Delaware Employment Law Blog

The job application and screening process is key to finding and retaining valuable employees. As employment attorneys, we talk a lot about the Do's and Don'ts of job interviews and background checks. So, when we came across Thomas Edison's job interview quiz, we thought it was worth a look.  What we discovered is that we couldn't get a job with Thomas Edison. Could you?

You may recall our previous post about a young lawyer who sued his former employer. The lawyer, Gregory Berry, had sent an email to the firm's partners, in which he stated, "it has become clear that I have as much experience and ability as an associate many years my senior, as much skill writing, and a superior legal mind to most I have met." Not surprisingly, Mr. Berry's arrogance was not well received, and he lost his job. He then sued his former employer, seeking over $75 million in damages.

Mr. Berry must have been stunned, then, when his lawsuit was dismissed earlier this week. The court dismissed the suit on the grounds that Mr. Berry had executed a valid release of his claims in exchange for a $27,000 severance payment. Consequently, his claims were barred. The court rejected Mr. Berry's argument that he signed the "unconscionable" agreement under economic duress.

But this story isn't over! In keeping with the self-aggrandizing attitude evident in Mr. Berry's email, he left the Courtroom before the Judge had finished issuing her ruling. She has now ordered the parties to attend a hearing on January 24, for purposes of considering a contempt ruling against Mr. Berry, reports Above the Law.

So what is the lesson to be learned for employers? Well, I suppose there's the idea that there's no way to guarantee you won't get sued. Despite the existence of a valid severance agreement and a substantial cash payent, the law firm still got hit with a lawsuit--and the aggravation and expense that goes with it. If there is a lesson here, it may be that you can never be too selective in your hiring decisions.

In today's litigious society, it's always nice to take a step back and appreciate the problems we don't have--even if that means indulging in a little schadenfreude. In that spirit, I give you the story of Jill McGlone, a civil servant in Norfolk Virginia.

Ms. McGlone has sued her former employer for wrongful termination. Generally an employee's allegations of wrongful termination don't raise eyebrows,  but this case presents unique circumstances. Ms. McGlone was terminated in 2010, after a 12-year paid suspension, during which time she allegedly received approximately $320,000 in compensation. It is also alleged that during her suspension, McGlone continued to receive benefits and annual raises.

It's still unclear how Ms. McGlone's situation was allowed to continue for 12 years. It appears that after she was suspended in 1998 for alleged workplace misconduct, her supervisor never resolved her employment status. The issue was not reviewed again until 2010, when a new director was appointed to oversee the agency for which Ms. McGlone "worked." Since Ms. McGlone's situation came to light, five other individuals have been terminated for allowing her suspension to continue unresolved. Possible civil and criminal charges are still being considered.

The moral of the story: don't suspend your employees with pay for 12 years, and be glad you're not being threatened with litigation for correcting the situation!

Back by popular demand is this year's edition of the Holiday Gift Guide--ideas for gifts you don't want to buy for people who don't want to receive them. Ah, don't you just love the holiday season?  And, this year's shopping list is posted appropriately on Cyber Monday--the day that 20% of Americans are expected to be shopping online--many of them from the comfort of their office.

First up is the Blabber Meter.  This is a gift that everyone can use.  We all have at least one office mate or coworker who just doesn't seem to understand that the workday means that there's work to do.  You know, the one who, when he walks the halls, everyone suddenly grabs their phones, shuts their doors, or tries to appear to be deep in thought in the hopes that the conversationalist will bypass their cubicles and they can actually get some work done. 

The Blabber Meter purports to help solve the problem of the overly chatty coworker.  Next time the blabbermouth stops by "just to say 'hello,'" start the Meter running.  The desk clock converts into a meter to track the cost of the time wasted by endless blabber.  Lawyers know that every minute matters--this is a great tool to help others see the clock in the same way. $24.99

The second gift on this year's Gift Guide is the ID Blocker.  Although it may look like a gag gift, this is an incredibly practical tool.  Basically, it's a stamp (that's right, the kind you use with real ink).  Instead of shredding documents that contain sensitive information, such as social-security numbers, financial accounts, or other confidential data, you can use this nifty low-tech gadget to "redact" it.  Just stamp over the information you want to hide - the stamp contains "thousands of tiny symbols that block out whatever is under them."  In this day of oversharing and ever-evading privacy controls, this is a great solution to a problem anyone who uses paper all day faces regularly.  $19.99

