Oh, for cryin' out loud.

Last week, a high school principal in Bangor, Maine, banned a math teacher from having a little pink Christmas holiday Hello Kitty tree in her classroom for the holidays. She says she was told it was too "religious," although I'm still trying to figure out what religion Hello Kitty is associated with.

We're on Christmas holidays/vacation until the new year and will not have any posts this Friday or the following Friday (New Year's Day). There may be exceptions for breaking employment-related news, assuming there is any. Moderation of comments may also be slower than normal.

We wish you all and your loved ones a very ...

Who's been naughty and who's been nice in labor and employment law? Here are my picks for 2015. Feel free to add your own in the comments.

NAUGHTY!

The National Labor Relations Board, for being naughty in too many ways to mention. Its rules on employer handbook policies, including confidentiality and social media, are unrealistic and almost impossible for ...

The U.S. Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration of the Department of Transportation announced yesterday that it is reducing by half the minimum percentage of drivers who must be randomly tested for controlled substances.

The change will take effect January 1.

Currently, employers are required to test at least 50 percent of their average number of commercial motor vehicle ...

As an employer, what do you do when one of your employees reports being sexually harassed by a vendor?

Easy, right? You call the vendor's boss and say, "If you want to continue doing business with us, then you will not send this person back to our company." The vendor wants your business, so her answer is, "Sir, yes sir! Anything you say, sir! We appreciate your business! Thank you for ...

What effect are liberalized marijuana laws having on employer drug policies?

Maybe not as much as you'd think.

The Society for Human Resources Management just came out with a survey of employer marijuana policies in states that have legalized it in some degree. Here are some highlights from the SHRM study:

*Of 224 employers who have operations in jurisdictions that have legalized ...

When you get tired of all the shopping and hustle and bustle, take a break and head over to Win-Win HR, where Lorene Schaefer is hosting the Employment Law Blog Carnival: A Festival of Lessons. It will get you back into the proper spirit!

Boy, the Detroit area seems to be in the front lines for the gender-identity wars.

As I've previously reported here, here, here, and here, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has a high-profile gender-stereotyping lawsuit going on against an area funeral home chain based on its discharge of a transgender employee. The funeral home is represented by the Alliance Defending ...

Holy Toledo! (Or should I say, Lansing?) Here is our next celebrity employment lawsuit soap opera . . .

You may have heard about the two Tea Party legislators in Michigan who were having an affair, engaged in a bizarre cover-up that failed, had to resign/were expelled, and then lost their election bids to get their seats back. It was a big deal over the summer and into the fall ...

Readers have been clamoring for my take on the alcoholism-discrimination lawsuit filed by Steve Sarkisian against the University of Southern California.

Actually, I got one email from a reader, who had a better take on the whole situation than I do.

But who cares! I still think it's a great topic, and a case worth following!

Here's the deal, as I understand it:

Mr ...