I’m not making this up.

According to the Salt Lake Tribune, an employee says he was subjected to waterboarding by a motivational business coach in front of fellow employees to demonstrate to the employees that they should work as hard as the employee being waterboarded was working to breathe.  The employee being waterboarded was apparently unmotivated.  He quit and filed suit against the coach and his former employer for assault and battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress and wrongful termination.  The employer says that the team-building incident has been sensationalized by the former employee and that the former employee’s version of what happened has gone uncorroborated by other employees who were there.  For more on both sides of this story, click here.

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This week’s HR song is from the great Lee Dorsey. Who can think of work without thinking of this classic?

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February 26–coffee:  A bitter, often tepid, and sometimes disgusting beverage that often serves, if unconsumed, as a scapegoat for people who say really stupid things prior to 10 A.M.

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Saturday Night Live has done some of its best work when its actors have impersonated politicians, particularly during a presidential campaign.  The writers strike prevented us from seeing some of what would have occurred with the impersonators of candidates who bit the dust while the strike was ongoing.  SNL is back, and some are questioning (click here) how the show is dealing with Barak Obama. 

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A number of posts have previously dealt with the subject of racial harassment–in the context of the golf world, in the context of the politics, and in the context of a recent report from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on the rather dramatic increase in charges of racial harassment in the workplace during ’07.  As human resources professionals and employment lawyers, we need to be particularly alert to this subject in the next several months.  Why?  The presidential campaign.

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As previously noted, the email is the new smoking gun.  One of the previous posts on this subject dealt with the corner the mayor of Detroit has been backed into by the discovery of steamy emails between him and his former chief of staff.  The chief of staff has resigned.  Prosecutors are looking into criminal charges.  The mayor and his wife went on retreat. 

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Oh my gosh!  Can I be fired for doing what I’m doing right now?  Of course.  Click here for a summary (perhaps rant is the right word) about the recent firing of a CNN producer for having a blog.  Written by the fired producer (who is mad as fire), it’s not very employer-friendly, but it raises some points worthy of consideration by all employers.  Why?  Every employer has employees who are doing what I’m doing right now and what this fired producer was (and still is) doing.

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Firing isn’t funny. For most of us, it’s downright awful, whether we’re doing it or it’s being done to us. But a sense of humor about almost anything is ususally a good thing. Check out this YouTube clip for a little humor and a reminder that when an employee is fired, his/her dark sense of humor may take control.

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The U. S. Supreme Court has decided another one of its employment cases.  This one (Federal Express v. Holowecki) does provide somewhat more excitement than the one it decided yesterday.  Although Fed Ex loses this case filed under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, the Court settles a long-standing question with a bit more clarity than was present in yesterday’s decision (although I’ll concede that’s a debatable point).

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Although not directly asking or answering this question, an article published by Penn’s Wharton School and republished in theindustryradar.com puts it out there for all to squirm about.  In fact, after reading the article (which is a balanced, reasoned approach to this issue), one could wonder if “business ethics” should be one of the terms defined in the frequent list of Corporate BS appearing on this blog. 

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As previously noted on this blog, privacy is an issue difficult to get your arms around or keep up with when technology is moving so fast.  For a thought-provoking look at this issue (with workplace issues lurking around the fringes), click here.

Bill Cosby is one of the best comedians ever.  He’s also known for his wisdom.  There are a couple of wise quotes attributed to him that seem to speak to human resources professionals about two important subjects.  They say things about success and failure that HR leaders would do well to pass along to others.

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As noted in previous posts, the Supreme Court has an unusual number of employment cases before it this term.  The one it decided today was hyped, but the Court’s decision didn’t deliver on the hype.  Of course, the Court wasn’t hyping it.

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From the Oscars to today’s news, there’s plenty to make a boomer feel old or sick or depressed.  The once heralded boomers are now taking the country into bankruptcy, because we’re getting old and are going to live too long.  There may be no country for old men, but I would remind you that there’s still the ADEA.  That’s the Age Discrimination in Employment Act.  The AARP has a bunch of literature on that law.

Here’s another attack on HR speak.  It’s nothing new.  In fact, I can’t find anyone who says anything good about the “speak” spoken about in this article.  I also see no let up in the use of HR speak.  So what’s the deal?  We hate to hear it, but love to use it?

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