Third on the list is a particularly snarky gift--my favorite kind.  There are 47 different cards in The Daily Mood, each representing a different mood.  On the front of the card is a Smiley, which alerts your office mates to your mood that day.  On the back of the card, which faces you at your desk, are informative quotes and definitions.  The way I see it, communication is key.  If you're feeling snarky, your best bet is to let others know about it in advance.  With this gift, your coworkers will never again have to guess the answer to the question, "How are you today?"  $9.95

Fourth on the list is the I'll Be Back Notepad.  There's nothing wrong with keeping your personal life personal.  But that doesn't mean that your coworkers don't need to know when you'll be back.  Don't keep them guessing--it's annoying.  Instead, stick one of these notes on your door or computer monitor to let others know when you'll be available and, of course, that you're sorry you missed them.  $4

The fifth gift on the list this year is one near and dear to my heart--the Deluxe Lunchbox.  Anyone who knows me knows that I never leave home without food.  Ever.  I have no qualms with lugging a small Igloo cooler with me to a day-long training session.  Of course, this accessory makes me look more like a construction worker than a lawyer, so I'm particularly excited about the idea of legitimate, "grown-up" version of the lunchbox--especially a version that is actually large enough to hold enough food to keep me in a good mood through a long day of seminars.  The stacked design is all about functionality--4 small and 1 large containers stack together and prevent food from being tossed around or mixed together on the road.  You can even fit a bottle under the strap on the lid of the box.  $30  

The last gift on this year's list is the To Do Tatoo.  I'm a notorious list maker, as many of my readers surely are.  One thing I don't do, though, is scribble on my hand--although I've certainly been tempted.  With this kit, you get 12 "To Do" forms that you can apply to your hand, or elsewhere, and a skin-safe washable ink gel pen with which to fill in the various items.  It's a perfect gift for someone in your office who constantly misses appointments or due dates--or who is always asking to borrow a piece of paper to make a note.  $7

See also:

2009 Holiday Gift Guide: Technology Edition

2008 Gift Guide: Office Mates & Coworkers

A Season for Giving: How Ready Is Your Ethics Policy for the Gift Season?

This is a question that executives at Apple are probably asking themselves right now as the   result of an unfortunate confluence of events. Apparently, it all started when Steve Jobs, Apple's CEO, visited Japan over the summer. During the same time, an individual was stopped at the airport, attempting to carry  Japanese throwing stars  onto a private plane. A Japanese tabloid put two and two together, and now Apple is in the position of having to deny that its CEO has clandestine job aspirations.

The story has spread so far over the internet that a Taiwanese company has created a "reenactment" of Jobs being stopped by airport security. The fictional Jobs then morphs into a ninja, and attacks airport security.

While Apple's predicament is more humorous than harmful, it is a reminder of the damage that can be done via bad press on the internet. This is another great reason to have a social media policy in place that asks employees to report negative information they find on the web! And a really good social media policy may have the added benefit of ferreting out the secret ninjas in your workforce.

How important is office space to employees?  Very important, apparently, according to this article discussing a "summer office swap" conducted at a Boston-area advertising agency.  During the summer months at this forward-thinking firm, nearly every employee switches office space based on a lottery system.

There were a small number of managers with offices, and regardless of how high their pick was, they could not keep an office. However, who did get the office appeared to depend on an elaborate bartering system, which resulted in more lowly office types offering services such as babysitting, car washing, and coffee retrieval in exchange for a seat in a coveted manager office.

The article is a good reminder of how important office space is to employees. More than a few employment discrimination lawsuits have been based, in part, on the office (or cubicle) an employee is assigned to.

In 2003, there was a Delaware case involving a plaintiff who filed a federal lawsuit which entailed, among other things, his objection to an office space “auction” at University of Delaware – where the best offices would go to the highest bidder and the money raised would go into a fund for use of the Department.

More recently, I had a case where among a plaintiff’s evidence of “retaliation,” were claims that she was given a “dirty, dusty cubical walls filled with dust mites.” And of course, who can forget the movie Office Space, and Milton, whose most prized possession was his Swingline stapler, and whose cubicle was continually moved until he was eventually wound up in a dimly lit basement among the boxes.

The legal profession is one of the last standouts where a good portion of the employees – lawyers and paralegals – typically have real offices with doors: associates have window offices, partners have bigger window offices, and paralegals have interior window-less offices. I know this is unusual for most of corporate America. But as the Boston Globe article illustrated, even among cubicles there is a hierarchy: those closest to the window, most shielded from foot traffic, etc.

