A Los Angeles public school teacher killed himself after the Los Angeles Times recently published the database of  “value added analysis” for all LA public school teachers on which the teacher in question didn’t fare well. The “value added analysis” uses improvements in student test scores to evaluate teacher effectiveness. The analysis is designed to replace the tenure system with a performance system. Its critics use the teacher in question as proof of its flaws. This teacher was regarded by his students and colleagues as a good teacher. He tututored students before school started and stayed with them after school if necessary.

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No one was disciplined or fired in connection with the Christmas day (2009) attempted airplane bombing. No supervisor of Major Nidal Hasan (the Fort Hood shooter) was disciplined or fired in connection with their failure to act on clear signs that Hasan was a danger to himself and others. (Here) And now (here and here), no one is being disciplined or fired in connection with the suicide bombing in 2009 at an Afghan base, which killed seven CIA employees. It’s clear now that critical warnings about the suicide bomber simply weren’t reported to other CIA.

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Under the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Americans with Disabilities Amendments Act, alcoholism is a disability. However, an alcoholic can be held to the same standards as other workers. He can be disciplined and even terminated if alcoholism interferes with work. Also, if an alcoholic employee comes to work while drinking or drunk, he can be fired.

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It takes more than an allegation of horseplay to establish sexual harassment, but sometimes, it’s difficult to distinguish between the two. In Cross v. Prairie Meadows Racetrack & Casino, Inc., the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals considered whether alleged conduct was horseplay or sexual harassment.

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All HR professionals know that a harassment claim must be investigated promptly and then appropriate action taken. In Moody v. East Mississippi State Hospital, decided by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi, an employee’s suit was dismissed, in part, for exactly that reason.

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Most of us were taught not to cheat when we were growing up. Not in school. Not at work. Not anywhere. But when one grows up and sees that cheating makes people rich, allows them to climb the corporate ladder, gives them the edge in a deal, or flat out allows them to dupe their friends, an important question arises. Is cheating really the rule rather than the exception?

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An Ohio teacher is one of the latest employees to lose a job because of Facebook. It’s difficult to feel sorry for him. He should have known better. Apparently, like many other dupes, the teacher thought he was protected by some invisible shield and that he could get away with what everyone else couldn’t. He won’t be the last, no matter how much is written about the social media trap and no matter how well social media policies are written by employers.

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Last week’s news about the clothing of a female sports reporter named Ines Sainz and the reaction by New York Jets players is still in play. My post on the subject provoked a few mixed comments and several private emails, some agreeing with me, some not. Since it’s still talked and written about, often in the context of sex discrimination or sexual harassment, it seemed to justify a tip of the week.

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Much has been written about the problem with bullies in the workplace. A few posts on the subject have appeared on this blog. (Here, here, here, and here.) Some states have even considered legislation to deal with this problem. I don’t have the answer. I don’t think state legislatures do either. I do have a few suggestions and tips.

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Harvard is one of the most revered teaching and research universities in the U.S., usually ranked number one. Lately, the school has been teaching in a way it doesn’t like. Dr. Marc Hauser, Harvard professor and scientific researcher, is accused by the school of eight instances of scientific misconduct. Ironically, Hauser has been the leading scientist in the exploration of cognition and morality. Hauser’s quest to delve into issues of right and wrong in the minds of humans and animals has run off the rails. In addition to Harvard’s investigation, the Department of Justice, the Department of Health and Human Services, and the Office of Inspector for the National Science Foundation are investigating Hauser.

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Already plenty strange (see previous post), Hewlett Packard’s firing of CEO Mark Hurd has become more strange. As it turns out, HP’s board of directors asked a public relaltions firm to tell HP what to do. I’m not making this up. One of the oldest and most respected technology firms in the U.S. decided on the future of its CEO based on snake oil.

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The flight attendant who got his 15 minutes of fame a few days ago has become a folk hero to fellow attendants. Flight attendants are fed up with passengers — whom they divide into four categories: (1) all about me; (2) business; (3) casual; and (4) deer in headlights. They find (1) and (4) to be the most troublesome. All flight attendants have wanted to do what their folk hero did. They also purport to speak for all employees who hate their jobs.

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The New York Times revisits a matter I blogged about on December 30, 2007: the firing of a teacher in training because, on her MySpace page, there was a picture of the would be teacher at a party wearing a pirate hat and drinking from a plastic cup, with the caption “Drunken Pirate.” She was discharged. She then sued. She lost. The court pretty much agreed with my post. In the exhaustive Times article on various aspects of the Web and one’s privacy, Jeffrey Rosen says something must be done to keep one email or one picture from ruining one’s life.

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I’ve done several posts on cursing in the workplace. (Click here, here, here, and here.) Wall Street firms, known for their unwritten cursing-with-abandon practices, have been under the gun lately because of all the emails that have been reviewed as part of various ongoing investigations. It’s clear Wall Streeters can curse better or worse (depending on your point of view) than sailors. Thus, according to the Wall Street Journal, firms are cracking down on profanity, especially when it comes to emails.

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A male professor at the University of Cork in Ireland has been disciplined with two years of intensive monitoring and counseling after discussing a scientific paper with a female colleague. The paper titled “Fellatio in fruit bats prolongs copulation” offended the female professor, who was also given a copy. She claimed sexual harassment. Though an investigation found that no sexual harassment had occurred, the university’s president censured the male professor by imposing the two-year discipline, which has the effect of preventing the male professor from obtaining tenure.

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A Staten Island middle school teacher was suspended after eighth graders used vulgar words during a state-mandated lesson on behaviors that can transmit H.I.V./AIDS. The 26-year veteran teacher with an unblemished record wrote polite words for sexual organs, sexual acts and bodily fluids on the board in the classroom. She then asked students to supply terms they knew for those same things. Students provided bad words, took them home, shocked their parents, and caused the principal to suspend the teacher.

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In the New York Times article referenced in my immediately preceding post, the new research on performance reviews spills over into the subject of proper supervision in the workplace. Most employment lawsuits have a supervisor or manager at their center. That doesn’t always mean that the supervisor has done something wrong, but many times, it means exactly that. Although HR generally shepherds the performance review process, supervisors and managers make the process work — or not. If a performance review is completed by a bad supervisor, it’s much more likely to get you in trouble than serve any useful purpose.

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Yesterday, I heard a sermon that caused me to change this week’s tip. The sermon reminded me of a subject discussed previously on this blog. More important, it dealt with a concept that the leaders of every employer, particularly those in human resources, need to consider and impart to employees in every workplace.

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Regular readers know that I occasionally post about The Man Gene. I do so, not out prurient interest of course, but to help employers prevent sexual harassment. Sex harassment claims haven’t entered a state of decline or even leveled off in the 21st century. They increase every year. Most are filed by women because of what men say or do. Men say and do these things because of The Man Gene. 

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Ever asked someone at work, “What’s wrong?” It’s a common question in all parts of life. In the workplace, we’re sometimes reluctant to ask. It may be because we really don’t want to know or fear a long explanation. It may be because we’re afraid we’ll find out something we’re not supposed to know. It may be because we’re just not big on communication.

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