Monthly Archives: August 2011

My Boss Fired Me Because I’m Ugly. Can I Sue?

Were you fired because you’re ugly? Did your boss hire a beautiful replacement? Shouldn’t you be able to sue for that?  The NYT makes the case:

[W]hy not offer legal protections to the ugly, as we do with racial, ethnic and religious minorities, women and handicapped individuals?

The article has an interesting take on why ‘ugly’ people should be protected from discrimination in the workplace. It addresses the major problem, “what is ugly?”, in sheepish way.

For purposes of administering a law, we surely could agree on who is truly ugly, perhaps the worst-looking 1 or 2 percent of the population. The difficulties in classification are little greater than those faced in deciding who qualifies for protection on grounds of disabilities that limit the activities of daily life, as shown by conflicting decisions in numerous legal cases involving obesity.

Um. I’m pretty sure it would be harder than that. Beauty is extremely subjective. Not only that but picture the court proceedings. “Ladies and Gentlemen of the jury, my client is ugly.  Just look at her. She is simply not attractive. I’m here to prove that, not only is she terribly ugly, but her boss decided to fire her because of her looks, and proceeded to hire a attractive replacement. Please award my client $1,000,000.”

The absurdity is obvious.

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Branigan Robertson is a California employment lawyer who exclusively represents employees in workplace disputes. He focuses his practice on sexual harassment, wage & hour, wrongful termination, and retaliation. Visit his website at BRobertsonLaw.com or call his office at 949.667.3025.

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Filed under Discharge & Layoffs, Discrimination

Firing Horror Stories

If you own a small business, then you’ve fired someone before. I’m not talking about laying someone off. I’m talking about firing someone because they are incompetent. Its never fun. Its uncomfortable (because of the confrontation), annoying (because you have to hire someone else), and a lot of work.  You have to take the necessary steps to make sure the fired employee doesn’t become disgruntled. I generally believe that ‘disgruntled’ means disaster.  Here are a few disaster stories from CNN.

The stories range from hacking into the company’s servers all the way to physical fights.  They will entertain you.

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Branigan Robertson is a California employment lawyer who exclusively represents employees in workplace disputes. He focuses his practice on sexual harassment, wage & hour, wrongful termination, and retaliation. Visit his website at BRobertsonLaw.com or call his office at 949.667.3025.

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Filed under Discharge & Layoffs, Human Resources, Leaving a Job

Angel’s Union Authorizes Strike

Oh dear. Angels fans be wary! The workers who sell hot dogs and beer at Angel Stadium may strike. If you’re like me, you can’t go to an Angel game an not get a beer and a hot dog. A typical food-service cashier at Angel Stadium makes $12.88 an hour. Apparently, similar jobs pay more in other stadiums. More than 500 workers have authorized union leaders to call for a strike if contract negotiations remain stagnant. Read the full article here.

Food workers say that they are frustrated by a wage freeze and health-care takeaways suggested by concessionaire Aramark, which handles food and beverage sales at the stadium.

Angel’s owner Arte Moreno needs to fix this fast.

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Branigan Robertson is a California employment lawyer who exclusively represents employees in workplace disputes. He focuses his practice on sexual harassment, wage & hour, wrongful termination, and retaliation. Visit his website at BRobertsonLaw.com or call his office at 949.667.3025.

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Filed under FLSA – Fair Labor & Standards Act, Wages and Hours

Disparging Your Employer on Twitter

Disparging your employer on twitterA National Labor Relations Board report released last week attempts to explain the changing legal standards for social media usage in the workplace. It highlights a few of its administrative decisions regarding Twitter, Facebook, and other social media platforms.  One of the decisions interested me enough to re-post it here.

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Filed under Defamation, Discharge & Layoffs, Human Resources, Labor Law, Retaliation, Social Media