Today, “[t]here is a temptation to simplify matters by viewing all harassers and their offenses as equally awful . . . .” (NY Times: How Should We Respond to Sexual Harassment?) This reflex
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Employment Litigation
When Is Enough Leave . . . Enough: Revisited
The Labor Dish tackled leave as a reasonable accommodation in 2015 (When Is Enough Leave Enough). Based upon the law at that time, our post suggested that less than 6 months of leave
…
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Hashtag — Zero Tolerance Policy?
Jules: Hash is legal there in Amsterdam, right?
Vincent: Yeah, it’s legal, but it ain’t a hundred percent legal. I mean, you can’t just walk into a restaurant, roll a joint and start puffing away.…
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Shakespeare Sheds Light on Liability for Abetting Discrimination
Over 500 years after his death, Shakespeare’s works continue to be a touchstone for legal analysis and critique. A fool’s errand it would be to attempt to catalog the legal issues in each of his…
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Background Checks: Minor Mistakes = Major Consequences
Details matter. The Titanic sank because its center propeller didn’t work in reverse. A Japanese company lost between $225 and $350 million because a typing error caused it to offer thousands of shares for…
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Joint Liability For Franchisors?
College legends shape minds forever. Having attended the University of California, Berkeley, “The Play”—an unscripted play to win over arch-rival Stanford with only four seconds on the clock – was the subject of…
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Unconventional Tactics
Malcolm Gladwell in his essay “How David Beats Goliath” extolled the use of the full-court press in basketball: “In the world of basketball, there is one story after another … about legendary games…
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Queen Elsa and Judge Posner: A Duet on Change?
Under Title VII, it is unlawful for employers to discriminate on the basis of sex. Historically, sex discrimination has been understood to be biological and, thus, to exclude discrimination based on sexual orientation. But sometimes,…
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Independent Contractors: The Newest Ultrahazardous Sport
Base jumping, street luging, and transporting loose glass bottles of nitroglycerine in the back of a Jeep off-road have been equally adventurous activities in the modern world. Now, courtesy of New York City, utilizing independent…
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And the Oscar Goes to. . .the Stored Communications Act?
Film reels abound with examples of employees-turned-detectives using documents taken from their employer’s files to bring wrongdoing to light. You may have your own favorites but here are mine (with titles hidden in footnotes so…
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