Domestic Violence: A Possible Solution

Posted 10:39 AM by Michael Fox

One of the humbling aspects of keeping an online journal for any period of time, particularly when you are so unwise as to make predictions is that there exists documented proof of your own errors.

I have said (actually I think on more than one occasion), that I thought domestic violence would at some point become a major issue for employers. I can't honestly say that has been true, at least not in my experience.

Although I still believe the premise which led to the prediction, that ultimately every major society ill at some point invades the workplace. And regardless of whether it has risen to the top of employer's list of potential problems, there is no question that domestic violence remains a major social problem.

In fact in the recent North Carolina trial I mentioned a couple of days ago, our twelve person jury was reduced to eleven because one of the jurors was the subject to domestic abuse during the course of the trial and felt like she could no longer continue.

So, I am always keen to report any possible solutions, and the Institute for Policy Integrity has come up with a possibility: free legal counsel for victims. The report is Supporting Survivors: The Economic Benefits of Providing Civil Legal Assistance to Survivors of Domestic Violence.

I found it through the Huffington Post's article by Melissa Jeltsen, One Simple Idea that Could Reduce Domestic Violence.

And it might not hurt the reputation of lawyers as a group to provide such a service.

Tying it back to my original idea of how this sometimes might show up on an employer's doorstep, another idea would be to allow an employer or other third party to assist in initiating a restraining order to protect one of its employees.

Arizona is a leader in that regard having a statute that permits an "Injunction against workplace harassment," allowing an employer to take the lead in obtaining relief for one of its employees.

Having such an option would inevitably make employers more involved in the issue, but that might not be a bad thing.

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Thursday, July 23, 2015

Getting Rid of the Annual Review

Posted 10:05 AM by Michael Fox

All too often, I have seen the annual performance evaluation show up in a trial as a Plaintiff's exhibit, rather than what you would think should be true, that it ought to be the best evidence for the employer, particularly if the subject of the lawsuit is a dismissal for poor performance.

And I have been saying this for some time now, see this 2005 post: Just a Reminder About Those Performance Appraisals - Often Known as Plaintiff's Exhibit #1.

So I am never upset when I see that a major employer has chosen a different path. See Accenture To Nix Performance Reviews and Rankings For All 330,000 Employees. I particularly liked the explanation by the CEO, that the alternative is a more fluid on-going feedback after each significant interaction.

Makes sense to me.

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Wednesday, July 22, 2015

Birthdays: Mine and Jottings

Posted 11:17 AM by Michael Fox

If on my 18th birthday, I had been given the following list of what I thought I would be doing on my 65th birthday, I am not sure what my answer would have been:

Broadcasting yet another game as the voice of the Houston Astros;
Preparing for another year of teaching history at a small liberal arts college;
Resting besides my parents in Restlawn Memorial Cemetery;
Trying a race discrimination and retaliation case in state court in North Carolina; or
Covering politics for the Dallas Morning News

My first choice would probably have been being the voice of the Houston Astros, although in thinking about it, that's unlikely, both that I would have ever had the chance or that it would be on the list since I didn't become an Astros fan until I lived in Houston after graduating from law school.

But trying a lawsuit in North Carolina, which is what I was actually doing on my 65th birthday earlier this summer, would probably have not been a choice either.

But as it turns out, trying lawsuits, or more accurately handling lawsuits that occasionally get tried, is how I have spent the last 40 years of my life. And, for good or bad, mostly good I think, at the tail end of that 40 years, it has often meant coming in to help try cases which I have not been involved in preparing. And that's how I ended up in the Forsyth, North Carolina County Hall of Justice for the month of June, 2015.

The other birthday that also passed unmentioned in these pages occurred last Friday, the 13th anniversary of my first post on Jottings By an Employer's Lawyer. Instead of posting, I was in Clovis, New Mexico preparing for a case that was to start trial on Monday, July 20th. Although one always hear of cases settling on the court house steps, this one actually went beyond that, as it didn't settle until just before we started jury selection this Monday morning.

Last year's birthday post contemplated giving it up:

12 Years Ago

Posted 10:08 PM by Michael Fox

I posted the initial post on this blog. A dozen years is a long time to keep anything going, although you could seriously question whether or not this last year it was really going as the posts were few and far between.

As I have spoken in the past, when I began I was the first labor and employment law blog, although there were some others that joined soon after. Now there are literally hundreds, so the immediate almost news type reporting is amply covered.

So I have contemplated giving this a decent burial.

However, as I near the end of my active practice, I thought maybe this would be a good space to reflect back on some of the things that have happened.

If that proves workable and meaningful, then maybe Jottings will stay alive for some time. If not, well we can cross that bridge when we get there.

Given the paucity of posting last year, many would argue that much like Tom Watson waving farewell to the British Open on the Swilcan bridge on the 13th anniversary of this blog, the time has come that I should do the same.

But the sentiment that moved me last year, that there are reflections that I have that might be worth sharing, are still present. I am not sure that this space is much more than my own personal page for reflection at this point, but on the oft chance that anyone is still listening, I am holding off on the farewell wave yet a little longer.

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