Layoffs have been much in the news and much on the minds of Americans for several months. Though some have opined that the recession is over, employees still being laid off don’t believe it. When we think about layoffs, we’re inclined to think of factory workers, sales personnel, clerical employees, even middle management, lawyers, and accountants.

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The New York Times reports on New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo’s report on bonuses paid last year to Wall Street bankers and traders. We were apparently mistaken about how bad 2008 was. As it turns out, it was good for some people whose companies had very bad years.

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The late Michael Jackson sings about working around the clock to please his romantic interest. If you work as hard as Michael did when he was at the top of his game, you should be just fine.

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Earlier today, I linked to a post on cell phone use by Execupundit. Here’s another post on the subject of cell phones by Dan Schwartz. He gives some advice about what employers should be doing in light of all the negative talk about cell phones these days.

We’ve heard a lot recently about possible legislation outlawing the use of cell phones and BlackBerrys while driving. That’s not the only time when cell phone use is a problem. Michael Wade of Execupundit has tips about cell phone use. He makes a list of when not to use a cell phone and asks for additions to the list. Feel free to add.

Michael Vick, disgraced convicted felon and former starting quarterback for the Atlanta Falcons, has been reinstated to the National Football League by NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell. Vick can immediately participate in some league activities, but he can’t play in NFL regular season games until Goodell grants full reinstatement, which can occur no earlier than October 18.

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Under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), people under 40 aren’t protected. That doesn’t mean, of course, that young people are discriminated against. And child-like young people are really held in disdain under certain circumstances, particularly if they’re thought to have the upper hand. Check out the following interview video clip.

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If you’re not familiar with the term in the title of this post, don’t feel bad. It’s a bit new, and as Jon Hyman reports, it’s also a bit hard to prove. It’s a term that’s probably here to stay, however, and that will be a bit problematic for employers. Check out Jon’s summary of a recent case on this subject, together with his good advice for employers.

Molly DiBianca of Delaware Employment Law Blog has a different, yet quite interesting, take on the incident involving Professor Henry Louis Gates/Sgt. James Crowley, particularly with respect to President Obama’s intervention. It’s definitely worth the read.

If you think you’ve read all there is to read about the Harvard Professor Henry Louis Gates/Cambridge Police Department Sgt. James Crowley brouhaha, you’re wrong. Here’s my commentary on the incident as it relates to the workplace and employment law. (For various news articles, click here, here, here, here, here, here and here.)

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Sonia Sotomayor demurred, of course, when asked by a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee which justice on the current Supreme Court she would be most like or most admired. She then volunteered that a justice of the past she admired and would try to emulate was Benjamin Cardozo, perhaps because he is one of the most well-known jurists from Sotomayor’s home state of New York.

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As reported by The Washington Post today, the Senate Judiciary Committee voted on Sonia Sotomayor’s nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court almost along party lines. The only Republican committee member to support Sotomayor was Lindsey Graham.

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In case you don’t keep up with Tennessee politics, 47-year-old State Senator Paul Stanley, the married father of two, recently admitted to having a sexual relationship with a 22-year-old female intern. Both he and the intern say the relationship was consensual. Everything was going fine until the intern’s boyfriend found out about it and tried to blackmail the senator for $10,000. The senator went to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation. A sting was arranged. The boyfriend was arrested. The matter became public.

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The New Haven firefighters case (Ricci v. DeStafano) was decided just in time for it to be a prime subject during Sonia Sotomayor’s confirmation hearings before the Senate Judiciary Committee. No sooner had the Sotomayor hearings ended than Ricci made its way back into the news by way of New York City.

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Cultural Offering continues to promote its view on proposed health care reform. Whatever your point of view, CO’s cartoons on the subject have been funny and thought-provoking, like this one.