HerringLaw: Civil Rights & Discrimination Law in Iowa

Watch your FaceBook and MySpace

If you or your clients are prone to letting it all hang out in various social networking sites [younger people gravitate to LiveJournal, MySpace and FaceBook, but there are plenty of places for adults and professionals to make connections] a word of caution: Everything you do and say can, and will, be held against you.

An interesting piece in Law.com's Legal Technology page by Vesna Jaksic explores how lawyers from either side of litigation can put their data-mining skills to good use.

Just as lawyers should always Google their clients for whatever the web will turn up on them, now we should expand those searches to social networking sites. And with the eDiscovery Rules in full bloom, knowing all the websites and email address of clients [and witnesses] is essential.

For more information. . .

relevant to these postings or topics covered in them, going to the Publications or Links pages of this website is a good idea, since materials are often published there in greater detail.

Harassment Inquiry

I just received a call from a person with a few questions about a situation at work. Basically, the boss is being harassing but other than nasty words and actions, not much actual 'harm'. An internal complaint was made but, as far as is known, nothing is being done at corporate. The obvious question is: what to do next? Several options exist: (1) if the job isn't that important, find another one and move on or just quit and fight for unemployment compensation benefits; (2) file a complaint with the local or state civil rights agency, but do so sooner rather than later because 180 days is not too long a time [that's the statute of limitations]; [3] have an attorney write an 'attorney letter' to catch the attention of the corporate HR department the way an employee's contact might not.

There are things the employee should do, no matter what: [1] Request under Chapter 91B of the Iowa Code a copy of his/her personnel file and, upon receipt, paginate it carefully in numerical order, [2] communicate everything in writing [letter, email or whatever]; [3] keep your options open, since it may be best to move on to another job without commencing litigation.

None of these are great options [other than getting your personnel file], but they are steps that people can take to protect themselves fairly easily.

Just returned from Beijing, China

Actually, we didn't 'just' return from Beijing, but it really has taken me this long to pull myself together. The 12 hour time difference coupled with a ver-r-r-y long flight took it out of me. In any event, great trip and lots to tell and pictures too! But, it'll have to wait until I can get a proper trip report created. Suffice it to say, despite falling off the Great Wall [literally and for real!] we made it back, scrapes and bruises only. More to come.