People with disabilities have a much higher rate of unemployment. See Wall Street Journal report. The unemployment rate last year was 14% for persons with disabilities. As of July, 2010, the rate has risen to 16.4%.
Sherrod Turns Down Offer of Resinstatement
To most people, your job is your life or a very significant part of your life. Survey after survey supports that view. Common sense tells us it must be true. We see that in the case of Shirley Sherrod. Fired for no good reason as part of a huge misunderstanding. Her employer, the US Department
Dr. Laura’s Advice to Self: Quit
There was a time when I enjoyed Dr. Laura and her "tough love" advice. On my long drives to Reserve duty, there was often not much else available on the radio. Her no-nonsense style appealed to me for a time. Now, she is quitting after 30 years, apparently due to her use of the n-
Older Worker Benefit Protection Act Meets a Need
The Older Workers’ Benefit Protection Act (OWBPA) was passed in 1990 as an amendment to the Age Discrimination in Employment Act. The OWBPA provides that for an older worker to sign a binding waiver of claims, the employer must include a provision that the worker has 21 days in which to sign the waiver and 7
Nurses Settle Claims After Reporting Doctor’s Improper Treatment
Two northwest Texas nurses were fired after they reported improper medical treatment by a doctor at the hospital where the two worked. They reported the improprieties to the Texas Medical Board, 
which agency oversees doctors. The two nurses were later charged with felonies by the local prosecutor, reflecting local support for the doctor. One nurse
Hewlitt Packard CEO Resigns Amidst Sex Harassment Probe
The Hewlitt Packard CEO, Mark Hurd, resigns in the middle of a sex harassment investigation. The investigation found other violations of other company policies. See report. It turns out that his expense reports were not accurate. Mr. Hurd admitted to integrity issues. Yet, the sex harassment probe supposedly found no infraction by Mr. Hurd.
Temp Agency Uses Codewords for Minorities
According to the ABA Bar Journal, the EEOC settled a case against a temp agency in Ohio. The agency used code words to describe the racial background of potential employees. "Chocolate cupcake" referred to young female African Americans. "Hockey players" described young white males.
The case settled for $650,000. The case was pretty egregious
Shifting Reasons Still Help Show Pretext
Many times, an employee comes to see me and asks me how strong his/her case is. Often, i do not know. It is hard to gauge the strength of a case until we know the reasons used by an employer for a questionable adverse personnel action. Indeed, sometimes those reasons change over time. 
In
Ex-USDA Official Will File Suit over Blog Post
Shirley Sherrod, the former Department of Agriculture official, will sue the blogger who posted her comments out of context. See report. Good for her. The report does not explain what the suit will be based on. But, I would expect she could sue him for defamation or "false light" defemation. The blogger, Andrew Breitbart, is
Novartis Pharmaceuticals Settles Class Action Lawsuit
Novartis Pharmaceuticals settled the class action case against them for $175 million. See report. The case was based on gender discrimination. I discussed this case earlier. See post here and here. You will recall this was the case where a jury came back with a verdict for $250 million in punitive damages for