Hostile Work Environment Definition
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Podcast #6: 10 Tips for Anyone Facing Termination, Including Negotiating a Severance Package

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Download PDF Transcript If you want to listen on your iPod via iTunes, you can use this link (will open iTunes and take you to the podcast): http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=284065741 You can also listen through this website using the player below. The primary message of Episode #6 of the Hostile Workplace Podcast is "You Are Not Powerless When Facing Termination!"  This episode shows you how to fight back and try to keep your job, PLUS, we cover how to negotiate a severance if you decide to leave.  Negotiating a severance would also apply to anyone who is facing layoffs at their company. Tips 1-3: Fight Back by utilizing protected classes and turning the tables on your supervisor. Tips 4-7: Slow the Process Down by knowing all your due … [Read more...]

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Avoiding the Axe (Pt. 1) — By Jenn S.

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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...]

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10 Steps of Walking the Plank Toward Termination: STEP 3, Your Good Work Gets No Rewards

A law firm partner who wanted me fired used to sing my praises, calling me a "golden boy" and going on and on about how I seemed to have a "magic wand" that would solve all the partner's problems.  Now, this partner's inability to remember to take all their pills each morning was not my doing, but it was nearly my undoing (ever had a boss like this?). One day I had obtained an especially good result for a demanding client in a challenging case.  I was exuberant as I bounded into my boss's doorway and blurted out "Did you hear how the judge ruled on our Rule 11 motions? Granted! We got them!"  I fully expected my boss to jump out of their chair and hug me, or at least shake my hand and offer to call the client and give me credit for the victory. Instead I got a cold emotionless … [Read more...]