New York Employment Attorneys Blog

A number of Silicon Valley tech companies are fighting tooth and nail with the publisher of The San Jose Mercury News after refusing to release data on the makeup of its employees. The five companies, which include Apple, Google, Oracle and Applied Materials, have refused to comply with Freedom of Information Requests regarding their employee makeup, stating that the data constitutes a trade secret- a claim that the paper is not buying.

What could the data reveal? For one, it could reveal that these huge corporations-despite appearances of being progressive, hip and forward thinking, are actually much less diverse than one would imagine. Further, it could show the dependence on foreign nationals for a great deal of the United States technological developments.

What do you think Silicon Valley is hiding?

In a surprising decision, an Iowa Federal Judge has fined the EEOC over 4.5 million dollars in attorneys fees and other fines resulting from a trial involving 270 female employees of a trucking company.

The employees had claimed that they had been subjected to a pattern of sexual harassment by managers of the trucking company.

However, through the course of the trial many of the EEOC's arguments were eventually thrown out. The Judge had cited the fact that the EEOC did not conduct a thorough investigation of their clients claims, and that the EEOC asserted many claims without properly researching and backing their claims up.

While not unheard of, the decision against the EEOC is a huge fine against the organization, and results from the defense's complete dismissal of all claims against the trucking company.

The EEOC has stated that they will appeal the decision.

In a Kafka-esque scenario in El Paso, Texas, a nurse found herself the target of criminal charges after escalating complaints of unsafe conditions at the hospital she worked at. The nurse, Anne Mitchell worked as a compliance officer at the hospital in West Texas, where she was charged with observing and obeying all health guidelines and regulations.

When her complaints to the staff and supervisors at her hospital regarding unsafe surgical and prescription procedures went unheeded, Mitchell wrote a letter to the Texas Board of Medicine, including patient information that she had sent over without their consent, but scrubbed of all possible identifying information.

In particular, Mitchell singled out Dr. Arafiles for his treatment of patients. Mitchell claims Dr. Arafiles would perform unsafe surgeries on patients, as well as recommends an herbal supplement as part of their recovery procedures- a supplement that Arafiles happened to sell himself. Following internal complaints, Mitchell and another nurse were fired from their positions at the hospital

Notified of the complaints to the Board of Health and pending an investigation, Arafiles called on a personal friend of his- Winkler County Sherif Robert L. Roberts to investigate the nurses who had filed the charge, subpoenaing their work computers. Following the investigation, Roberts pursued the two nurses, resulting in the criminal prosecution of the two nurses for "misuse of Government information". The charges were suggested by County Attorney, Scott Tidwell, who is another personal friend of Arafiles.

During the trial, which could have put Mitchell away for up to ten years, the Texas Board Of Medicine wrote in to categorically deny that Mitchell had broken the law, and to state that the Board is not subject to the patient information laws, in direct opposition to the assertion that Mitchell acted outside of the law.

After deliberating for less than an hour, Mitchell was found not guilty on the charges. If Mitchell were to have been found guilty, this case would have set a horrific precedent for whistleblower laws in the country, which would only weaken the standing of these employees who bravely step up to perceived wrong doings.

Mitchell is now pursuing an action against the hospital, Dr. Arafiles and others in connection with her wrongful termination and following retaliation.

We applaud Ms. Mitchell for standing up for patient safety, and to put her own career on the line for the safety and well being of others.

At the end of a lengthy settlement process, the Brockton, Massachusetts, a local school board is set to pay a local boy over 180,000 following an incident where he was accused of sexually harassing another student.

The incident, which occurred in 2007, stemmed from the boy putting his hand inside the waistband of a female classmate's pants. The student was immediately removed from class, and suspended for three days. During a meeting with the boys parents, the teacher told his parents that that was sexual harassment. The principal went as far as to call state police officers to see about bringing charges against the boy, who was six at the time, for sexual harassment.

Following this, the story received national attention and sparked debates over the actions of both the boy and the school administration. Does a six-year old first grader understand the concept of sexual harassment? Was the school board wrong in taking such harsh action in this situation? And why would anyone call the police?

As part of the settlement, the boy was offered an official apology, and had his record cleared with Social Services and the District Attorney.

Everyone from time to time encounters situations at work that leave them feeling uncomfortable, distracted from their job, or create awkwardness between employees. While most employees find themselves in these situations from time to time, not all employees are ready to have their complaints heard about their situation.

Understandably, some individuals are hesitant to come forward to complain about a particular situation. Nobody wants to be a constant complainer, but there is some truth to the adage that the squeaky wheel gets the grease. Filing formal complaints following an incident allows employers to address work place situations before they get out of hand, and to allow for the proper channels to work.

Here are a few tips for complaining:

- Bring the situation to the immediate attention of your supervisor, preferably in writing. Putting your complaints into writing helps establish a history of the problem, and gives you a record of when and how you made your complaints.

