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Employee termination Sean Penn’s Disaster-Relief Charity Ended Up a Money Mess

Employnews — Fri, 24 Feb 2023 04:11:46 +0000

Employee termination

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WORKPLACE SAFETY Railroad workers aren’t the only Americans without paid sick days

Employnews — Wed, 28 Dec 2022 08:34:17 +0000

WORKPLACE SAFETY As freight railroad workers look to Congress to provide them with paid sick days, millions of other American employees have no safety net if they fall ill.
The US does not have a national standard o…

Workplace discrimination Dave Ramsey’s ‘righteous living’: Inside the conflict over religion and sexuality at Ramsey Solutions

Employnews — Wed, 28 Dec 2022 07:03:30 +0000

Workplace discrimination

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Employee termination Cipriani’s Hit With New Sexual-Harassment Suit by Former Employee

Employnews — Wed, 28 Dec 2022 02:35:07 +0000

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Employee rights workplace bully workplace discrimination workplace retaliation fmla flsa americans with disabilities act amendment act employee termination employment discharge sexual harassment workplace violence workplace safety Whistleblowers reveal pattern of sexual harassment, sexual misconduct at FBI: ‘Sounds like Sodom and

Employnews — Wed, 02 Nov 2022 15:40:37 +0000

Employee rights workplace bully workplace discrimination workplace retaliation fmla flsa americans with disabilities act amendment act employee termination employment discharge sexual harassment workplace violence workplace safety

A hostile work environment of sexual harassment and retaliation against female agents who complain about it have persisted at the FBI for more than a year after FBI Director Christopher A. Wray pledged to fix the problem, according to several whistleblowers.

The latest complaints turned up the heat on Mr. Wray and Attorney General Merrick Garland. Lawmakers began scrutinizing them after whistleblowers unleashed a flood of accusations that the FBI had politicized investigations and its leadership had turned a blind eye to widespread misconduct at field offices.

Sen. Charles E. Grassley of Iowa, the ranking Republican on the Judiciary Committee, blasted Mr. Wray and Mr. Garland for failing to hold accountable senior FBI officials accused of sexual harassment and other sexual misconduct.

“Lawful, protected whistleblower disclosures provided to my office include allegations and records that show hundreds of FBI employees have retired or resigned because of sexual misconduct allegations against them and that they did so in order to avoid accountability,” Mr. Grassley said in a letter Wednesday. “The allegations and records paint a disgraceful picture of abuse that women within the FBI have had to live with for many years. This abuse and misconduct is outrageous and beyond unacceptable.”

Mr. Grassley fumed about the reports of unchecked sexual harassment at the nation’s top law enforcement agency.

“If the Justice Department and FBI can’t ensure the equal application of the law within its own ranks, how can they be trusted to apply the law equally against the American people? Further, the 2022 Justice Department document notes that Director Wray and Deputy Director [Paul] Abbate have not aggressively moved to solve the sexual misconduct problems at the FBI,” he wrote.

According to an FBI whistleblower disclosure sent to the House Judiciary Committee, Mr. Wray and Mr. Abbate allowed FBI executives and senior managers accused of sexual misconduct to remain in their positions and refused to take action against them or delayed action for years.

The whistleblower’s attorney briefed The Washington Times on the details of the disclosure.

“Mr. Wray and Mr. Abbate should have immediately taken both performance measures and administrative misconduct measures against executives involved in sexual misconduct while working,” the lawyer said. “Instead, Mr. Wray and Mr. Abbate have allowed other executives to continue their misconduct and/or retaliate against victims and witnesses, while the subordinate employees have no immediate recourse to stop the offenders. Mr. Wray’s and Mr. Abbate’s refusal to act and protect their female employees has threatened the health and safety of the women in the FBI.”

The FBI employee, who is willing to testify before Congress, requested that lawmakers mandate that the FBI release the names of Senior Executive Service members found to have committed sexual misconduct including harassment, assault or inappropriate touching.

