Bill O’What Now?

The New York times unleashed a bombshell six days ago, on April 1, 2017, revealing that five women were paid approximately $13 million in exchange for keeping silent about the sexual harassment charges against Bill O’Reilly.  All of the women accusing Mr. O’Reilly of sexual harassment either worked for him or appeared on his Fox network show, “The O’Reilly Factor.”  The allegations included verbal abuse, unwanted advances and lewd comments.  This was not the first time that Fox News had to pay a large settlement for sexual harassment claims against Mr. O’Reilly.Read more

Don’t Make This Uber Mistake

The recent headlines coming out of Uber have been dominating employment law feeds and for good reason. What is taking place currently at this company is such an unfortunate situation that could have been so easily avoided if the employees’ complaints had been properly handled.

According to her written account of what took place, Susan Fowler, a site reliability engineer at Uber, did the right thing.Read more

WorkWise Law’s “Aha” Moment

We have a confession to make. We are lawyers who do not like lawsuits. Having been in the trenches for the last decade, working as plaintiff attorneys, we have come to realize that in the employment field, too many businesses are unaware of their legally required obligations.  One problem is that human resource professionals are spread too thin, with responsibility for hiring, firing, maintaining payroll, facilitating discussions amongst coworkers and between the employees and their supervisors, fixing broken machines, ordering stationary, and ensuring that the company is staying in compliance with all relevant employment laws.  There are few jobs in a company that carry such a broad range of duties and responsibilities.  This need for such broad expertise in so many different fields can lead to a host of costly problems.Read more

“He’s Just a Hugger” – Employers Take Note, This Could Land You In Hot Water

The Tale of Mark The Hugger and Shelly Who Wants No Part Of It

Mark, a supervisor from the accounting department, is a hugger. When he sees a co-worker coming down the hall, he opens his arms wide and wraps them around the person tightly….maybe for a second or two longer than is socially acceptable. Bill and Jenny perceive Mark as harmless, but Shelly, the receptionist, is tense and does not want her supervisor’s hands on her. Shelly has told you, her Human Resources Representative, that Mark hugs “a lot.”Read more