- Follow the procedures outlined in your employment agreement or human resources manual. Following the proscribed processes will help ensure that your complaints are handled in an appropriate manner.

-Remain calm. It is easy to get carried away, especially if a situation is complicated or of a sensitive nature, but getting mad and aggressive will generally muddle a situation further. Instead, keep your cool and allow some time for your complaints to be addressed.

- However, if a complaint is serious and involves someones life or safety, you should take action immediately.

-Keep records! Forward any emails you receive to an outside, personal email account to keep for your own records. Many times in employment situations, HR and other departments suddenly "lose" any details of your complaints and situation.

Have any others? Let us know!

Researchers have surveyed employees across the country about what workplace things annoy them the most.

The results are not surprising for anyone who has worked in a larger office before, with the number one annoyance being grumpy and moody coworkers.

Check out the full list here: Does "thinking outside the box" drive you mad?

What really annoys you at work? Stolen leftovers? Unnecessary meetings? Let us know!

A local woman who worked for the Penthouse Gentleman's Club in New York City has come out with charged accusations against her former employees. The woman, Lourdes Garcia, claims that while working as a cocktail waitress for the west-side club she was constantly sexually harassed, and was subjected to a number of comments regarding her breast size by her managers in front of customers.

As well, the suit filed in Federal court claims that she was subjected to constant sexual advances of her managers, and that when she tried to complain about the subject, she was terminated two weeks before Christmas.

The Penthouse Club is accused of retaliating against Garcia for complaining about her sexual harassment, as well as for the sexual harassment that she has alleged.

President Obama has made representations lately that he will inform the Department of Defense to begin dismantling the controversial and discriminatory policy of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell". The policy, which states that any homosexual service member should not be open, or tell anyone of their sexual orientation while serving in the United States Military, has caused thousands of troops to be removed from serving in the military.

The policy, following Bill Clinton's election campaigns to let all American's serve in the military, served on a compromise repealing the blanket ban on allowing homosexuals into the military and instead focused on making it a non-issue by ignoring sexual orientation. However, service member's sexual orientation was often revealed in the course of duty, and would often result in a service member being discharged from the military.

Of the soldiers lost to "Don't Ask, Don't Tell", a large number of these have been translators fluent in Arabic, serving in Iraq and Afghanistan in this past decade. The loss of these translators, coupled with the thousands of other service members, is a sad testament to the United States' Government's discriminatory and hypocritical stance on equality for all individuals; for the Government to insist that we are all equal, and to provide protection for all employees of the Federal government but to deny the same rights to those keeping America safe here and abroad is absolutely despicable. In total, the US Military has lost over 13,000 troops to discharge as a result of the policy since 1993, damning numbers when considering how stretched our current military forces are fighting two war's in the Middle East, while maintaining a domestic presence.

Obama's signaling that this policy will be coming to an end is promising for equal rights for all American's, and a sign that the fearful specter of homosexuality and other hateful and harmful ideas are on the wane in America. We salute President Obama, and hope to see a swift repeal of this policy.

Salon has an extremely interesting look into allegations of a cover up concerning a psychiatrists experience at Camp Lejuene. The psychiatrist, who treated returning Navy veterans, claims that he was fired when he raised his concerns regarding the treatment of soldiers returning with PTSD, as well as had his records doctored following his termination from Camp Lejuene.

Check out the whole article here: Navy supervisor doctored whistle-blower's records

A number of events, including the attempted Christmas Day bombing, have highlighted the security surrounding our transportation systems in America. However, a number of recent claims regarding the Air Marshall program have brought the programs into a different light as employees in the program have claimed discrimination and harassment at the hands of supervisors and coworkers.

In one allegation, a supervisor is said to have created a "Jeopardy"-like game, using derogatory names for Hispanics, African-Americans and homosexuals has a way to punish employees and to insult others. Also, a TSA Marshall in Cincinnati claims that her supervisors opened a disciplinary hearing into her work performance after filing a formal complaint for sexual harassment against supervisors.

We at the Harman Firm are terribly shocked at these accusations. No employee should be forced to work in an environment where they are not respected and treated equally, especially for these individuals who work to keep the air safe. It is unfortunate that those we trust with our safety are subjected to such behavior.

A wave of people are calling in sick across the Pond, as thousands of people in the UK participated in "National Sickie Day". The first Monday in February has seen one of the highest rates of individuals calling out sick from work. However, individuals are no longer just calling out from work with the telltale horse voice, or claims of eating some bad chicken, with some bosses and HR professionals accepting emails and text messages from employees who claim to be ill.

What's your take on this situation? Is it high time for America to have "National Sickie Day" as well? Or is it dishonest to claim sick days when not actually sick?