HR Knicker Twisters, by Mary The Undercover HR Director ("OnYourSide") in the forums Welcome to my second article! I’ll be writing articles periodically when I have news to share with you or an opinion on current events. I hope you had a chance to read my first article. I promised to share with you some “HR Knicker Twisters” gleaned from the recent SHRM® 2010 Annual Conference and Exposition that I attended in San Diego, California. Californians: you have a seriously gorgeous state. I can see why California is in such danger of earthquakes. There must be so many jealous transplants from other states weighing it down that if a really big earthquake happened California would just crack off and drop into the Pacific. As your intrepid Undercover HR Director, I attended the … [Read more...]
Attacking a Bullying Victim, Again: Phoebe Prince
A lawyer who is defending one of the bullies that drove high schooler Phoebe Prince to suicide just published an article in the online magazine Slate. The outrage comes from the slant of the article, which "reports" as objective news that Phoebe brought the bullying upon herself. She's painted as being a "self-mutilating misfit bent on suicide." The apparent purpose of the article is only too obvious to people who have been the victims of workplace bullying; the purportedly objective investigator makes the bully appear less awful by heaping blame on the victim. How many people have complained to HR of a "hostile work environment", only to be called in to HR and disciplined for poor performance while nothing happens to the bully? This happens so often it's sickening. But this … [Read more...]
Avoiding the Axe (Pt. 1) — By Jenn S.
It is with great pride that I introduce a new attorney and columnist to the community of UndercoverLawyer.com. Jenn S. is a small town employment lawyer who has been a big city employment lawyer, big corporation H.R. Rep, and for a time was even a rock music journalist! She brings all these different backgrounds to her columns. I met Jenn when we were both employed at a large law firm. We've both since moved on to greener pastures (almost literally for her), but we've kept in touch due to a friendship forged in the trenches law firm life. I'd say we both learned a LOT in those early years of our legal careers, but we're both happy to be elsewhere now. Jenn lives in a beautiful spot some where in the Mountain Time Zone; she has one young son, a husband, and a great sense of … [Read more...]