Perhaps the most disturbing aspect of the whistleblower charges is that similar accusations more than a year ago did not result in a change in the culture at the FBI.

The bureau was scrutinized in June 2021 after an Associated Press investigation revealed a series of sexual assault and harassment accusations against senior officials who were allowed to “quietly avoid discipline and retire or transfer even after the claims were substantiated.”

Earlier last year, the FBI settled a harassment, discrimination and retaliation lawsuit by a high-ranking woman serving as an FBI agent. Her attorney said the FBI agreed to pay more than $1.2 million, which included $1 million for attorneys’ fees and costs based on three years of litigation.

Mr. Abbate told AP that the agency would not put up with sexual misconduct by its personnel and that those who do so should be scared because “we’re coming for them.”

“That’s a strong approach, a forceful shift, and we mean it. And it’s coming from the top,” Mr. Abbate said. “Individuals who engage in this type of misconduct don’t belong in the FBI, and they certainly should not have supervisory oversight of others. Period.”

FBI officials touted a 24-hour tip line to report abuse and a working group of senior executives to review policies and protocols on harassment and victim support and more immediate action to investigate accusations and terminate or at least demote employees who have engaged in misconduct. Officials also claimed to have extended the bureau’s victim services division to support employees who were victims of internal misconduct.

An FBI whistleblower disclosure this year shows the hotline is nonexistent.

According to the disclosure, a female FBI employee said her call to the hotline was answered by the FBI headquarters Strategic Information & Operations Center. “The operator had never heard about any special FBI sexual harassment hotline,” she said.

Another female FBI agent said in a disclosure to Congress that she was sexually harassed by a boss.

“This ASAC routinely telephoned the female employee after 8 pm and forced the female agent to talk with him, referring to her as ‘baby doll.’”

In a statement to The Times, the FBI said: “FBI employees — regardless of rank or title — are expected to foster a workplace that’s respectful, professional, and free from offensive, inappropriate, or harassing behavior. We are committed to ensuring allegations of misconduct are thoroughly reviewed, that full investigations are initiated where appropriate, and that we take swift and appropriate actions — including, where warranted, immediate reassignment of those in supervisory positions during investigation and adjudication.”

The FBI statement continued: “Due process and fair investigation are important. But we won’t hesitate to impose severe sanctions where misconduct is substantiated, including revocation of security clearances and dismissal from duty.”

Lawmakers were shocked by the hostile work environment for women at the FBI despite Mr. Wray’s pledge of reform.

“It sounds like Sodom and Gomorrah up there,” said Rep. Louie Gohmert, a Texas Republican on the Judiciary Committee.

Workplace discrimination Southwest pilot sues after coworker exposed himself, watched pornography during flight

Employnews — Tue, 01 Nov 2022 19:10:43 +0000

Workplace discrimination

A Southwest Airlines pilot is suing the airline, her union and a former co-worker who pleaded guilty over a 2020 incident in which he exposed his genitals and watched pornography during a flight.

Christine Janning alleges in the lawsuit that the airline retaliated against her after she reported the former pilot, Michael Haak, to the company and the FBI. She claims that the airline kept her grounded and that the Southwest Airlines Pilots Association conspired with Southwest Airlines and did not support her after the incident.

Janning is suing Haak on accusations of sexual assault. He pleaded guilty to intentionally committing a lewd, indecent or obscene act and was sentenced to probation and a $5,000 fine. Haak admitted at the time that after a flight from Philadelphia to Orlando, Florida, reached its cruising altitude, Haak got out of the pilot’s seat, disrobed and watched pornography on a laptop, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the District of Maryland.

Janning filed the lawsuit last week in Orange County, Florida. Court documents say Janning alleges that Haak said there was “something” he wanted to do on the flight before retiring, then bolted the door of the cockpit, exposed himself and watched pornography. Janning alleges Haak took several photos and videos of himself and encouraged her to also take photos, which she did “in order to create a record.”

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Haak’s attorney, Michael Salnick, told USA TODAY that Janning asked Haak if there was something he wanted to do before he retired, “and that’s how he ended up flying naked.” At his sentencing hearing last year, Haak called the incident “a consensual prank.”

