Author Archive
PREVENTION DETECTION
California is among the nation’s leaders in the range of characteristics protected from workplace discrimination and harassment, including ● race, ● color, ● ancestry, ● national origin, ● religious creed and practice, ● age (40 and over), ● mental and physical disabilities, ● sex, ● gender (including pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding or related medical conditions), ● gender orientation, ● gender identity, ● gender expression, ● medical condition, ● genetic information, ● reproductive health decision-making, ● marital status, and ● military or veteran status.
CAUTIONARY TALE EPISODE 104
GRAVITY IS REAL
There are no shortcuts to workplace safety laws.
Following OSHA investigation from a worker’s fall through a skylight, the U.S. Department of Labor has assessed $752,846 in penalties against Florida contractor Elo Restoration LLC on ten violations, including no guardrails, safety nets and personal fall arrest systems, as well as no alternative fall protection measures for employees working six feet or more above ground.
CAUTIONARY TALE EPISODE 103
OUT OF THE FRYING PAN
The Labor Commissioner’s Bureau of Field Enforcement (BOFE) has cited a Koreatown barbeque restaurant $680,000 for widespread wage theft violations.
The citation covers failure to pay 48 workers all wages owed, denial of legally required meal and rest breaks, and issuance of incomplete or inaccurate wage statements. Some employees were allegedly required to remain on the premises during lunch breaks, while others worked split shifts without receiving premium pay.
OH, HUCKLEBERRY!
GGG-Pa v. Twain, 1885
In Ron Chernow’s biography Mark Twain, I recently collided with a bit of ancestry. Mr. Chernow cites:
“The Concord (Mass) public library committee deserve well of the public by the action in banishing Mark Twain’s new book, ‘Huckleberry Finn,’ on the ground that it is trashy and vicious … The trouble with Mr. Clemens is that he has no reliable sense of propriety …”
JACKIE
Dear Chet:
Please excuse my delay in writing to you. I can’t tell you how impressed we were and are with you and the things you stand for. It’s a refreshing feeling listening to you and understanding what a real man stands for. In all my travels you are the only person in public life that I inquired about that received nothing but praise. I hope that whatever your ambitions are, they will be fulfilled.
CAUTIONARY TALE EPISODE 102
HOLD-UP HAMMMERED
Construction Sites Labor Code Violations Earn $2.3 Million in Citations
The Labor Commissioner has cited eight companies and three individuals $2.1 million in unpaid wages and damages and $165,000 interest for labor law violations on four Los Angeles construction projects.
CAUTIONARY TALE EPISODE 101
SAFETY OVER PROFITS
A Cal/OSHA inquiry of two California Ranch Foods worker deaths in 2020 found exposure to a hazardous release of fatal nitrogen gas the cause. In settling the LA District Attorney’s ensuing criminal charges for lax training and safety procedures, the company must:
EMPLOYMENT CONTRACT
The first day’s hike is finished on this Nepalese Monday. It is about 5:30 and the late-day sun dries out my sweat-laden body. A young child cries up the “road.” It’s a one-trail village perched on a ridge.
Residents sit across the way in the “Tourist Hotel” drinking tea and downing rice with their right hands. Chickens strut everywhere, pecking at your spit and anything else worth eating.
AUTOMATIC BEHAVIOR MODIFICATION
Artificial intelligence defines itself as “the simulation of human intelligence in machines that are programmed to think, learn, and solve problems like humans, enabling them to perform tasks that typically require human reasoning, such as understanding language, recognizing patterns, and making decisions.”
CAUTIONARY TALE EPISODE 100
RELIGIOUS DISCRIMINATION LESSON
During the last two years, Columbia University has been regularly in the news for on-campus antisemitic protests. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission responded with charges to investigate any resulting civil rights abuses against the institution’s Jewish employees.