Beware the Beatles.
Beware the Beatles.

For years, I’ve been “warning” about the upcoming holiday of Valentine’s Day.

Back in 2011, I recapped several cases where employees’ inappropriate behavior on this day of love, led to lawsuits.

Apparently, there were some people who didn’t read the blog, because just a few years after that,

I’ve talked many times before about the importance of a well-drafted disclaimer in your employee handbook (here and here, for example).

This is not a new thing and in Connecticut dates back to an important case back in 1995 .

Without such disclaimers, employers can be subject to a breach of contract claim

Chief Justice Roberts also addressed ABA to discuss the Magna Carta’s 800th anniversary

One of the roles that I relish is being a member of the American Bar Assocation’s House of Delegates for several terms now.   The ABA adopts certain policies at its Annual Meeting and uses its bully-pulpit to try

So last month we talked about how an employer may, in some circumstances, need to give additional leave as an accommodation above and beyond the Family and Medical Leave Act.  Today, my colleague Clarisse Thomas shows how the law in this area really is still developing.  She highlights a new case that comes to 

Today, my colleague Christopher Engler, takes a crack at explaining what happens with FMLA leave when an employee takes works at another job while on FMLA leave.  As Chris explains, not everything about the statute is “common sense.” 

Picture this:

In one scenario, a maintenance worker takes an FMLA leave for “mental distress” but

Have you heard of Justine Sacco?

If you’re on social media, it was hard to avoid over the weekend. She was the public relations professional who posted an offensive tweet on Friday before boarding a plane to South Africa.

Never mind that she had only 200 or so followers when she made the tweet.  By the time she got off the plane, a firestorm had erupted on Twitter that was arguably unlike anything that we’ve seen in some time.

Boing Boing has a detailed account here, but in case you missed the story, here’s the basic outline:

As she embarked upon a long flight to Africa, PR staffer Justine Sacco issued this tweet. At best a darkly ironic self-deprecation that could never fit into 140 characters, it resulted, within bare minutes, in an internet-wide scandal. Even as the plane is still in the air–Sacco presumably oblivious–there [was] a hashtag, #HasJustineLandedYet, a parody account, @LOLJustineSacco, a fake movie poster, and, God help her, a whole entire New York Times article, replete with a stunned disavowal from her corporate employers.

The meme was incredible and fueled by the fact that she was on a long flight — with no internet. By Saturday, Sacco was fired.Continue Reading Offensive Tweets and Twitter Justice: The Tale of Justine Sacco for Employers