Janning accused Haak of masturbating after exposing himself. Salnick denied the accusation.

Among other allegations, Janning also claimed that after reporting the incident in November 2020, she was told that because Haak had retired, Southwest’s investigation was closed. She then went to the FBI, which charged the former pilot.

Janning said she was grounded for more than three months, which cost her a portion of her salary. She said she also was required to take “unnecessary” training before working again.

She also claimed that her union, the Southwest Airlines Pilots Association, did not advocate on her behalf, though its leaders did write a letter to Haak’s judge that said he had a “spotless” record.

USA TODAY has reached out to the union for comment. Southwest Airlines, in a statement to USA TODAY, said that “Southwest Airlines takes all matters related to workplace conduct very seriously, with a well-defined policy and process for harassment, sexual harassment, discrimination, and retaliation claims.”

“Our corporate Culture is built upon treating others with mutual respect and dignity, and we plan to vigorously defend against allegations made in this recent complaint.”

Contributing: The Associated Press

Violence at work Biden to host ‘unity’ summit against hate-fueled violence

Employnews — Tue, 23 Aug 2022 21:47:40 +0000

Violence at work

WILMINGTON, Del. — President Joe Biden will host a White House summit next month aimed at combating a spate of hate-fueled violence in the U.S., as he works to deliver on his campaign pledge to “heal the soul of the nation.”

The White House announced Friday that Biden will host the United We Stand Summit on Sept. 15, highlighting the “corrosive effects” of violence on public safety and democracy. Advocates pushed Biden to hold the event after 10 Black people were killed at a Buffalo, New York, supermarket in May, aiming as well to address a succession of hate-driven violence in cities including El Paso, Texas, Pittsburgh and Oak Creek, Wisconsin.

“As President Biden said in Buffalo after the horrific mass shooting earlier this year, in the battle for the soul of our nation ‘we must all enlist in this great cause of America,’” press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement. ”The United We Stand Summit will present an important opportunity for Americans of all races, religions, regions, political affiliations, and walks of life to take up that cause together.”

Biden will deliver a keynote speech at the gathering, which the White House says will include civil rights groups, faith leaders, business executives, law enforcement, gun violence prevention advocates, former members of violent hate groups, the victims of extremist violence and cultural figures. The White House emphasized that it also intends to bring together Democrats and Republicans, as well as political leaders on the federal, state and local levels to unite against hate-motivated violence.

Biden, a Democrat, has frequently cited 2017’s white supremacist protest in Charlottesville, Virginia, with bringing him out of political retirement to challenge then-President Donald Trump in 2020. He promised during that campaign to work to bridge political and social divides and to promote national unity, but fulfilling that cause remains a work in progress.

Sindy Benavides, the CEO of League of United Latin American Citizens, said the genesis of the summit came after the Buffalo massacre, as her organization along with the Anti-Defamation League, the National Action Network and other groups wanted to press the Biden administration to more directly tackle extremist threats.

“As civil rights organizations, social justice organizations, we fight every day against this, and we wanted to make sure to acknowledge that government needs to have a leading role in addressing right-wing extremism,” she said.

The White House did not outline the lineup of speakers or participants, saying it would come closer to the event. It also would not preview any specific policy announcements by Biden. Officials noted Biden last year signed the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act and released the nation’s first National Strategy for Countering Domestic Terrorism.

Benavides said Biden holding the summit would help galvanize the country to address the threats of hate-inspired violence but also said she hoped for “long-term solutions” to emerge from the summit.

“What’s important to us is addressing mental health, gun control reform, addressing misinformation, disinformation and malinformation,” she said. “We want policy makers to focus on common sense solutions so we don’t see this type of violence in our communities. And we want to see the implementation of policies that reduce violence.”

———

Follow AP’s coverage of hate crimes at https://apnews.com/hub/hate-crimes.

