New York City’s firefighters have been embroiled in racial and ethnic politics throughout their history, and the Fire Department’s latest civil rights controversy has stoked a political standoff and a hiring freeze. The FDNY is still reeling from a federal court ruling in August that put firefighters at odds with anti-discrimination law. The judge ruled …
Wrestling With Racial Bias, New York Firefighters Resist Reform Read More »
More than 1 million long-term unemployed workers a month will lose their unemployment benefits—the weekly check that helps keep a roof over their families’ heads and food on the table—if Congress doesn’t act by Nov. 30. That’s the date the extended unemployment insurance (UI) benefits program expires. But Congress does not return to work until Nov. 15 …
Millions Face Bleak Winter When Jobless Aid Ends Nov. 30 Read More »
Assumption That Men Welcome Sexual Harassment Is Sex Stereotyping In Violation Of Title VII You don’t often see sexual harassment cases in which the woman is the aggressor and the man is the victim. Many people (including some judges) don’t interpret those facts to constitute sexual harassment in violation of Title VII. That’s why the …
Last Thursday night I had the privilege of being a part of the opening at a new research center in the George Washington University’s Estelle and Marvin Gelman Library. Officially named the International Brotherhood of Teamsters Labor History Research Center, the IBT’s collection of historic documents will be permanently housed here in an effort to …
Recently I saw an excellent speaker at an HR conference. She was enthusiastic, smart, well read and incredibly informed on her subject. Her topic was increasing employee involvement and I was very interested in her presentation. Turns out she’d worked for a big company and she’d pioneered using online bulletin boards to solve work, and …
As New York continues to waver on enacting overwhelmingly popular legislation that would guarantee working people the right to earn paid sick time, other cities are catching up fast. Consider Philadelphia, where I had the opportunity to attend an event on earned paid sick leave yesterday. Spurred by advocates from PathWays PA, Women’s Way and …
A Race Between Philly and NYC on Paid Sick Leave? Read More »
Most people are aware that, since 1970, the Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) has been responsible for issuing and enforcing standards for workplace health and safety. But if I were a betting person, I would wager that far fewer are aware of OSHA’s responsibilities in relation to the Sarbanes Oxley Act. OSHA is charged …
The people who teach our children, protect us from crime, put out fires in our homes and make sure our water is clean are under attack. Conservative pundits and politicians across the country are using the economic crisis to attack public employees and portray them as privileged compared with everyone else. They use the fact that …
In the past decade, more than 5 million manufacturing jobs and 850,000 information sector jobs have disappeared—many of which have been shipped overseas. This outsourcing is encouraged by faulty trade and tax policies that corporate executives use to boost record-breaking profits and outrageous and obscene executive salaries. But finding out specific information on specific companies …
Job Tracker: Outsourcers Can Run, But Now They Can’t Hide Read More »
Recently I had a chance to interview a former top executive for Google. She was wicked smart, insightful and clearly thought three or four steps ahead. I kept grilling her about what the average person should know about online searches. We spent a lot of time on such topics as phrasing the searches correctly, a …
Madeline Messa is a 3L at Syracuse University College of Law. She graduated from Penn State with a degree in journalism. With her legal research and writing for Workplace Fairness, she strives to equip people with the information they need to be their own best advocate.
