Author: Maria Giagilitsis

Employees Fired for Facebook Postings

By Maria Giagilitsis It’s becoming more and more clear that an employee’s use of social networking websites such as Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace may lead to justifiable discipline by an employer. On October 22, 2010, the British Columbia Labour Relations Board released its decision in West Coast Mazda (d.b.a. West Coast Detail & Accessory Centre) […]

Accommodating Mental Illness

By Alix Herber and Hadiya Roderique In Canada, employers have a duty to accommodate individuals suffering from a disability to the level of undue hardship. In the case of an employee with a physical disability, it often can be relatively straightforward to identify accommodations that can be implemented. In contrast, the accommodation of mental illness […]

Amazon Editors’ Best Business Books of 2010

The editors at Amazon have picked their favorite business and investing books for 2010. Here are the top 10. 1. The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine by Michael Lewis. The sequel to #1 best-selling Liar’s Poker examines the issue of who understood the risk inherent in the assumption of ever-rising real estate prices, a […]

2010 Elections — a Game Changer in Congress

by David S. Fortney and J. Robert Brame Editors, Federal Employment Law Insider The historic 2010 elections for the 112th Congress will significantly alter how Washington operates. The Republicans gained more seats than during any election since 1948, and we now move forward with a politically divided government following two years of Democratic control of […]

Disability Etiquette: A Primer

The Disability Access Office in San Antonio, Texas, has published The Disability Etiquette Handbook. The handbook, which is on the web, covers a variety of issues. We thought we’d give you a sample. Reception Etiquette Greeting someone with a disability often makes a person without a disability awkward and uncomfortable. That doesn’t make you a […]

DOL Launches Veterans Hiring Toolkit

In August, U.S. combat troops left Iraq, and President Barack Obama has said the military will start pulling troops from Afghanistan in July 2011. With this steady stream of military veterans coming back, inevitably some will end up in your application pools. Previously, we have discussed why hiring veterans makes sense. Now, the U.S. Department […]

Ninth Circuit Reinstates Male Worker’s Harassment Claim

A federal trial court in Nevada apparently couldn’t believe that a woman’s sexual overtures to a male coworker would ever be unwelcome and rejected the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s (EEOC) attempt to file a harassment suit on his behalf. But in a recent decision, the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals (which covers Alaska, Arizona, […]

Veterans Day: November 11, 2010

On Thursday, November 11, Americans honored those who have served in the military. It was originally known as  “Armistice Day” and  celebrated first on November 11, 1919 — the first anniversary of the end of World War I. In 1926, Congress passed a resolution to make it an annual observance, and it became a national […]

Who’s In Charge Around Here?

Litigation Value:  $0.00 Who’s the boss? In the opening scene of the “Viewing Party,” the staff is crowded around a TV in the conference room watching local coverage of the Scranton Strangler. Gabe walks in and directs everyone to return to work. They ignore him. Later, in the kitchen, Kevin refers to Gabe as Michael’s “boss” . . . […]

EEOC Issues Final GINA Regulations

By Adria Martinelli and Julie Athey After several delays, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has issued final regulations that interpret and implement the nondiscrimination requirements of the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA). For the most part, the final regulations don’t differ substantially from the ones proposed by the agency nearly two years ago. However, […]