Employers should keep in mind the importance of office space to employees, and what a difference small changes can make. In this era of layoffs and belt-tightening, there may be simple and relatively inexpensive ways to reward your employees and keep them happy: think about small ways their work environment can be improved. Many (indeed most) employers are not cut out for the “summer office swap” conducted by the Boston firm – if this was ever attempted in a law firm, I’m quite certain it would result in a revolt that would make the Pakistani lawyers revolt look tame. Nevertheless, consider what might work for your workplace: access to natural light, modest levels of privacy, can go a long way to build employee loyalty.

Courtesy of Someecards, home of some of the most sarcastic, yet endearing, online greeting cards around:

Happy April Fool's Day!

The 2008 Holiday Gift Guide was so popular, I've been waiting all year to revisit the topic in improved form. This is the first part of the Guide and includes all of the technology that your favorite lawyer (or other thinking professional) could possibly hope to receive this year. Happy gifting!

Amazon Kindle DX $489

With its 9.7" display, the most recent iteration of this wireless reading device is nearly twice as large as its predecessor. Its generous memory enables you to store up to 3,500 books, which you can download wirelessly without any monthly fees, annual contracts, or other subscriptions. Native PDF support allows you to carry and read all of your documents on the go.

If the price tag seems a bit high, you may want to consider the Kindle (sans DX), which, in its most recent version (i.e., the latest "generation"), costs a mere $249. For the significant savings, you'll get a significantly smaller display (6") and memory (1,500 books), but the rest of the package is nearly identical.

The DX was marketed to lawyers and others who have not yet been able to let go of their legal pads. The idea, as I understand it anyway, is that the larger-sized DX model would feel more like a notepad, thus serving as a closer substitute. Whether or not that idea will be successful, I haven't got the foggiest. It comes down to personal preference as to: (1) size; (2) memory; and (3) price.

Kensington SlimBlade Trackball $129

This wireless mouse is downright gorgeous. I own an older model Kensington trackball and couldn't imagine my office life without it. Its stationary design means you don't ever have to move the mouse all around the desk again. Instead, a slight flick of the fingertips enables you to navigate effortlessly across multiple applications and within the most complex documents. Yummy.

Thomas Pink Commuter Tie $100

The classic haberdashery offers a gift perfect for the dapper gentleman who prides himself on maintaining an impeccable image. The tie, available in several colors, is designed with a "small yet subtle pocket" on the back. The pocket is just the right size to house your iPod Nano and an extra-fabric loop keeps all wires out of sight and close to the body, leaving your hands free to read the Journal on the train ride into work. 

Electronic Windshield De-Icer $25

Even those people who are crazy about winter (ugh!) don't like to stand in the cold in the mornings just to scrape the ice off of their car windows. This handy gadget makes the snowy weather that much more bearable for all of us. 

The de-icer plugs into the car's outlet and has a 14' cord, which is long enough to reach the front and rear windows of most vehicles. The retractable handle means you can store it easily in your trunk and there's even a built-in light, which is particularly convenient for those pre-dawn trips to work.

Flip UltraHD Minicam $199

Please don't say that you don't have a Flip minicam and please, please, please don't say that you don't know what it is. Flip makes pocket-sized camcorders that are so easy to use, you'll hardly believe that it's a descendent of those mammoth-sized camcorders of yesterday that were lugged in carrying cases the size of suitcase to soccer games and Grandma's house. T

hey cost next to nothing and easier to use than most point-and-shoot digital cameras. Granted, you can shoot just 60 or 120 minutes (depending on the model) of footage but, really, who needs more? 5 minutes of precious memories is probably more than enough. And after you yell "Cut!", you simply plug the camera into your laptop's USB port and, Voila!--you're video is saved on your computer and ready to upload to YouTube. What could be simpler?

If you don't have a Flip camera yet, now is the time. Just in time for your holiday spending, Flip has introduced a new and improved line of its "minicams" with HD--nothing but the best for your techie, right? It comes in a 60 minute ($149) or 120 minute ($199) format.

If you want to be really sporty, go for the MinoHD.  For $229, you can get 120 minutes of HD video in tiny package and even customize it with your own picture on the shell. (pictured above).

