WorkBeat
Moët and the founding of the Feline Associate Program
Posted by: William Amlong
June 13, 2008
Topic: Etcetera
Among the idiosyncracies of The Amlong Firm are its penchant for feline associates. In other words, cats in the office.
It began simply enough in the late 1990s. My wife and law partner, Karen Coolman Amlong, telephoned me in my car one Saturday from the manicurist's to say, "We've got to adopt this blind kitten whom Carol found under the abandoned house next door."
Thus did Moët (as in Moët et Chandon, the champagne) come into our lives.
She was a teensy tabby, a grey and white kitten of indeterminate lineage, who was not really blind, but was so flea-and-mite-ridden that her eyes were swollen shut. We took her to a 24/7 animal hospital in Hollywood
The ' usual suspects ' issue: Lessons from World War II Morocco about downsizing in the new millennium
Posted by: William Amlong
June 02, 2008
Topic: Discrimination
"Major Strasser has been shot. Round up the usual suspects."
- Capt. Renault in Casablanca (Warner Bros. Pictures 1942)
"There are no Jews, only Moroccans."
- King Mohammed V to the Vichy French governor
There were two views of how to run Morocco during World War II. There are two views about how to approach necessary downsizing in the current economic climate.
Now, as then, one is right, one is not.
Times were tough for the Nazi-collaborationist Vichy French in Casablanca, the Moroccan capital, when someone from the Resistance shot the oppressive German officer. So, what to do? Easy. Mistreat "the usual suspects," i.e., those whom the Vichy French/Nazis did not like to begin with.
Times are tough now for American businesses. And those workers who may have generally walked around the office or the factory with a vague sense that there historically had been bulls eyes on their backs may be experiencing heightened anxiety. As people from the 1960s anti-war movement used to say...
More than one way to skin a bigot: How to prove discrimination
Posted by: William Amlong
May 01, 2008
Topic: Discrimination
The Jim Crow era is over, and with it the flagrant bigotry that emboldened segregationist employers to post job notices that included the advice that "No coloreds need apply."
Unfortunately, the "no-coloreds" mindset not only lingers as the Ghost of Discrimination Past, but has morphed into strains that include "no women," "no Muslims," "no Cubans," "no etc."
Discrimination in the 21st Century workplace, however, is generally a lot more subtle, even though there are still managers who are crude (and stupid) enough to engage in racial and sexual slurs - or who, even if they would not make such racist or sexist statements, seem to think nothing about referring to older workers as "Gramps."
Courts, however, realized early on that passage of the historic Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 would cause anyone other the most legally-suicidal bigots to at least appear to clean up his or her act. Thus, direct evidence - evidence that, if believed, compels the conclusion that unlawful discrimination was at play in the employer's decision-making - is only one of three ways of proving discrimination.
Pumping iron, busting stereotypes, growing from ignorance
Posted by: William R. Amlong
March 13, 2008
Topic: Busting Stereotypes
Pumping iron, busting stereotypes, growing from ignorance
Want to smash a stereotype. Hit it with a dumbbell.
Most of The Amlong Firm's lawyers and staff turned out in West Palm Beach Saturday night to watch Stephen L. Freeman, our 49 year old Case Manager, compete in his first body building contest. Stephen finished fourth in the Men's Open Heavyweight competitions - a category in which he was the smallest contestant by 10 pounds and the oldest by 14 years. Stephen and his husband David are the wedding-picture "poster boys" for the GBLT rights page of TheAmlongFirm.com web page. He is pictured here as he posed at the contest. Stereotype: Gay = puny, limp-wristed sissy. Reality: Not!
At the contest, the 26th Annual Sunshine Classic Bodybuilding Championships , we from The Amlong Firm naturally whooped, hollered, cheered and whistled. Stephen was Our Guy.
Most of the lawyers and staff at The Amlong Firm are no strangers to the gym. The kind of discipline and focus it takes to win a lawsuit goes hand-in-hand with the kind of rigor and dedication it takes to build a good body. Working out and legal researching/strategizing both take time, effort and discipline. [If you do not think that trial work is an athletic experience, try standing on your feet for six hours (for some of us, in high heels) and maintaining perfect posture before a jury.]
But the rest of us are pikers compared to Stephen...
"But Boss, I am telling the truth..."
Posted by: William Amlong
February 20, 2008
Topic: Polygraphs
"But Boss, I am telling the truth..."
People lie.
Supervisors lie to discredit employees whom they dislike. Co-workers lie either to shift blame away from themselves or to tarnish someone of whom they are jealous.
Because most employers operate on a chain-of-command structure, whatever your supervisor says about you to his or her supervisor is likely to be believed: if the company did not trust the supervisor, he or she would never have been promoted.
The thing about lies, however, is that they wither in the light of truth. Here is how you protect yourself.
One, document, document, document. If you get any inkling that there is a controversy looming, or that someone is trying to set you up, not only keep good, contemporaneous notes, but confirm conversations in e-mails. For example, if your regional sales manager tells you to meet the competitor's price, even if that means going below your company's normal margins, do an e-mail that says that you just wanted to confirm that here is what the regional manager said. As much as possible, use exact quotes and keep any handwritten notes you have. In today's laptop world, the time stamp on your e-mail - even if it is to yourself, to a trusted friend inside the company, or, assuming it is not against company policy, to a friend...
