“Donald Duke” and Employment Discrimination

It’s not hard to think of important race discrimination cases that could be reversed by President Trump’s EEOC. Under President Reagan, this agency filed a lawsuit against a small manufacturer on the southwest side of Chicago. From 1979 until 1985, O & G hired 87 people—but not one African–American. The reason the agency pulled that case from a large stack of others is that no evidence—other than statistics—indicated intent to discriminate. An all-white workforce referred white applicants before the jobs were even advertised. The EEOC retained an urban planning expert, Dr. Pierre DeVise, who concluded that that African–American availability in the relevant labor market ranged from 22.5% to 31%. The trial court—finding for the EEOC— said that “the statistical probability using standard deviation analysis of no black hires during the period 1979 through 1985 was infinitesimal.” In other words, intentional discrimination was legally inferable from the statistics—a key ruling that has been used in many other cases to unmask stealthy discrimination. The court ordered damages of $378,000. That's the kind of case— one brought by the professional staff appointed by an iconic conservative President— that Donald Duke’s EEOC would take down.

Open Carry, Close Discussion at University of Houston

The new “open carry” law in Texas mandates all public universities to allow students, faculty, staff and visitors to openly carry weapons. These schools are upset over the requirement. Meanwhile, private schools, even conservative ones such as Baylor, have all prohibited open carry. University of Houston is gearing up for open carry by advising faculty: “Be careful discussing sensitive topics,” “drop certain topics from your curriculum,” do “not ‘go there’ if you sense anger,” and “limit student access off hours.” Will grading curves be relaxed or ended to avoid volatile situations? Will placement offices be guarded to deter students who have an axe to grind with that part of campus administration? How will contentious issues be discussed as long as students are armed in the classroom? UH administration is not wrong for this advice—Texas lawmakers, however, have made UH more dangerous for campus safety—and more dangerous for expressing ideas. Thanks to Janet for the tip!

Should a Justice Be a Knight?

We now learn that Justice Scalia died at retreat for a secret, all-male hunting society that dates back to 1695. The International Order of St. Hubertus—pictured here— admits only men. The photo suggests it admits only white men. Once they are members, they are knighted. Justice Scalia had a right to join this group. The question is: Was Scalia so far removed from the mainstream of American experience that he was ill-suited to rule on discrimination cases, where he frequently ruled to reject or narrow discrimination theories for people who would never be able to join his secret society? Justice Clarence Thomas, by comparison, enjoys country western music. He is considered the most likable Justice by people who work at the Supreme Court, and makes a point to know everyone’s names, including janitors and cafeteria workers. In her younger days, Justice Ginsburg was a cheerleader, editor of her high school paper, and a cello player in the orchestra. Justice Kagan is a book worm. Justice Sotomayor—who has had Type 1 diabetes since she was 8— used her 50^th birthday as an occasion to learn salsa dance. Justice Alito is known for his love of baseball, specifically the Philadelphia Phillies. Justice Kennedy loves to travel abroad. In his all-boys high school, Chief Justice Roberts played Peppermint Patty in “You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown”; and he worked in a steel mill to save for college. Justice Breyer loves to ride a bike, and has serious injuries to show for his passion. Justice Scalia, by comparison to his colleagues, was a very odd duck.

Grim Tally: Recent Deadly Shootings at Work

3 dead, 14 injured | Hesston, Kansas (Feb. 25, 2016), lawn mower factory

6 dead, 2 injured | Kalamazoo, Michigan (Feb. 21, 2016), Uber driver

14 dead, 21 wounded | San Bernardino, Calif. (Dec. 2, 2015), holiday work party

3 dead; 9 injured | Colorado Springs, Colo. (Nov. 29, 2015), Planned Parenthood Center

9 dead, 9 wounded| Umpqua Community College, Or. (Oct. 1, 2015), community college

5 dead, 3 wounded: Chattanooga, Tenn. (July 16, 2015), military recruitment centers

For statistical information on workplace homicides, visit here.

Is Open Carry Kosher for Sabbath?

Flying home from Houston, I sat next to a Jewish woman who informed me that her temple recently had a two hour debate on whether to allow “open carry” of guns during services and community gatherings. Shocked, I asked for the main debating points. FOR: KC Jewish Center was shot up last year; it’s the new law in Texas; people are afraid of crime, and especially fearful of mass gun violence. AGAINST: Open carry will scare people aware from services and gatherings; no one can remember violence that occurred in a Houston temple or synagogue; just because it’s legal doesn’t make it a good idea; fear of gun violence is overdone. OUTCOME: No open carry…. But concealed carry is allowed. Just me, but I don’t want to attend a service or gathering with any guns. TEXAS UNITED METHODISTS: “Believing that the open carry of handguns on church property is inconsistent with an atmosphere of prayer and worship, it is the recommendation of the Conference Chancellors that oral and/or written notice be given in accordance with the statute prohibiting the “Open Carry” of handguns in churches of the Conference. We make no recommendation regarding the prohibition of concealed handguns on church property and suggest that this be left up to individual congregations.”

