March 1

Dear Diary:

I start my new job as a Starbucks barista tomorrow. I am super-excited!!!!! I just hope I can handle the fast pace!

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March 2

Dear Diary:

Wow! This job is hard! There is a lot to learn! But my supervisor, Xander, is super-nice (and cute, too!). When I accidentally gave a customer an Espresso Macchiato instead of a Cinnamon Dolce Latte, he said I shouldn't ...

Religious accommodation, the Oscars, non-competes, social media, Brian Williams versus Bill O'Reilly, workplace violence, and inspirational employees -- we have it all today! Here are some links about recent news and court cases involving the workplace, followed by some points for discussion if you'd like to comment.

Supreme Court justices seem to side ...

An article by Lauren Weber and Rachel Feintzeig in Tuesday's Wall Street Journal caught a lot of attention -- it was about companies that have made the decision to do without a Human Resources function.

The idea drew some positive response on Twitter:

HR stifles innovation and bogs down businesses with inefficient policies and processes. http://t.co/5cGRIwHaxR

— Mike Brice ...

As our firm's Marketing Department likes to say, "Think before you tweet." A staffer at MSNBC was fired yesterday because of a tweet that started a political firestorm.

The story involves Cheerios, biracial families, the Republican National Committee and MSNBC. (Sounds like the start of a joke . . .)

Last May, there was a really cute Cheerios commercial involving a biracial family.

(I ...

UPDATE: On Friday, January 24, 2014, the jury came back with a verdict for Courtney Love, finding that she is not liable for her tweet about Attorney Rhonda Holmes.

Can you be liable for libel based on what you tweet on Twitter?

Well, why the heck not?

You may have read that Courtney Love, widow of Nirvana's Kurt Cobain, vocalist/guitarist/lyricist of Hole, and Mrs. Larry Flynt in The People ...

One of my favorite categories on Twitter is #firstworldproblems. As the name implies, it's a bunch of tweets about problems that don't amount to anything but that drive us crazy in our ridiculously affluent, spoiled-rotten world.

Here is one I just made up, based on a true example from my life last night:

iPad Air goes on sale @ midnight - should I order online or go to AT&T store tomorrow ...

It has been a busy week. Muslim headscarves, tech exec's tweets get him fired, and Lady Gaga is going to trial!

UPDATE ON LADY GAGA (10/22/13): She has settled her case.

Abercrombie gets fitched, and HR doesn't always get it right. I have previously reported on the litigation against Abercrombie & Fitch and its "looks policy" which at one time did not allow head coverings, even if worn for ...

The Wall Steet Journal has a feature on "Five of the Costliest Tweets Ever." (Subscription required, but I'll tell you all you need to know below.) This morning, Jon Hyman of Ohio Employer's Law Blog tweeted a link to a great flow chart from HR Bartender entitled "Should I Send This Email." Both are worth reading.

Number 1 of the "Five Costliest Tweets" was, of course, our old friend, former ...

OK, I admit it. This was not a "frequently asked question" until recently, after the New York Times ran a piece by a University of Texas economist who argued that the anti-discrimination laws should protect ugly people.

Since that time, this ridiculous highly creative suggestion has been blogged and tweeted about everywhere, so I would say that it now qualifies as a true "FAQ." In any ...

DEAR READERS: If you enjoy this blog, we'd be most grateful if you would nominate it for the 2011 Blawg 100 list of the American Bar Association. (Blawg = blog + law . . . get it?) Attorneys and employees of Constangy are not eligible to vote. All entries must be submitted by September 9. While you're at it, please cast another vote for our sister blog, Employee Benefits Unplugged. Thank you for ...