Juli Briskman was on her own time, riding her bicycle, when President Trump’s motorcade drove by. She expressed her personal feelings with a middle finger salute, not realizing that a news reporter had captured her gesture on camera.She abruptly lost her job...
Protecting Workers’ Rights
Focusing on the Rights of Federal Employees
Blog
Women in male-dominated workplaces more likely to be mistreated
Nearly half of American women work in places where they outnumber the men. But for millions of other women, employment in a male-dominated workplace can be stressful, dangerous and harmful to their careers.A Pew Research Center survey confirmed that women in...
Supreme Court says securities whistleblowers must go through SEC
Recently we wrote about the case of an executive who was fired after bringing his concerns of securities fraud to upper management.He sued for whistleblower retaliation under a provision of Dodd-Frank specifically written to shield employees who report securities...
Man alleges mistreatment by co-workers, supervisors and HR
A New Jersey county employee says he was repeatedly subjected to ugly racial harassment at work. He is suing the government entity for failing to protect him from discrimination by co-workers. He also claims he suffered retaliation for filing discrimination complaints...
Must employers provide ADA leave after FMLA runs out?
The Family and Medical Leave Act mandates that employers provide up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave for a serious medical condition. But what happens when an employee requests additional weeks or months off for a disabling condition?The 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals...
Settlement reached in Wells Fargo whistleblower retaliation case
The Harvey Weinstein revelations opened the floodgates on sexual harassment. Countless women and men who had been scared or threatened broke their silence, telling their stories and supporting each other under the #MeToo umbrella.Might we see a similar movement for...
Millions of women face gender discrimination/harassment at work
The headlines of 2017 were dominated by men behaving badly, from Hollywood to Washington to Silicon Valley. Was it one big bubble that finally burst, or is it a reflection of a broader problem simmering across the country?Several studies suggest that sexual harassment...
Dodd-Frank court case could redefine whistleblowing
The U.S. Supreme Court is mulling a case with major implications for would-be whistleblowers. At issue is fuzzy language in the whistleblower protections of the Dodd-Frank Act. At stake is the fate of people like Paul Somers, who was fired after he reported...
Do nondisclosure agreements perpetuate a toxic workplace culture?
In Hollywood, the cat is out of the bag. Scores of women (and men) are pouring out pent-up tales of sexual assaults and sexual harassment by famous producers, directors and actors. Every day brings new accusations against some movie icon. A group of women at Weinstein...
Can an employee on FMLA leave from work attend a night concert?
A federal court in Texas has dismissed a claim of FMLA discrimination and retaliation by a woman who was fired after attending a Beyoncé concert while she was on personal medical leave. The railroad employee claimed that the company interfered with her rights...