WIRTW #682: the “horse hockey” edition

Lou Grant. Leslie Knope. Dr. Mark Greene. Captain Merrill Stubing. Even Michael Scott. The history of television is littered with great bosses. Earlier this week my friend Suzanne Lucas asked her vast LinkedIn network to name their choice for the “best” tv boss. Her choices were District Attorney Adam Schiff and Lieutenant Anita Van Buren, from Law & Order.

My choice: Colonel Sherman T. Potter, who adroitly and compassionately led M*A*S*H's 4077 for the series' final 8 seasons.

What made Col. Potter the best boss?

First and foremost, he always had his team's back, no matter what. He took ownership of his group and shouldered the blame whenever something went wrong. As the 4077's leader, the buck stopped with him, period. Which is not to say that his unit didn't have accountability. To the contrary, he always held his people accountable inside his unit, even as he defended them to everyone outside. When his people screwed up (as they often did), he made sure they understood and that it never happened again.

Col. Potter also embodied much of the best qualities of a good boss. His integrity was unmatched and unquestioned. He always encouraged everyone in his command to be the best versions of themselves and led by example. He knew when to use humor to lighten a situation and when to put the screws to him team. And, most importantly, he never forgot that his doctors, nurses, and other charges weren't soldiers by trade but were stuck in the middle of war zone. It's his empathy and compassion that stands out the most from all of his other admirable qualities.

And that's why Sherman Potter is the correct answer as the best tv boss of all time.

Who is your choice? Share in the comments below.

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Here's what I read this week that you should read, too.

$2.6 million reasons why it’s illegal to fire a gay employee

Yesterday, a federal jury in Columbus returned a $2.6 million verdict in favor of Stacey Yerkes, a former Ohio State Highway Patrol employee who claimed that she was constructively discharged (forced to quit based on intolerable and unreasonable working conditions) because of her sexual orientation.

Despite what he says, Elon Musk will not pay your legal bills if you’re fired for Xing

"If you were unfairly treated by your employer due to posting or liking something on this platform, we will fund your legal bill. No limit. Please let us know."

Elon Musk tweeted (xed?) that note Saturday night to his 152 million followers on his platform. Thus far it’s been liked close to 850,000 times, quoted or retweeted more than 165,000 times, and viewed nearly 130 million times.

And it's complete and total rubbish.

Work and religion aren’t a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup

Everyone's relationship with God — whether you call that deity God, Yahweh, Jesus, Allah, Vishnu, Buddha, the Flying Spaghetti Monster, something else, or nothing at all — is personal. I have no opinion on your spiritual relationship, as should you have none on mine. Thus, I get mad whenever someone tries to shove their religious beliefs down my throat. Not only do I not care, but I can guarantee that you will not change my mind. Proselytism is one small step removed from fanaticism, and rarely, if ever, has anything good come from religious fanaticism.

I share the above as prologue to today's discussion, which focuses on a Title VII lawsuit the EEOC recently settled with Aurora Pro Services, a North Carolina residential home service and repair company, alleged to have required employees to participate in religious prayer sessions as a condition of employment. 

WIRTW #681: the “excel-lent” edition

To be the man (or woman), you've gotta beat the man (or woman).

And to beat the man (or woman), you've gotta be really, really good at pivot tables and the xlookup function.

Earlier this morning, ESPN2 aired the Microsoft Excel World Championship.

You read that correctly — the world championship of spreadsheeting.

How in the world does one convert Microsoft Excel into a competitive sport? The answer is by tasking competitors to use Excel to solve complex puzzles. The eight contestants are provided "cases" to solve. Past examples include computing all of the possible outcomes and rewards for a slot machine or all of the possible combinations of license plate numbers. Contestants are then provided 30 minutes to answer a series of questions related to each case worth up to 1,000 points; the most points wins.

It's fascinating and compelling to watch, and I made sure to tune in before I left for work this morning. No spoilers on who won. I know you can find a replay and I want you to discover the joy of this event all on your own.

So here's my fun Friday question for everyone — If given the opportunity, what aspect of your job would you turn into a competitive sport? Mine would probably have something to do with Lexis searches … or maybe a race to make a filing deadline?

No wrong answers. Please share in the comments below.

Here's what I read this past week that you should read, too.

NLRB resets the rules on employee handbooks … yet again

Yes, we need to talk about employee handbooks and the NLRB … again. 

