labor without risk of litigation, enforcement proceedings, or liquidated damages.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Friday, February 5, 2021
Podcast recommendation: The Test Kitchen
I'm always on the lookout for new podcasts to add to my queue. Today's is a doozy. It's called The Test Kitchen, and it comes from the editors of Reply All at Gimlet Media. In four parts, it will tell a sadly familiar tale of racism and toxicity in the workplace. The workplace at issue is Bon Appétit magazine.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Thursday, February 4, 2021
No, you don’t get to keep your paid leave after your position is eliminated
The headline reads, "Trump aides made a late request to Team Biden to extend their parental leave. They said no." Here's the story:
[A] number of ex-Trump political officials … lost their parental leave when Joe Biden was sworn into office. It's a byproduct of the field they're in: Their boss (the president) may have been the one let go, but his departure has meant that they, too, lose their jobs and benefits. Still, they argue that the Biden administration should have honored their leave by keeping them on payroll until the end of it — a request that … the Biden transition did not grant.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Wednesday, February 3, 2021
Coronavirus Update 2-3-2021: Have you had to deal with “COVID fraud” in your workplace?
According to Vice, people are using photo editing software to doctor COVID test results.
"I just fired up photoshop and changed the date," wrote one man who had doctored results for an entire group of friends to Motherboard. "Fun fact, the document [test result] was in French whereas they were in Sweden the day it was supposedly made, but they didn't see a problem in that."
The other person took a slightly less sophisticated route and changed the date of an old test with Microsoft Paint for his vacation to Southern Europe.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Tuesday, February 2, 2021
Coronavirus Update 2-2-2021: As new COVID-19 variants doubling down on transmissibility, OSHA doubles down on prevenative measures
Not distinguishing between workers who are vaccinated and those who are not: Workers who are vaccinated must continue to follow protective measures, such as wearing a face covering and remaining physically distant, because at this time, there is not evidence that COVID-19 vaccines prevent transmission of the virus from person-to-person. The CDC explains that experts need to understand more about the protection that COVID-19 vaccines provide before deciding to change recommendations on steps everyone should take to slow the spread of the virus that causes COVID-19.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Monday, February 1, 2021
How many N-words create a hostile work environment?
Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court was asked to answer these questions:
- Whether an employee's exposure to the N-word in the workplace is severe enough to send his Title VII hostile-work-environment claim to a trier of fact.
- Whether and in what circumstances racial epithets in the workplace are "extremely serious" incidents sufficient to create a hostile work environment under Title VII, rather than nonactionable "mere utterances."
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Friday, January 29, 2021
New Music Friday: “Wish I Was Ur Guitar,” by norah marie
Welcome back to New Music Friday. Today, I'm so happy to share my 14-year-old daughter's first-ever single, "Wish I Was Ur Guitar."
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Thursday, January 28, 2021
I applaud any company that takes a stand in support of democracy
Meet Bob Unanue, the (for now) CEO of Goya Foods. Here he is talking to Maria Bartiromo on Fox Business.
Goya Foods CEO Bob Unanue tells Maria Bartiromo how coronavirus was used for “ushering in the dawn of a new world order, this Great Reset, with an unverified election,” falsely claims 80 million people voted for Trump. “There is a war coming.”
— Eric Kleefeld (@EricKleefeld) January 20, 2021
Maybe rename the company “MyBeans”? pic.twitter.com/Kw8WXoTBLg
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Wednesday, January 27, 2021
Coronavirus Update 1-27-2021: Tread carefully if offering employees financial incentives to get the COVID-19 vaccine
To a nation waiting for action, let me be clearest on this point: Help is on the way.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Tuesday, January 26, 2021
The 3rd nominee for the “Worst Employer of 2021” is … the pregnant pauser
Pregnancy discrimination has been illegal for at least 43 years. You'd think employers would know better. You'd also lose a lot of bets if you bet against the ignorance of some employers.
Meet Awon Phie LLC, which operates a Holiday Inn Express in Corpus Chrisi, Texas, our third nominee for the "Worst Employer of 2021." How did it earn its nomination? According to a lawsuit the EEOC filed against it, three weeks after hiring an employee to work as a housekeeper, the company's operations manager, noticing her stomach, told her she was a "liability" because of her pregnancy, that she couldn't employ a pregnant woman, and fired her.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Monday, January 25, 2021
Coronavirus Update 1-25-2021: President Biden calls for unemployment benefits to employees who refuse to work because of Covid
Late last week, President Biden signaled that part of his overall plan to provide economic relief for American families and businesses amid the COVID-19 crisis is to broaden the availability of unemployment benefits to employees who quit their jobs related to Covid.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Friday, January 22, 2021
Civil rights is not a pizza
Among the litany of executive orders President Biden issued in his first two days in office was one on Preventing and Combating Discrimination on the Basis of Gender Identity or Sexual Orientation. It's a beautiful statement adopting as the policy of the federal government the Supreme Court's decision in Bostock that Title VII's definition of sex explicitly includes LGBTQ employees.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Thursday, January 21, 2021
Instead of reading my thoughts, today I offer you two options to listen to them
One of the great benefits of this blog is the opportunities it has opened for me to network with others. One of the great benefits of that networking is the ability to sometimes have my voice heard on other platforms. Today, I offer for your listening pleasure two podcasts on which I've recently appeared, the HR Social Hour Half Hour Podcast, and the Tech Leader's Toolbox Podcast.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Wednesday, January 20, 2021
Inauguration Day
Today is a wonderful day.
28 years ago, January 20, 1993, I was on the National Mall experiencing the inauguration of Bill Clinton. One of my absolute best memories. I treasure the day I spent as part of history.
Democrat or Republican, left or right, liberal or conservative, it’s a day that we should ALL come together to celebrate our nation and our glorious democracy.
So even if you disagree with the person placing his hand on the Bible and swearing the oath of office, please celebrate all that it symbolizes.
At noon, I’ll be pausing my work day and moving to my family-room couch to watch history.
How will you spend Inauguration Day? Drop a comment below and let me know.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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What employers can expect from Biden’s presidency: A temporary emergency OSHA standard for COVID-19
Today marks the one-year anniversary of the identification of the first COVID-19 case in the United States. On January 20, 2020, the State of Washington and the CDC confirmed that someone in Washington State had contracted the virus. Since then, 24,809,840 additional Americans have contracted Covid, and 411,520 have died from it.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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