Labor & Employment Developments Blog

According to recent news stories, Mel Gibson is in trouble again. This time because of certain calls that his former girlfriend recorded in which Mel makes several inappropriate comments, including racial slurs, death threats, etc. I know what you’re thinking, “a Hollywood celebrity behaving badly — this is news?” I agree, but within this messy story there is an employment law issue.

The NLRB announced today that the Texas Dental Association has distributed $900,000 in back pay awards to two former employees who were fired in relation to a petition complaining of poor management and unfair treatment.

According to The New York Times, Google is going to begin covering a cost that gay and lesbian employees must pay when their partners receive domestic partner health benefits.

We have posted an alert regarding Ohio's new military leave law, which takes effect on July 2, 2010. An initial question that the new law raises is how it compares to and interacts with the FMLA’s provisions for military leave. At present, the answer is not clear but there are a couple of points worth noting.

Most people have heard the news by now. Gen. Stanley McChrystal was relieved of his command of international forces in Afghanistan after his disparaging remarks about the Obama administration were published in Rolling Stone.  I had not intended to comment on this story, but so many people have asked me my opinion (offline) that I decided to blog about it.  Upon reflection, the story does have some application to labor and employment law issues.  In fact, I have decided to coin a new term for use in the employment law context — a “McChrystal.”

Have you ever received a request to recommend someone on LinkedIn? If you’re on LinkedIn, I’m guessing the answer is yes. I have seen marketing and HR blogs lamenting the fact that some people ask for recommendations from people they don’t even know. While that is rude, what about the requests from people you do know? How do you respond?