Yesterday, the Board decided Stericycle, Inc., and announced its 5th (at least) new and different standard in the past 25 years as to when a workplace policy (such as those in employee handbooks) violate employees' rights to engage in protected concerted activity under the National Labor Relations Act to talk between and among themselves about their terms and conditions of employment.

It's enough to give an HR practitioner or employment lawyer legal whiplash, and I'm not going to go through the history of all of these various disparate standards. If you want full history, you can read the Stericycle opinion or search the blog's archives.

What you really want, and need, is a summary of the new standard moving forward (and, as you'll soon discover, backward). Here it is.

The No Robot Bosses Act

"I, for one, welcome our robot overlords." 🙃

Consider this scenario. "You're a delivery driver and your employer's tracking algorithm determines you’re not performing up to its standards — and then sends you an email to let you know you've been fired without any warning or opportunity to speak to a human being." According to Senator Bob Casey, it is this example, along with others, that caused him to draft the the "No Robot Bosses Act."

If enacted, it would add protections for job applicants and employees related to automated decision systems and would require employers to disclose when and how these systems are being used.

Managing an overly sensitive employee

Floyd Sesson, a Black UPS parts mechanic, saw race discrimination in every turn within his workplace.

When UPS changed its policy to prohibit overtime for all parts mechanics, Sesson claimed that the policy unlawfully targeted him because of his race.

When Sesson complained to management about the overtime cuts, he claimed he further lost overtime in retaliation for his complaints.

When supervisors tried to manage Sesson, he claimed they were harassing him because of his race.

The 6th Circuit had little difficulty in affirming the dismissal of Sesson's discrimination, retaliation, and harassment lawsuit.

The time has come to legislate gluten-free food

"I'm gluten free…"

That's how my 15-year-old starts his order at every restaurant. He has Celiac disease and gets very ill anytime he eats gluten.

For the uninformed, Celiac disease is a genetic autoimmune condition that affects the gastrointestinal tract when gluten — a protein found in wheat, barley, and rye — is ingested. When someone with Celiac disease eats gluten, the lining of the small intestine is damaged. In Donovan's case he gets serious gastrointestinal symptoms, sometimes for days.

Thus, Donovan is very particular in what he eats and how he orders, as was the case last week at the Fargo Bar & Grill, a dinnertime stop we made while visiting family on the Finger Lakes last weekend.

WIRTW #680: the “walk up song” edition

Above the Law thinks that it's time for lawyers to have walk-up songs. 

History says that the walk-up song started at Old Comiskey Park in 1970, with the White Sox organist playing each player's home state song as they walked up to the plate. Over time, the tradition expanded to other ballparks and different music. 

What's the most famous walk-up song of all time? I'd argue Ricky "Wild Thing" Vaughn's "Wild Thing" (from the movie "Major League"). In real life? Mariano Rivera's "Enter Sandman"? Chase Utley's "Kashmir"? Trevor Hoffman's "Hells Bells"?

Which brings me back to the question posed by Above the Law: What would our lives be like if our own theme songs accompanied us while we work? 

It's a great question. I think mine would be "Career Opportunities" by The Clash. Driving guitar + a workplace theme = gold for this employment lawyer.

How about you? What walk-up song would you choose for your job?

Here's what I read this week that you should read, too.

6th Circuit opinion guts the validity of e-signatures on employment documents

"I never saw that agreement and I never signed it." That's all that Andrew Bazemore said under oath in defense of Papa John's claim that he was required to arbitrate his FLSA claim relating to an under-reimbursement of vehicle expenses.

The 6th Circuit held that Bazemore's otherwise unsupported declaration was enough to create an issue of fact as to the arbitrability of his claim. 

X marks the spot

There's nothing inherently illegal about naming one of your conference rooms "s3xy." If, however, your company has a history of allegations of sexual harassment and other sex discrimination, it's not the wisest choice.

"s3Xy" is among the names X (née Twitter) chose to rebrand the conference rooms inside its corporate offices. X's sister companies, SpaceX and Tesla, have a long history of defending sexual harassment lawsuits (and allegedly retaliating against the victims). All of these companies have one thing in common — Elon Musk.

WIRTW #679: the “Portugal. The Podcast” edition

It's been a hot minute since my daughter and I recorded an episode of our podcast, The Norah and Dad Show. It only took a Portuguese holiday to get us off our duffs to record. It was a trip more than three years in the making (thanks to Covid), and we made the most of it — 12 days spread across Porto, Peniche, and Lisbon. On the episode we share our favorites from each of our three stops, some restaurant recommendations, cool sights and sounds (peacocks!), and our overall impressions of an amazing country.

