Uninsured pay higher health care costs The results of a new study may come as no surprise to those who have ever had to pay doctor or hospital bills during a time they have been without health insurance. In a story featured in the Chicago Tribune, a study conducted by the Service Employee International Union’s …
Identity theft–from your employment records We’ve all been hearing a lot about the rise in identity theft, where someone takes your name, social security, birthdate, or other identifying information to establish credit, rent apartments, make large purchases, etc–it may have even happened to you. What you may not have heard is that the thief may …
Is Hollywood ageist? Some would say that’s akin to asking whether the sky is blue or the Pope is Catholic. However, challenging Hollywood’s practices in court may be more difficult to accomplish, as was demonstrated in two recent cases. It was announced today that a California state court judge has dismissed a class action lawsuit, …
Civil Rights Advocate & Pioneer Dies The life of a fierce civil rights advocate and pioneer ended all too soon last Friday as San Francisco attorney Mary Dunlap lost her battle with pancreatic cancer. (See her obituary here.) Mary, 54, most recently the director of San Francisco’s police watchdog agency, the Office of Citizen Complaints, …
In light of yesterday’s observance of the Martin Luther King Day holiday, here are some quotations from Dr. King that continue to guide and inspire workplace advocates. They are compiled from various online sources, and include when the statement was made if that information was included by the source. Injustice anywhere is a threat to …
And now for a lighter note at the end of the week…according to the Wall Street Journal, some office thermostats are fake, and were installed only “to give employees a feeling of control and perhaps to shut them up about how hot or cold it is.” (See Report: Some Office Thermostats Are Fakes.) One specialist …
Family & Medical Leave Act Case Before U.S. Supreme Court Will the Supreme Court strike down the Family & Medical Leave Act’s application to state employees? Even veteran court watchers had some trouble predicting what the Court might do after arguments Wednesday in Nevada Department of Human Resources v. Hibbs. This case is the latest …
Bush Administration Mounts Attack on Affirmative Action Policies The Washington Post’s Howard Kurtz asks: “Is anyone really surprised that George Bush came out against affirmative action yesterday? The only thing we couldn’t figure out is why it took him so long.” (See The Issue Bush Couldn’t Finesse.) As you’ve probably heard by now, the Bush …
What’s in a name? Plenty, it seems to some employers. According to the results of a new study conducted by the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, “white-sounding” names, such as Kristen or Brad, routinely elicit 50 percent more callbacks than “black-sounding” names, such as Rasheed or Aisha. …
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.