Employee termination Kuwait Wealth Fund Says UK Head Termination, Issue Being Probed

Employnews — Tue, 23 Aug 2022 21:46:59 +0000

Employee termination

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FLSA Minor league players, MLB reach deal in minimum wage suit

Employnews — Fri, 13 May 2022 05:27:34 +0000

FLSA

NEW YORK (AP) — Minor league players and Major League Baseball have reached a settlement in a lawsuit alleging teams violated minimum wage laws.

Terms of the settlement were not filed with the court Tuesday and details were not released. Two people familiar with the negotiations, speaking to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the release of details was not authorized, said the sides in recent weeks had been discussing a possible settlement in the $200 million range.

“We are pleased to report that the parties have reached a settlement in principle in this over eight-year-old case, subject to court approval,” lawyers for the players said in a statement. “We look forward to filing preliminary approval papers with the court and cannot comment further until then.”

The two sides asked the court for permission to file by July 11 for approval of the settlement.

The suit was filed in 2014 by first baseman/outfielder Aaron Senne, a 10th-round pick of the Marlins in 2009 who retired in 2013, and two other retired players who had been lower-round selections: Kansas City infielder Michael Liberto and San Francisco pitcher Oliver Odle. They claimed violations of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act and state minimum wage and overtime requirements for a work week they estimated at 50 to 60 hours.

A trial had been scheduled to start June 1 in U.S. District Court in San Francisco. Several classes of players are part a of case involving laws in different states.

A letter filed with the court by lawyers for both sides asked Chief Magistrate Judge Joseph C. Spero to postpone a conference scheduled for Tuesday and the trial.

“The parties are pleased to inform the court that they have reached a settlement of the matter in principle,” the letter said. “The parties have agreed upon a confidential memorandum of understanding. The settlement is subject to ratification by the respective parties, and we are in the process of preparing the settlement documents.”

The letter was signed by Elise M. Bloom of Proskauer Rose on behalf of MLB and by Clifford H. Pearson of Pearson, Simon & Warshaw and Stephen M. Tillery of Korein Tillery on behalf of the players.

Spero wrote in a pretrial ruling in March that minor leaguers are year-round employees who work during training time and found MLB violated Arizona’s state minimum wage law and was liable for triple damages. Spero also ruled MLB did not comply with California wage statement requirements, awarding $1,882,650 in penalties.

He said minor leaguers should be paid for travel time to road game s in the California League and to practice in Arizona and Florida.

“These are not students who have enrolled in a vocational school with the understanding that they would perform services, without compensation, as part of the practical training necessary to complete the training and obtain a license,” Spero wrote.

The case was sent back to the District Court by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in 2019 after lawyers for the players and MLB spent years arguing whether it should receive class-action status.

Spero ruled MLB is a joint employer with teams of minor league players; that those players perform “work” during spring training; that travel time on team buses to away games is compensable under FLSA, Florida and Arizona law and that travel time by California League players to away games is compensable under California law.

In 2017, the players suing were defined as those with minor league contracts who played in the California League for at least seven straight days starting on Feb. 7, 2010 or Feb. 7, 2011, depending on state or federal claims; those who participated in spring training, extended spring training instructional leagues in Arizona starting Feb. 7, 2011; and those who participated in spring training, extended spring training instructional leagues in Florida starting Feb. 7, 2009.

___

More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

Workplace bully Sanders pressures Biden on Amazon unions: ‘The time for talk is over’

Employnews — Fri, 13 May 2022 02:51:14 +0000

Workplace bully

And asked if Biden has fallen short in his union support thus far as president, Sanders said bluntly in an interview: “Yes, he has.”

“President Biden has talked more about his support for unions than any president I can remember. That’s good. But the time for talk is over. Workers need action. Now,” Sanders said. “What Biden talked about during the campaign … is that if large corporations engage in illegal anti-union activity, they will not be eligible for federal contracts. Well, Amazon is engaged in illegal anti-union activity.”

Biden’s stated goal of becoming the “most pro-union president” has had mixed success.

