Stay Up to Date
Stay up-to-date with everything going on with Karen. Subscribe to our RSS feed or follow us on Linked In.
May 27, 2023
As new grads enter the workforce – Top 10 tips on how to stay hired
It’s graduation season, and soon, new talent from high school and college will flood the workforce. Schools do a great job of teaching people how to gain the skills to work, but not many teach them how to successfully go to work. I believe so much in the power of teaching people how to be […]
May 20, 2023
What if your HR is the problem?
Human resources should be part of the solution, not the problem. Too frequently I hear managers and employees express concern about HR. And to be fair, HR frequently gets an unjustified bad rap because it can’t please everyone – and frankly, it isn’t HR’s job to make people happy. Frequently, employees think that HR is […]
May 13, 2023
Racially offensive slurs and behaviors have no place in our workplace
Racial slurs and other racially offensive conduct, coupled with alleged retaliation, resulted in a $1.2 million settlement of a lawsuit brought by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. The EEOC announced earlier this month that “the Whiting-Turner Contracting Company, a construction management and general contracting company headquartered in Baltimore, will pay $1.2 million to a class […]
May 6, 2023
Mothers are amazing and need more from their workplace
I’m a mom of three children, now young adults, so Mother’s Day has real meaning to me, as it does to the millions of moms who will celebrate Mother’s Day this weekend. The workplace has historically not been kind, or equitable, to working moms. Recent laws, such as the PUMP Act and the Pregnant Workers […]
April 29, 2023
Court confirms you can fire a terrible employee because she is not a ‘good fit’
Terrible employees usually create a lot of drama and disruption and sometimes employers feel trapped on whether they can fire them. They can. And they should. But ideally, they should first issue some form of corrective action. The Fourth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals recently upheld summary judgment for the employer, Spartanburg Methodist College (SMC), […]
April 23, 2023
Is your workplace struggling with a COVID-19 hangover?
On April 10, 2023, President Joe Biden signed legislation that terminates the national emergency concerning COVID-19 declared by then-President Donald Trump on March 13, 2020. This was done earlier than planned. The COVID-19 crisis is finally over. But the consequences of this three-year pandemic linger in the workplace. I refer to it as a “COVID […]
April 15, 2023
Gender stereotypes still prevalent in workplaces
Despite extensive investment in programs focusing on implicit bias and diversity, equity and inclusion, gender stereotypes still prevent women from gaining access to jobs traditionally held by men and vice versa. Last month, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission announced that a federal court in Baltimore had awarded plaintiffs a default judgment in the amount of […]
April 8, 2023
Dear workplace, it’s time to bring back the reasonable person standard
An incoming school superintendent in Massachusetts, Vito Perrone, alleges that his job offer was rescinded after he referred to two women in the interview process as “ladies” in an email. According to news reports, the candidate emailed the women to negotiate his salary and addressed the women (“Cynthia” and “Suzanne”) as “ladies” in a salutation. […]
April 1, 2023
Court dismisses lawsuit filed by Coors beer executive who couldn’t travel due to disability
A disability discrimination case filed against Molson Coors Beverage Co. by an employee who, due to his disability, could no longer perform his essential job functions, which included traveling and attending in-person meetings, has been dismissed by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Melchior George had worked as a national […]
March 25, 2023
Don’t be a fool at work anytime, including April 1
Perhaps fortunately, April 1, a day designated April Fools’ Day, falls on a Saturday this year, but that doesn’t mean plenty of employees won’t have access to doing something stupid at work that could get them fired, or arrested. April Fools’ Day, according to Merriam-Webster, is “characteristically marked by the playing of practical jokes.” A […]