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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WHY WE MARCHED
We marched in Albany on Saturday, January 21, 2017 in support of the Women's March on Washington and the sister marches that took place all over the world. The vibe was peaceful, hopeful, determined, positive. There were lots of kids and people from all walks of life.
Why did...
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3 COMMON DEFENSES TO PREGNANCY DISCRIMINATION CLAIMS
Pregnancy discrimination (link) happens every day. Sometimes it appears overtly: comments about the pregnancy, child care needs, or ability to work; but often it appears more subtly – reassignment of duties following a leave, for example. In either case victims of pregnancy discrimination have the right to step forward and make a...
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FREE SPEECH? THINK AGAIN…
What is (and is not) “free speech”
I picked up the paper recently (well, on my iPad, but you get the point) and read an article about a case against Donald Trump, which raised an issue that we've touched...
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LGBTQ RIGHTS UNDER A NEW ADMINISTRATION – WHAT’S NEXT?
On December 14, 2016, Giovanna had the pleasure of participating in a forum about post-election issues affecting the LGBTQ community at the Hudson Valley LGBTQ Community Center, with a focus on rights in the...
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