Fired for Blogging?

By Lily Garcia

I'm very frustrated in my current job -- I have a bad boss with poor ethics -- and my employer is doing nothing to address my concerns. I maintain a blog and am very tempted to let my readers know what is happening and that my employer is doing nothing about the situation.

I'm a firm believer in free speech, but want to know if my employer can take action against me if I speak openly (not positively) about my employer in my blog. Help!

Simply put, you could be fired. I know that seems unfair, but employees are fired all of the time for disparaging their employers. I am not suggesting that you do nothing more, only that you pursue these issues in such a way that you are protected.

First, make sure that you truly have exhausted your legitimate internal complaint channels. Have you notified human resources? What about your chief operations officer? The owner? Surely there is someone in your organization who will recognize the legitimacy of your concerns.

Regardless of the nature of your boss's unethical conduct, there is probably a government agency tasked with investigating such matters and a law to protect you against retaliation. Provided that your employer is a publicly traded company or the contractor or subcontractor of such a company, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act would protect you from retaliation for reporting information that you believe to be a violation of a Securities and Exchange Commission rule or other federal laws concerning fraud against shareholders.

You would also be protected against retaliation if you reported a violation of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, or if you notified the Occupational Safety and Health Administration of a shortcoming in workplace safety. These are only some examples of your federal avenues of complaint. Your state or local governments will afford you other protections as well.

If you blog while you are at work or using your company's technology, you could easily lose your job for misusing company property or violating the company's IT policy. It is a rare employer that does not require employees to sign a policy acknowledging that company equipment and IT are for legitimate work use only and that any other use would be considered a violation of workplace rules.

In the event that you are blogging on your own computer while you are not on the job, I should mention that many states and the District of Columbia have passed laws protecting employees from adverse employment action based on legal off-duty conduct. These statutes are mainly addressed to the use of tobacco, alcohol and other legal products. Some of the more expansive statutes also include protections for employees engaging in lawful recreational activities and romantic relationships...More?

source: washingtonpost.com

Real Things Said in Court

These are things that people actually said in court, word for word.

Q: Now doctor, isn't it true that when a person dies in his sleep, he doesn't know about it until the next morning?

Q: The youngest son, the twenty-year old, how old is he?

Q: Were you present when your picture was taken?

Q: Was it you or your younger brother who was killed in the war?
Q: Did he kill you?

Q: How far apart were the vehicles at the time of the collision?

Q: You were there until the time you left, is that true?

Q: How many times have you committed suicide?

Q: She had three children, right?
A: Yes.
Q: How many were boys?
A: None.
Q: Were there any girls?

Q: You say the stairs went down to the basement?
A: Yes.
Q: And these stairs, did they go up also?

Two plumbing firms fight over 867-5309

LINCOLN, R.I. - One-hit wonder Tommy Tutone made the phone number 867-5309 famous in the band’s 1982 hit single, which uses the digits over and over in its catchy refrain.

Now, a Rhode Island company and a national firm are battling over the right to use the number, which doesn’t reach the “Jenny” that Tutone sings about, but could find callers a decent plumber.

Two years ago, Gem Plumbing & Heating of Lincoln, R.I., trademarked the phone number in the early 1980s hit, which reached No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Gem acquired the number in Rhode Island when its original owner, Brown University, gave up 867-5309 after growing weary of the constant prank calls.

Gem’s number works in the 401 area code in Rhode Island and the 617 area code in southern Massachusetts.

But Florida-based Clockwork Home Services, also a plumbing company, uses a toll-free version of 867-5309 in New England. They argue a company can only trademark a vanity number, like 1-800-FLOWERS.

Gem won round one in its legal fight over the number when a federal judge in Boston recently barred Clockwork from using the number in Rhode Island and Massachusetts, effective this week. But Clockwork’s lawyers said they would fight on.

Tommy “Tutone” Heath told The Boston Globe that he’d prefer if neither company used the number.

“It’s ridiculous,” said Heath. “If I wanted to get into it, I could probably take the number away from both of them.”

source: msnbc.msn.com

Triple H as William Wallace

One of the best promos ever!

Woman Stoned to Death in 'Honor Killing'

Four arrested in Iraq 'honor killing' - CNN.com

Daughtry brings it to Backlash

WWE: Daughtry is red hot

Vince, Stephanie & Aurora

Vince McMahon received an honorary doctorate degree from Sacred Heart University last weekend. He also gave the commencement address. Here is a link to his speech and a picture of Stephanie and Aurora who were present in the audience.

Speech

Stephanie & Aurora

Casting the Soul Calibur Movie

Triple H as Rock


Paul Tassi, a fan of fighting-game based films, decided to cast the Soul Calibur movie as he saw fit. He wrote this concerning Triple H: What do you mean Triple H isn’t an actor? Have you seen Blade III? He’s a vampire with a pet vampire Pomeranian! Besides, it’s hard work keeping a straight face filming wrestling promos every week when you’re staring at Shawn Michael’s super-tanned face half an inch in front of your nose. Triple H would look the part (and not have to talk much) as the brawny brawling American, Rock.

source: apps.michigandaily.com

Tim McGraw ACM Awards

Toddler gets Kicked out of Breakdancing Group

Where was the parent?!

Jerry Falwell 1933 - 2007

One less right-wing, ultra-conservative, hypocritical, republican. Yeah!!!

source: tmz.com

WWE looks back to '80s in effort to go mainstream

BY BLACKJACK BROWN
It is time once again for WWE to reinvent itself, and it sounds as if wrestling fans could well be heading back to the '80s if the bosses in Connecticut get their way. WWE will start heading in a new direction that will be more acceptable to mainstream America -- a group that Donald Trump and movies such as ''The Marine'' have brought to the company.

The suits have taken a long, hard look at the product and, according to some sources, they believe fans want the wrestling glory days of the 1980s and will bring back a more simple story-driven, good-vs.-evil way of promoting the business. Vince McMahon has said that wrestling shows should be 90 minutes, not two hours, and that all wrestler promos should be condensed to a few short lines that immediately get to the point.

Fans have been begging WWE to get rid of the 30-minute, microphone-only openings for ''Raw'' and have indicated they just want the wrestlers in the ring. They might get their way. In particular, The Undertaker could be making the change as McMahon wants the Dead Man to become more mysterious, and will accomplish that by keeping his appearances to a minimum.

source: suntimes.com