Litigation CostsHow much will you pay in employment litigation? It will depend on how many plaintiffs and how horrible the facts. Mark Toth of The Employment Blawg breaks down the numbers of what employment litigation costs in one handy infographic.
Geographic Stereotypes – What stereotypical assumptions are made about the state you live in? To answer this question, Renee DiResta turned to Google’s autocomplete function to learn what the aggregate users think of each state. With the results, she produced a fascinating clickable map of state stereotypes. Hover over states to see the results. She says: “The single most common result of all was “boring,” which appeared for 18 states with no particular regional concentration. Other popular terms (returned for >10 states) were “humid”, “windy”, “expensive”, and “liberal”. Strangely, Connecticut and Pennsylvania both returned “haunted”; apparently there are a lot of ghost sightings (and related walking tours). My favorite result of all was “enchanting”: New Mexico is beautiful.”
FMLA Case Law – Employment law attorney Jeff Nowak of FMLA Insights discusses the case of Scruggs v. Carrier Corp., in which the employee’s claims of FMLA interference and retaliation were dismissed. Carrier Corp. had conducted surveillance on 35 employees suspected of FMLA abuse, part of an overall campaign to clamp down on excessive absenteeism. In the case of Daryl Scrugss, surveillance turned up suspicious and inconsistent behavior and the employer terminated Scruggs. In dismissing Scruggs’ claims, the court pointed out that an employer can “refuse to reinstate the employee based on an ‘honest suspicion’ that she was abusing her leave.” Nowak also points to two earlier posts that he made offering tips to combat FMLA leave abuse: Giants Beat Patriots in the Super Bowl! Can I take FMLA Leave Today? and As FMLA Absences Mount, the Employer Must Lay Down the Law
Balancing ActCan You Be a Tough Boss Without Being a Jerk? – “You want your employees to perform at their best, but there’s a fine line between being a tough boss with high expectations and being an unreasonable jerk. Business coach Mike Staver advises using these four rules to avoid crossing the line.”
OSHAIs a Bloodborne Pathogens Program Required For First Aid Providers? An employer asks, “We have employees who are designated to render first aid. Are they covered by the standard?” Response: Yes. Learn more about the requirements.
Medical Identity Theft – You’ve heard of identity theft, but are you aware of medical identity theft? Bloomberg’s Tech Blog reports that hackers recently stole health care records and held them hostage. Records were stolen from a surgical medical practice in Illinois. The hackers encrypted the data and posted a “digital ransom note.” Jordan Robertson, author of the news item, notes that, “… the spiraling cost of health care and lack of insurance for millions of people have made medical identity theft a growing problem. Security and privacy risks are also emerging with the creation of “health information exchanges,” which are vast databases that states are setting up to handle all the electronic medical records.”
Eating Disorders Affect Men, Too – On , Anny Ellen posts that men are stepping out of the shadows when it comes to binge eating.: “Mr. Walen is one of an estimated eight million men and women in the United States who struggle with binge eating, defined as consuming large amounts of food within a two-hour period at least twice a week without purging, accompanied by a sense of being out of control.”
“While about 10 percent of patients with anorexia and bulimia are men, binge eating is a problem shared almost equally by both sexes. A study published online in October and then in the March issue of The International Journal of Eating Disorders found that among 46,351 men and women ages 18 to 65, about 11 percent of women and 7.5 percent of men acknowledged some degree of binge eating.”
Swine Flu – The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) report that US Swine Flu cases are on the rise, saying that “this is not a pandemic situation.” Most cases have occurred in children who have been at county fairs handling livestock. The CDC plans to monitor and offers tips and precautions for prevention.
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