You'll find it wherever you get you podcasts, including Apple, Spotify, Google, Amazon, and on the web.

When you finished listening to The Norah and Dad Show, I have two additional podcasts I recorded this week that you should also check out: The World at Work Workspan Podcast (discussing the significance of SCOTUS's end-of-term flurry of opinions) and DriveThru HR''s Labor Relatedly (discussing the ongoing Hollywood labor strikes and what they mean for all employers).

Here's what I read this week that you should, too.

Never send an accused harasser on a business trip with his alleged victim

"If he wants to sleep with someone, you have to say yes. It's normal that the coach sleeps with the players in our team."

That's what an anonymous player told The Guardian about Bruce Mwape, head coach of the Zambia women's national team.

Are we really still talking about masks?

In-N-Out burgers are mid. Its employment practices are even worse.  

The restaurant chain is prohibiting employees in five states from wearing masks unless they receive a medical note from a doctor. 

The new rules apply to employees in five red or purple states — Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, Texas and Utah. Meanwhile, employees in two blue states — Oregon and California — may still opt to wear a mask as long as it's a company-approved N95. 

According to a company-wide memo, these new rule are designed to "emphasize the importance of customer service and the ability to show our Associates' smiles and other facial features." 

The 8th nominee for the “Worst Employer of 2023” is … the head hunter

If you work for the Anatomical Gift Association of Illinois (a non-profit organization dedicated to the procurement, preparation, and preservation of donations for medical and scientific study), body parts are an unfortunate occupational hazard. If, however, you lodge complaints with your supervisors about the "mishandling and poor conditions" of donated bodies, and then find three dismembered heads waiting for you at your desk … that occupational hazard becomes retaliation.

Why all employers should care about the SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes

At midnight on July 14, SAG-AFTRA, the labor union representing 160,000 film and television actors, went on striking, joining their fellow members of the WGA on the Hollywood picket lines. 

One of the key issues in both negotiations in the future of AI in the entertainment industry. SAG-AFTRA claims that the studios want the ability to pay background actors for one day's work use that likeness in perpetuity for any project without consent or compensation, including through the use of generative AI to fully replace the live actor. Similarly, a key sticking point for the WGA is the use of generative AI to write scripts in their entirety, which can then be edited by lower-priced non-union members.

WIRTW #678: the “Happy Birthday” edition

Today is Donovan's 15th birthday. So, everyone please do this dad a solid and wish a 🎂 happy birthday 🎂 to this funny, smart, caring, compassionate, empathic, goofy, loving (and video-game loving) kid. I am better person because Donovan is my life.

Here's what I read this week that you should read, too.

A disabled employee is entitled to a “reasonable” accommodation, not a “preferred” accommodation

Jay Hannah worked as a package delivery driver for UPS. He developed hip bursitis, which caused pain in his lower back, hip, and buttocks. As a result, he requested two alternative reasonable accommodations: either that UPS allow him to drive his route with a smaller truck with softer suspension or that UPS reassign him to a non-driving inside job. 

UPS denied both requests. It determined that the specific needs of Hannah's route required a larger truck, and that the smaller van had an insufficient capacity to service his route. Other possible alternatives that could have permitted Hannah to use a smaller truck — giving a part of his route to another driver or completing the route himself in multiple trips — were not feasible as each would violate the governing collective bargaining agreement. Further, there were no openings for inside work at the time. UPS advised Hannah that it would consider him for any openings as they arose.

While UPS denied Hannah the particular accommodations he requested, it did allow him to retain his job and take a leave of absence without pay until he could return to work. And after several months, Hannah did return to work and thereafter continued to drive the route to which he was assigned in a truck suited for that route.

Color me unsurprised that businesses are already using 303 Creative to discriminate

If a human identifies as anything other than a man/woman, please seek services at a local pet groomer. You are not welcome at this salon. Period.

Those are the words of Christine Geiger, the owner of Studio 8 Hair Lab, in a post on the business's now-deleted Facebook page. In a still-available comment on another Facebook page, Geiger says, "I have no issues with LGB. It’s the TQ+ that I'm not going to support. For those that don't know what the + is for, it's for MAP (Minor Attracted Person aka: pedophile)." Meanwhile, the business's private Instagram page describes itself as, "A private CONSERVATIVE business that does not cater to woke ideologies." 

We get the point. Geiger doesn't like transgender people and is using her religion and the Supreme Court's decision in 303 Creative v. Elenis to justify her discrimination.