Rojgar Job News

One of the interesting strains to come out of the new round of publicity surrounding sexual harassment is a renewed focus on mandatory arbitration provisions. And it comes from an unexpected source: former Fox News anchor Gretchen Carlson. Indeed, Carlson recently gave an interview with former ESPN producer and self-titled “Commander-in-She” Valerie Gordon that may have slipped under radar in which she talks about such provisions. She notes that mandatory or “forced” arbitration provisions enable sexual harassment to exist under the radar. I’m doing some advocacy work on Capitol Hill, working on gathering bipartisan support to take the secrecy out of arbitration.  You know the forced arbitration in employment contracts makes these things secret.  We have to stop the silence around it. In another recent interview, Carlson suggested that these arbitration provisions are often “in the fine print” and not focused on when people s...

Recently, I had the opportunity to see  Rags,  a new revival now running at the classic Goodspeed Opera House. I don’t often do theater reviews on this site, but I give it a thumbs up. The musical tells the story of Jewish immigrants coming to the Lower East Side just after the turn of the century. They experience outright discrimination and difficult working conditions. So much so, that they end up even participating in a labor strike asking for better working conditions. Of course, as an employment lawyer, I’m always looking for a good story to relate. The musical obviously has undertones of today’s political environment, where refugees are facing barriers to entry from certain countries. Workplace laws actually limit what employers should be asking in the interview process about immigration status.  And even when a Form I-9 is being process, an employer cannot reject valid documents or insist on additional documentation too. And it can’t target ...