Month: November 2014

Yet Another Reason for Immigration Reform: Sexual Violence and Harassment Against Undocumented Farmworkers

President Obama’s announcement of executive action on immigration last week set off a chain of political chatter– “does the president have the authority?”; “how will Republicans respond?”; “what does this mean for 2016?” The politics of policy were front-and-center; the benefits of action pushed to the periphery. So I wanted to devote this post to one of the many dangers…

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Stereotypes, Stigmas, and Parental Leave

In his November 13, 2014 post “On Parenting and Careers,” my colleague, Matt Schmid, wrote about his recent decision to take three weeks of paternity leave.  Matt noted that even though we work at a firm that frequently represents women who have been discriminated and retaliated against on the basis of their care-giving responsibilities, he still worried that taking more…

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New Study Shows Mothers Are More Productive Over Course of Career – But Is It Enough?

Working mothers are rejoicing in light of a new study which shows that over the course of a career they are more productive than their childless (female) peers. After crunching the numbers on the career trajectories of academic economists, researchers working for the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis concluded that mothers outperformed women without children over a three-decade span. Nonetheless, for working women…

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Distinction or Discrimination?

When I was a senior in high school, I wrote a submission for the Ohio Bar Association’s There Ought to Be a Law Contest (nerd, guilty as charged).  I advocated civil unions for same-sex couples.  I presented the essay at a conference organized by my school, only to have a student visiting from another school ask me if I was…

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High-Voltage Fraud On The Energy Markets: Sanford Heisler Files $50 Million Nationwide Class Action Against Starion Energy

Posted November 13th, 2014. Complaint Alleges that Company Deceives Customers With Savings Promises,Then “Jacks Up” Electricity Charges to “Exorbitant” Above-Market Rates NEW YORK, Nov. 13, 2014 /PRNewswire/ — Sanford Heisler today filed a $50 million nationwide class action complaint alleging that Connecticut-based Starion Energy perpetrates an illegal bait-and-switch scheme that has deceived and defrauded thousands of energy consumers out of millions of dollars. The suit is filed…

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From One Working Woman to Another

“I want us all to fulfill our greatest potential.  To find our calling, and summon the courage to live it.” Oprah. When most people think of Oprah, they think of her as an African-American talk show host, actress, producer, billionaire, and philanthropist.  What people don’t know is that she was born in rural Mississippi to a single teenage mom; she…

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News of Two Heroines

Kelly Sue DeConnick has been garnering attention for her work as the writer of the series Captain Marvel, which now features Carol Danvers as the protagonist of the series.  Air Force Major Carol Danvers first appeared in Marvel comics in 1968.  In her non-powered form, Danvers was an accomplished spy, a pilot, and skilled in hand-to-hand combat as well as marksmanship.…

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Latest Sexual Harassment Revelations a Bitter Pill for Yale School of Medicine

On Saturday, The New York Times broke a story about sexual harassment at the prestigious Yale School of Medicine.  The information brought to light by NYT is shocking and troubling on two fronts. First is the nature of the allegations.  According to NYT, the former Head of Cardiology at YSOM inappropriately pursued a junior researcher and later tried to retaliate against her boyfriend, who was…

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Combating Implicit Bias

Last year, Google unveiled a new initiative to combat implicit bias in the workplace. The initiative has garnered widespread interest in the wake of recent disclosures by several leading tech companies, including Google, regarding the diversity (or lack thereof) of their workforces—a problem my colleague Lizzy Gropman discussed last week. The concept of implicit or unconscious bias – attitudes or stereotypes that unconsciously affect our perceptions…

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