“Don’t put anything in writing that you wouldn’t want to see published on the front page of the newspaper,” the old saying goes. Apparently our top military leaders didn’t get the memo. 

Who would've thought March madness would provide an opportunity to comment on immigration law and harassment issues? 

During yesterday's first round tournament game, a Kansas State player was fouled and went to the free throw line to shoot two free throws.  Like any good crowd, the Southern Mississippi fans tried to get in his head to cause him to miss the free throw.  The problem is they whipped out the "Where's your green card?  Where's your green card?" chant because the Kansas State player is Hispanic.  The player is actually from Puerto Rico and grew up in Miami.  And he is a U.S. citizen, just as surely as the misguided Southern Miss students who originated the chant. 

While the idea on the basketball court is to create a hostile environment for your opponents, it isn't likely that a "Where's your green card?" chant is something Southern Miss administrators wanted to hear.  This type of behavior is never acceptable, whether at a sporting event or in the workplace.  These types of comments are becoming more commonplace, particularly as the various state legislatures debate and/or enact legislation relating to immigration and worker documentation.  And it's comments like these that employers dread.  Imagine if employees in your workplace were treating Hispanic co-workers in this manner.  In the case of the basketball game, Southern Miss will take some disciplinary actions against its students and that is likely to be the end of it.  In the workplace, those kinds of comments may lead to an EEOC charge and maybe even a slam dunk.  

For those who want to see the video click here.  You'll have to turn up      Continue Reading...

Foulston Siefkin LLP will host its seventeenth annual full-day employment law seminar on May 3 in Overland Park, and May 8 in Wichita. This entertaining and economical seminar provides the latest information you need to help your organization comply with the ever-changing employment and labor law landscape. 

Valentine's Day is just around the corner.  It's estimated that 190 million Valentine cards and 15 million e-Valentines were sent in the U.S. last year. But when a love-sick employee sends a written expression of love to an unrequitting co-worker, trouble often follows. Here are a few real-world examples from published court cases.    

• An employee sued after her co-worker harassed her, including sending her a card that said, “On Valentine’s Day, remember – candy is dandy . . . but sex won’t rot your teeth!  So what do you say!”

• A male employee made a harassment claim over his female supervisor’s conduct, which included an incident on February 12 where the supervisor held a bottle of pink lotion, saying she was “going to have a great time on Valentine’s Day,” and asking the employee if he would like to try some of the lotion.

• An employee claimed harassment regarding her supervisor’s conduct, which included giving her a Valentine’s Day card with a $50 bill in it. 

• An employee sued after her supervisor posted a Valentine’s Day message to her in the town newspaper, which stated in part, “Dear Sgt., Spring is right around the corner, just like me. Look outside, see a Robin by the tree. Love Azalea.” 

• A female employee claimed a male co-worker harassed her, starting when he gave her a Valentine’s Day card. The male co-worker told the female employee that he stayed up until 2:00 a.m. trying to decide what to write on the valentine.

• A secretary brought a sexual harassment claim against her employer for her supervisor’s conduct,      Continue Reading...

It’s not too late for human resources professionals to make a few resolutions for 2012.  If you need help getting started with your list, check out this article from HR Hero Line, featuring ideas from several employment lawyers across the country, including Kansas Employment Law Blog author Boyd Byers.  (HR Employment Law Resolutions for 2012)  Suggestions include: updating your sexual harassment policy, creating a social media policy, reexamining your FLSA classifications, and ensuring ADA and Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA) compliance.

The sordid, surreal revelations at Penn State University over the past few weeks should serve as a wake-up call to employers. While the issues are not exactly the same, and without minimizing the tragedy of the alleged child sex victims, every employer in America should be doing some serious self-reflection about the way it thinks about and deals with sexual harassment in the wake of the Penn State fiasco. 

A non-profit organization violated the National Labor Relations Act by firing five employees who trash-talked a co-worker on Facebook, a National Labor Relations Board administrative law judge found. The employer argued that it fired the employees--who posted angry and defensive comments about the co-worker on one of their Facebook pages--for bullying and harassing the co-worker in violation of its zero-tolerance policy against harassment. But these Facebook rants constituted "concerted activity" protected by the NLRA, the ALJ ruled, so the organization must reinstate them with full back pay.

Employers have legitimate business reasons to protect their good will and to foster a harmoneous workplace. They also have a legal obligation to protect employees from harassment. So the NLRB's stance on social media policies and practices obviously puts employers in a difficult position.

The case is Hispanics United of Buffalo Inc., NLRB No. 3-CA-27872 (Sept. 2. 2011, released Sept. 6, 2011). You can read the full opinion here.

For more on this subject, click on the links below to our prior blog posts:

In Your Facebook--NLRB Scrutinizes Employers' Social Media Policies (08/23/2011)

Social Media and the NLRB: Where Are the Boundaries of Protected Activity? (05/20/2011)

Social Media and the National Labor Relations Act (02/08/2011)

NLRB Joins Fray on Facebook Posts (11/09/1010)

The thirst for revenge is among the strongest of human emotions.  In fact, the innate human desire to “get even” has driven much of the history of the world.  But acting on feelings of revenge can have dire consequences, not only in the world at large, but particularly in the world of employment law.

Most employers understand the implications of sexual harassment in the workplace and have policies prohibiting inappropriate behavior.  Those same employers usually have a reporting mechanism embedded within those anti-harassment policies.  Both of these procedures are prudent.  So what should an employer do when a complaint arrives via the procedure established?  The answer is simple - go out and investigate and respond to the complaint.  Too often employers enact policies and procedures and then fail to implement them.  The cost of failure can be high in terms of monetary value and the lost time and energy in dealing with agency complaints and/or lawsuits that could arise down the road.  One employer recently learned the lesson of follow-up the hard way.  The allegations made by the plaintiff in Alford v. Aaron Rents, Inc. are extreme and the response by the company to the intial complaint appeared to be non-existent.  The takeaway from this $95,000,000 verdict against the employer is to always follow-up, investigate, and take action on complaints.  Otherwise the cost could be as extreme as the facts in this case. 

For the details click here for the story published in the St. Louis Post Dispatch.

On this most sacred of holidays devoted to love, take time to ponder your company's harassment policy.  Is it current and up-to-date?  How about your harassment training program?  Has it been ignored during the last couple of years during the economic downturn?  If so, it might be time to review and update that policy and pull the employees together for a training session on harassment in the workplace.  As most of you in HR know, love in the workplace can lead to plenty of troubling issues.  With Valentine's Day as the excuse, co-workers may be handing out candy, cards, gifts, and an occasional inappropriate advance in the office.  So for all you HR types reading this blog, get out of your office or cubicle and keep an eye on things.  If you're lucky, you might just be able to get a piece or two of candy as you make the rounds.  As an added bonus, if your company has a wellness plan you can confiscate all those chocolates in the name of eating healthy.  Just don't forget to send some my way.