No Recording Rule at Work: Pro and Con

Is it lawful for an employer to prohibit employees from recording (in any fashion) conversations, phone calls, images or company meetings with any recording device unless prior approval is received? That is Whole Foods' policy. Its purpose is to foster open communication, even disagreement. Some workers, who are organizing a union, have won a ruling from the NLRB that strikes down the employer rule as anti-union. I disagree with the ruling, and believe a court of appeals will overturn the ruling. The company policy is long-standing and was not implemented to thwart the union; and more important, its purpose was to increase employee voice, not to suppress or manage it.

Would Trump Overturn "Hostile Work Environment"?

The EEOC is an executive branch agency that issues guidelines on employment discrimination. Courts eventually approve (the legal term is defer) or overturn them. Since 1986, the Supreme Court—even with conservative justices ruling— has deferred to the EEOC’s broad definition of “hostile work environment.” This term has been interpreted by the EEOC and courts to prohibit demeaning words used against women, such as bitch (and much worse), when these words are pervasive and interfere with her work. Recall that it was the aggressive questioning, i.e., the work of the female Fox News reporter, that was the subject of Trump’s deeply demeaning “bleeding” insult.  Is more of this in the future of working women in America?

Sneak Preview! Trump’s Supreme Court Nominees

With Donald Trump appearing to be more electable with each outrageous attack, it’s time to think seriously about his potential nominees to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Montana District Judge G. Todd: This judge gave an extremely lenient sentence to a rapist after suggesting the 14-year-old assault victim was partly to blame for the crime against her. There’s a big point for Trump’s misogynistic values. The fact that Judge Todd was later censured by the Montana Supreme Court makes him a judicial icon for anti-establishmentarian justice.

U.S. District Chief Judge Richard Cebull. When his robe is off, this guy loves to hate on African-Americans. He was caught sending racist emails about President Obama from his courthouse chambers. His emails also expressed disdain for blacks, Indians, Hispanics, women, some religious faiths, liberal political leaders; other emails contained inappropriate jokes about sexual orientation. Not to worry, he took the hero’s path by retiring the day a panel of his judicial peers severely reprimanded him. Trump voters “would love this guy” (to borrow from the future President’s vernacular).

Alabama Supreme Court Justice Roy Moore: Likely the most right-wing state judge in the U.S., he fought to have a Ten Commandments displayed in the state Supreme Court. Ignoring orders not to install the display, he did so anyway. Now there’s the kind of judicial activism Trump would admire. Eventually a federal judge ordered him to remove the religious symbol from the public court. When he refused, a nine-judge judicial ethics panel vacated his seat. A few years later, he ran for the court again and Alabama voters put him back on the bench.

Picking on Uber? Read On

Is the media (and this blog) picking on Uber? Take a minute or two to skim pp. 27-37 for a list of the sex offenders, kidnappers, and other violent offenders who have been driving for Uber (in some cases, child sex offenders have given unsupervised rides to kids). The case is People of the State of California v. Uber Technologies, Inc., available here by clicking and scrolling down.  The case is about Uber's false advertising claims that it has the best background checks in the industry. Uber's fine print says that passengers accept all risks by riding in one of their vehicles.

Is Uber Partly Responsible for Kalamazoo Massacre?

Cabs are expensive. But what you get is a driver who has been fingerprinted and cleared through a legal requirement to run a licensed cab business anywhere in the U.S. You also get an employee-- someone who is eligible for health insurance, workers' comp and other benefits. Ninety minutes before he began to kill people, the Kalamazoo gunman picked up a ride for Uber, but drove so dangerously that the man cut the trip short and called 911. It turns out that the driver had started at Uber a few days before and was getting bad reviews online—but still being dispatched rides and picking up unwitting customers. So much for Uber’s lack of licensing and lack of an HR department. 

Yankee Freeloaders

Imagine a nationality group, comprised of young people, who migrate from their country in order to mooch off the host country’s policy of free college education for all. No, we are not talking about Mexicans coming to the U.S. We are talking about Americans going to Germany for free, high quality college education-- in English! Currently, an estimated 10,000 U.S. citizens are studying at German colleges -- nearly all of them for free. My thanks to Alan for this lead. Read here for details.