I’m not making this up.
According to the Salt Lake Tribune, an employee says he was subjected to waterboarding by a motivational business coach in front of fellow employees to demonstrate to the employees that they should work as hard as the employee being waterboarded was working to breathe.  The employee being waterboarded was apparently unmotivated.  He quit and […]

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This week’s HR song is from the great Lee Dorsey. Who can think of work without thinking of this classic?

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February 26–coffee:  A bitter, often tepid, and sometimes disgusting beverage that often serves, if unconsumed, as a scapegoat for people who say really stupid things prior to 10 A.M.
February 27–cold shoulder:  The blatant, punitive, and often unfathomable disregard shown by a previously friendly and affable boss or colleague; may inspire the feeling that you are […]

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Saturday Night Live has done some of its best work when its actors have impersonated politicians, particularly during a presidential campaign.  The writers strike prevented us from seeing some of what would have occurred with the impersonators of candidates who bit the dust while the strike was ongoing.  SNL is back, and some are questioning (click […]

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A number of posts have previously dealt with the subject of racial harassment–in the context of the golf world, in the context of the politics, and in the context of a recent report from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on the rather dramatic increase in charges of racial harassment in the workplace during ‘07.  As human resources […]

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As previously noted, the email is the new smoking gun.  One of the previous posts on this subject dealt with the corner the mayor of Detroit has been backed into by the discovery of steamy emails between him and his former chief of staff.  The chief of staff has resigned.  Prosecutors are looking into criminal […]

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Oh my gosh!  Can I be fired for doing what I’m doing right now?  Of course.  Click here for a summary (perhaps rant is the right word) about the recent firing of a CNN producer for having a blog.  Written by the fired producer (who is mad as fire), it’s not very employer-friendly, but it raises some points worthy of […]

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Firing isn’t funny. For most of us, it’s downright awful, whether we’re doing it or it’s being done to us. But a sense of humor about almost anything is ususally a good thing. Check out this YouTube clip for a little humor and a reminder that when an employee is fired, his/her dark sense of humor […]

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The U. S. Supreme Court has decided another one of its employment cases.  This one (Federal Express v. Holowecki) does provide somewhat more excitement than the one it decided yesterday.  Although Fed Ex loses this case filed under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, the Court settles a long-standing question with a bit more clarity than was present in yesterday’s decision (although […]

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Although not directly asking or answering this question, an article published by Penn’s Wharton School and republished in theindustryradar.com puts it out there for all to squirm about.  In fact, after reading the article (which is a balanced, reasoned approach to this issue), one could wonder if “business ethics” should be one of the terms defined in the frequent list of Corporate […]

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