The Senate has not passed the Protecting the Right to Organize Act that would enable more workers to form a union. But the union allies who helped win Biden the office say they have no buyers’ remorse, pointing to oft-unilateral actions such as appointing union-friendly nominees to the National Labor Relations Board, pushing for policies that would ensure federally funded projects go to contractors with unionized workforces and creating a task force to promote unionization in the public and private sectors.

Sanders often uses his senatorial perch to push Democratic presidents to the left. And with six months before the midterms, he believes that Biden has a big opportunity to deliver at a time of mounting unionization efforts nationwide.

“All I am asking the president to do is what he explicitly stated that he would do during the campaign. It’s the right thing to do. And this is a time when working people need to know that the president is on their side,” Sanders said in the interview.

A White House official said that the president “has stated consistently and firmly that every worker in every state must have a free and fair choice to join a union and the right to bargain collectively with their employer.” The official, who declined to be named, added that Biden believes “there should be no intimidation, no coercion, no threats, and no anti-union propaganda from employers while workers are making that vitally important choice about a union.”

Union allies are hailing Sanders moves this week as welcome moves to push Biden further. AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler said that “Biden has been, from the bully pulpit, supportive of Amazon workers.” But, she added, “could there be more? Always.”

“I’m glad the senator has weighed in, because we need voices from all corners coming down hard on Amazon’s union busting tactics,” Shuler said. “As we’re picking up momentum, it will be even more important to have that voice.”

Biden has not explicitly endorsed the fight to unionize Amazon — though he has been more vocal on the issue than his predecessors. The president released a video earlier this year at the onset of the first Amazon union election in Bessemer, Ala., implying his support for the push.

“Let me be really clear: It’s not up to me to decide whether anyone should join a union,” he said. “But let me be even more clear: It’s not up to an employer to decide that either.”

More recently, he told the North America’s Building Trades Union annual conference in D.C. this month that “the choice to join a union belongs to workers alone” before leaning into the mic and saying: “By the way, Amazon, here we come. Watch.”

“We need any kind of help from the federal level; that would actually make it much easier for us,” Alabama warehouse worker Isiah Thomas said Tuesday. “Because we’re trying our hardest, especially in Alabama.”

Fresh off visits to an Amazon warehouse in Staten Island, N.Y., and with Starbucks workers in Virginia, Sanders said that Amazon is essentially using its resources to elongate negotiations with warehouses that vote to unionize in order to prevent a contract from ever being ratified. Summing up their strategy, he said “they have unlimited resources, they’ll drag it out.”

At the Budget panel hearing next week, “we are going to determine how much federal money has gone to companies — not just Amazon, but primarily Amazon, who are engaging in illegal anti-union activities,” Sanders said.

Amazon declined to comment for this story.

Sanders pointed to the e-commerce giant’s recent anti-union behavior in Staten Island in particular. Workers at one of its facilities in that New York City borough voted last month to form Amazon’s first union.

There, Amazon spent millions in an attempt to discourage employees from organizing — a strategy that has paid off in Alabama, where an earlier unionization attempt proved unsuccessful. (The union representing those workers, the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, is in the process of challenging the results of a redo election amid allegations that Amazon again unlawfully intervened.)

“They bring people in, they work them as hard as they possibly can. And then a year later, these people are forced to leave and they bring in new people,” Sanders said. “That is the business model for Amazon, and workers are beginning to stand up.”

There are more than 50 unfair labor practice cases against Amazon pending before the NLRB, Sanders said. The NLRB did not immediately comment.

Sanders’ letter also raises concerns over Amazon’s classification of its drivers as independent contractors, rather than employees, which provides them with a narrower set of benefits while preventing them from forming a union. And he called out Amazon’s workplace safety policies, which he said are “inadequate.”

Employees at Amazon facilities sustained injuries at more than twice the rate of workers at other facilities in 2021, according to a Strategic Organizing Center analysis of Occupational Safety and Health Administration data. That year, Amazon employed one-third of all warehouse workers in the U.S. — but accounted for nearly half of all injuries in the sector.