Other, holiday-related posts:

'Tis the Season to Avoid Disaster at the Office Holiday Party

Alcohol and the Office Holiday Party: Tips from the Dep't of Labor

The Risk of Identity Theft Is Higher Than Ever This Holiday Season

Follow me on Twitter @MollyDiBi

Bad things can happen when you fail to proofread. For example, I previously wrote about surprisingly severe consequences that resulted from less-than-perfect legal filings. (See 3 Reasons to Proofread that Document One More Time). Little did I know how common these stories actually are. Apparently, the longing desire for better writing is a popular sentiment. Here are a few recent stories demonstrating the trend:

Double-Spacing Is for Suckers

Defense lawyers in the Blackwater case were put on notice that single-spaced documents just won’t cut it. Federal Judge Ricardo Urbina ordered the attorneys, who had filed a memo in single-spaced type, to comply with the court’s typeface rules, which require that submissions be double-spaced in Times Roman or Courier font. Judge Urbina may have been more generous than necessary when he described counsel’s submission as “an apparent attempt to include more information . . . than would otherwise be permitted.” At the risk of being dubbed a cynic, I think Judge Urbina’s conclusion may be unavoidable. What else could explain such a failure to comply with the most basic of formatting rules—line spacing—in court documents? (via the ABA Journal)

The Case of the Harmful Staple

A motion for default judgment was denied due to the “negligent stapling” of the motion papers. In his order denying the plaintiff’s motion, New York Supreme Court Justice Charles J. Markey wrote, “[T]he poor stapling of the papers was so negligent as to inflict, and did inflict repeatedly, physical injury to the court personnel handling them. . . . Such negligence on the part of counsel shows a lack of consideration.” (via Law.com)

An Obvious Absence of Simplicity

In Nazir v. United Airlines, the parties submitted a whopping total of 5,415 pages in support of their positions on a motion for summary judgment. That’s right—more than 5,000 pieces of paper were submitted on a single motion. The motion was filed by the defendant, who sought to have the race-discrimination case dismissed before trial. Although the trial court granted the motion, the decision was overturned by a California appellate court. The decision on appeal makes sense, after all, because the standard for summary judgment—that there be no material fact genuinely in dispute—seems unlikely at best. After all, if there were no material facts at issue, what were they writing about in their novel-length briefs? It was, the court said, "a record the likes of which we have never seen." (via Lowering The Bar)

Follow me on Twitter @MollyDiBi

Careerbuilder has a new survey about some of the “most memorable requests” made by employees via the office suggestion box.  As you may guess, the requests were a bit, well, odd.  Here are a few samplers:

• Allow people to change clothes in their cubicles
• Put beer in the vending machine
• Replace the employee’s desk with a futon so he could lay down and work
• Institute “bikini Fridays”
• Permit family medical leave for jail time

I’m certain that I’ve heard odder requests but I’ll save that story for another day.

Follow me on Twitter @MollyDiBi

BYU researchers claim that improved morality can be linked to Windex. No kidding. Kate Liljenquist and her team tested individuals' reactions when introduced to a room that smells like Windex, the popular blue window cleaner.

According to the results, participants in the room that smelled like Windex were significantly more interested in volunteering than those in the room without Windex.  

In another scenario, 22% of participants in the Windex room said they would like to donate money, compared to only 65 in the comparison room.

Based on this research, does it follow that employers seeking to guard against ethical improprieties should encourage staff to clean windows?  Likely not.

I host a bi-monthly “lunch and learn” for the staff in my department; attendance is voluntary.  In advance of the meeting, attendees suggest and vote on the session’s topic.  Topics range from software-specific, like Adobe Acrobat or PowerPoint, to soft skills, such as time management, and just about anything else they find relevant and productive. At the most recent session, we had a mixed bag of topics but ended with a quick review of some grammar and usage “troubleshooting tips.”

This particular topic was at my suggestion and was urged not by anything I’d been seeing in their writing but more by the stories circulating the legal blogs over the last few weeks. Let me say that these stories are almost hard to believe, not because I have a hard time imagining legal writing that is just plain bad—trust me, that’s the easy part.  But I do have a hard time imagining the court that actually responds in the ways described in these stories. 

Part of me loves the idea of a court that takes legal citations very seriously and part of me cringes.  I mean, everyone makes mistakes.  I am hopeful that I don’t make the “mistakes” that the lawyers in the stories below made.  But everybody has bad days, right?

In any event, here are a few stories that scare me enough to review Garner’s The Redbook: A Manual of Legal Style, by Bryan A. Garner one more time before I file that brief.

