Workplace bullying leads to insomnia, even for those co-workers who merely observe the harassment. In a study conducted of middle aged persons in France, men and women who suffered some harassment at work were twice as likely to suffer sleeping problems. For the study, they defined bullying as hostile actions designed to offend or oppress
September 2009
An Employer can Fire an Employee for the Wrong Reason
By Thomas J. Crane on
Posted in General
I used to get referrals from the San Antonio Bar Association. These referrals included many clients who had never spoken to a lawyer anywhere. Many of them would call complaining basically about unfair treatment. I still get calls like that, sometimes. They might say, "my employer fired me because they claim I did not call…
An Employer Needs to Document Problems
By Thomas J. Crane on
Posted in Discrimination, General
If you have a problem employee, it is important to document those problems. Written counseling serves many purposes. Michael Fox discusses a case in which the employer did not document those problems and lost a claim for discrimination because of that failure. Of course, he assumes the alleged work problems were genuine. Maybe they were…
Soldier Gets Life for Killing Iraqi Civilians
By Thomas J. Crane on
Posted in General
A veteran of the Iraq war gets life for killing unarmed civilians in Iraq. Reports the CBS news website. I spoke about this sometime back. It is a heinous crime. But, I have noticed that many of the line troops, the ones conducting "kinetic operations," never work with the "nice" Iraqis, the…
Local Man Killed in Afghanistan
By Thomas J. Crane on
Posted in General
A recent Judson High School graduate, LCPL Chris Baltazar was recently killed in Afghanistan. Reports the San Antonio Express-News. The third San Antonian killed in recent weeks.
Requests for Accommodation do not Need a Solution
By Thomas J. Crane on
Posted in Discrimination
The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals issued a good decision on reasonable accommodation recently. EEOC v. Chevron Phillips Chemical Co., LLP. One of the few decisions to plumb the depths of acommodation and how the interactive process should work. The lower court granted summary judgment in favor of the employer. That is…
DOJ Turning Back to its Previous Course
By Thomas J. Crane on
Posted in General
Eric Holder, the US Attorney General, is pushing the Dept. of Justice back to enforcing higher impact civil rights. So says the New York Times. The DOJ will focus more on high impact litigation, instead of the former administration’s preference for individual cases. DOJ can prosecute employment discrimination cases against state or local governments.
Law Firm does not Allow Bathroom Breaks
By Thomas J. Crane on
Posted in General
You thought your job was tough. One woman sued her employer, the labor law firm Littler Mendelsohn, for not allowing her bathroom breaks. Since they do labor and employment law, one can only presume they believed they have support in the law somewhere for no bathroom breaks…..