AUTO ACCIDENT STATS POINT IN A CONCERNING DIRECTION
There's no question that cars, in general, are becoming safer. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's studies confirm as much. The number of people injured in auto accidents in 2015 (2,443,000) was significantly lower than its recent peak, in 1996, of nearly 3,500,00. The movement towards semi-autonomous cars is likely to lower the...
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Giovanna A. D’orazio Featured In Her Life Magazine
Giovanna was recently featured in Her Life magazine, a Capital District publication focusing on issues impacting women. Giovanna was featured in an "Ask the Expert" column, discussing the issue of harassment in the workplace. Click on the cover to read the article on the Her Life website.
The Misguided Thinking Behind Tort Reform
Last week, the United States House of Representatives passed several measures that could collectively be described as “tort reform.” These include limitations on class actions, sanctions for “frivolous” lawsuits and caps on damages in medical malpractice lawsuits.
It might be easy to get on board with these measures if...
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Sterling Jewelers And The Anonymous Tip Line
The New York Times recently reported on a massive class action case against Sterling Jewelers, the parent company of among others Jared and Kay Jewelers. The case involves allegations of unequal pay, and includes allegations of sexual harassment, gender discrimination and retaliation by 69,000 current and former employees of the company.
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Severance Agreements And Being Paid For Silence
A recent article in the Albany Times Union highlighted a very common but somewhat unknown employment occurrence - the severance agreement with confidentiality provision.
The article was about four former employees of SUNY Polytechnic - the well known Albany school that for years was led by...
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CAN YOU BE FIRED FOR WHAT YOU DON’T SAY?
The ride share company Uber has had a rough couple of weeks.
First, the company was jolted when a former employee wrote a blog post detailing her experience with sexual harassment while employed as an engineer. Then came revelations of an altercation between Uber's CEO, Travis Kalanick,...
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DAY WITHOUT A WOMAN – CAN YOU BE FIRED FOR STRIKING?
Organizers of the Women's March have designated March 8 (International Women's Day) as “A Day Without a Woman”. They are calling for a general strike, meaning women would not attend work, school, shop or perform domestic duties, among other things. More on that here.
While there...
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UBER – AND HOW NOT TO RESPOND TO SEXUAL HARASSMENT
A blog post by a former employee of the ride sharing company, Uber, has been making serious waves in the news world of late.
In the post Susan Fowler, a former engineer at the company, describes among other things her significant problems in dealing with both
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Venus Williams Doug Adler And The Trouble With Language
During the Australian Open, ESPN announcer Doug Adler said that Venus Williams was employing a “gorilla/guerilla effect” during her match. Which of those words he meant to say is significant because describing an African American as a “gorilla” is racist. Whereas, according...
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“I’M NOT THE TYPE OF PERSON WHO SUES” – AND OTHER MISCONCEPTIONS
We meet and talk with many people each week who are suffering or have suffered some injustice, and in the course of those meetings and discussions we've observed some common themes.
"I'm not the type of person who sues".
This is probably the most common...
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Does Quitting My Job Hurt My Sex Discrimination Lawsuit?
Sex discrimination can take many forms. It can be obvious – such as a pay discrepancy between men and women performing the same tasks; or it can be subtle – such as a slow failure to promote a woman despite qualifications over a longer period. Sometimes sex discrimination can also be extreme,...
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The Most Common Form Of Disability Discrimination
Discrimination based upon a disability (link) can take many forms. An employer can fail to accommodate a disability (link), or can refuse to hire because of a disability (link). By far the most common type of disability discrimination that we see in our practice, however, takes the form retaliation following a medical...
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