#1:  Bad Writing Can Cause Public Humiliation

Although public humiliation may seem like the least terrifying of the three reasons listed here, it also seems like the worst.  It’s the most likely to happen; after all, what are the chances that your writing is going to get you tossed into jail?  It’s a bit difficult to imagine (thankfully).

But having a judge be so irritated by grammatical and typographical errors that he red pens the document and publishes it on the official court docket for all the world to see is much closer to reality, making it all the more horrifying.  A federal judge in Florida, apparently, was just that irritated over errors in an attorney’s brief.  The errors ranged from “excess spacing” to typos to incorrect capitalization to word choice.  Here’s one example, cited by the ABA Journal: “[the plaintiff] had attended on filing” this action, instead of saying the plaintiff had “intended” to file an action

#2:  Bad Writing Can Lead to Monetary Fine

The ABA Journal brings us a great story about a Wisconsin lawyer who was fined $100 for submitting a brief that contained an incorrect citation, which led the court on a wild goose chase to hunt down the case that should have been cited.  I’ll confess, this strikes me as nothing more than justice at work.  Erroneous case citations are enough to drive even the most even-tempered to the edge.

#3:  Bad Writing Can Result in Jail Time

Carl Smith, an attorney is Missouri was charged with criminal contempt and sentenced to 120 days in jail for language used in court filings.  In his papers, Smith said that certain events indicated a “personal interest, bias, and purported criminal conduct” by and between the judge, the prosecutor, and other court officials. The ACLU is one of several organizations that came to Smith’s defense, claiming that the punishment of an attorney based on his legal filings would have a chilling effect on free speech in the justice system. 

If these stories motivate you to polish up your writing skills, you can get a great start by checking out our post on the 10 Funniest Writing Blogs, 20 Online Dictionaries, and Top 30 Blogs on Writing.

When it comes to resumes, I’m not the only one who believes that looks really do matter.  Admittedly, I am more particular than most when it comes to the appearance of documents.  But typeface is one aesthetic upon which I do not stand alone.  Previously, I expressed how strongly I feel about choosing the right font when creating a resume. One of the worst of all fonts for such a serious document is the inappropriately goofy Comic Sans.  The video below is proof that I am not the only one who thinks that Comic Sans should be reserved for the Sunday funnies.  Happy Friday!

Comic Sans from Sam and Anita on Vimeo.

If the word "whatever" is an expression in your vocabulary, you may want to reconsider. Or continue to use it and risk being the office pest. Nearly 50% of respondents in a recent poll reported that "Whatever," when used as an expression of exasperation, is the single most annoying word used in conversation.  The phrase, "you know," was reported by roughly 25% of respondents as being, like, totally annoying, you know?

Almost one year ago, we reported on the top 10 most irritating phrases that drove office mates crazy.  At the top of the list was "At the end of the day."  Apparently, the annoying factor has been lessened since then because, although the phrase made this poll, it was ranked as most annoying by just 7% of respondents.

The lesson to be learned?  At the end of the day, just try to be aware of the little things that you can do to avoid making your coworkers lose their cool or whatever, you know?

Related Posts:

ALL-CAPS EMAILS and Other Workplace Annoyances

What Irks Your Employees?  Do You Really Want to Know?

Most of us will admit that we’ve become unnecessarily agitated by a coworker’s quirks. For whatever reason, or maybe for no reason, your office mate’s habit of dragging his feet while he walks makes you recoil every time he strolls past your door. Or the receptionist who cracks her gum as what is surely an act of passive aggression.

Do you dare confront the annoying employee? Of course not! You’d sound irrational! You’d appear half daft! The annoying conduct is trivial to everyone else—even to you in any setting other than work. But, alas, in the workplace, this seemingly benign habit pushes you nearer and nearer to the line where sanity meets crazy cat lady.

As a rational adult, you keep your insanity in check. You recognize the disproportion of your reaction and you monitor your facial expressions and body language to guard your secret. Other, not-so-rational adults, on the other hand, may not have the same level of self control. They might take their dislikes and pet peeves a little too far. (See What Irks Your Employees? Do You Really Want to Know?)

But wacky and non-wacky employees alike can understand certain fundamental canons of workplace etiquette. And when those cannons are violated, the beast in us can come unleashed. What follows are a few examples of what I consider to be inexplicable acts of discourtesy in the workplace . . .