Author: Dan Oswald

8 leadership lessons from a former POW

by Dan Oswald On November 7, 1967, 1st Lieutenant Lee Ellis was shot down over North Vietnam. He would spend the next five-plus years as a POW. Not only did he survive the North Vietnamese prison camps, but he also remained in the military after his release, finally retiring as a colonel. And his combat […]

Minnesota Women’s Economic Security Act begins to take effect

The new Minnesota Women’s Economic Security Act (WESA)—an amalgamation of changes designed to “close the gender gap” by breaking down barriers to economic progress for women—has begun to take effect. Governor Mark Dayton signed WESA into law on Mother’s Day earlier this month. Some of the changes were “effective upon enactment,” which means they went […]

Are microaggressions a new legal threat in the workplace?

by Tammy Binford An April gathering that brought together President Barack Obama, three former presidents, and civil rights leaders marked the 50th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, a game-changing law that still guards against discrimination in the workplace and other aspects of life. The impetus for the Act was the kind of […]

Training employees to eliminate unconscious bias

by Matthew A. Lafferman Everyone has unconscious or subconscious preferences. Generally, we all prefer to associate or socialize with people who share our background and interests. As a consequence, we often aren’t aware of our preferences, identifying our behavior only when it’s pointed out by someone else. Unfortunately, we carry our hidden biases into the […]

Bullying in the workplace

by Amy S. Ybarra Bullying. We’ve all read the headlines. A child shoots another child who bullied him. A child takes her own life because she was bullied. As a result, schools are teaching kids and parents about recognizing the signs of bullying, reporting troubling behavior, and stopping it before it escalates. But bullying is […]

Trends in religious discrimination and accommodation

by Alka Ramchandani The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has been coming down hard on organizations that are failing to accommodate employees for their religious beliefs. What follows are a few tools and concepts you may use to eliminate the potential of being a target for a lawsuit based on religious discrimination or failure to […]

Chim, chimney

If you are a Mary Poppins fan, as I am, you were probably as excited as I was to check out Saving Mr. Banks, which is based on Walt Disney’s long-time efforts to bring Mary Poppins to the big screen. As chronicled in the film, that proved to be quite the challenge given that the […]

What you need to know about the continuing trend to regulate employers at the local level

by Marc A. Koonin The increasing regulation of private-sector employers at the city, county, and local regional agency level is a significant continuing trend. Many state and federal employment laws expressly allow or don’t expressly preempt further regulation at the local level. Such regulatory power was mostly dormant for many years because local government agencies […]

Maryland governor signs transgender rights bill

by Kevin C. McCormick Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley has signed a bill that prohibits discrimination against transgender citizens in employment, housing, credit, and public accommodations. The Fairness for All Marylanders Act, which was passed by the legislature on March 27 and signed into law on May 15, adds “gender identity” to the Maryland laws that […]