Category: EntertainHR

Posts focus on what not to do in the workplace, based on examples from television, film, and other popular media.

Oompa Loompa Doompety Doo, Willy Wonka’s Got an Employment Law Issue for You!

Traveling (far) down memory lane, my husband and I watched the original Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (starring Gene Wilder) with my son for the first time. This movie is one of my absolute favorites. I found myself singing along and laughing (as if it were my first time) when Violet swelled into a […]

Employers in BET’s Twenties Test the Waters with Respect to Sexual Harassment and Discrimination

BET’s Twenties is a comedy series featuring three black women who are navigating their professional and personal lives in Los Angeles. Created by Emmy Award-winning artist Lena Waithe, the series features Jonica T. Gibbs as Hattie, a queer woman, and her two straight friends Marie (played by Christina Elmore) and Nia (played by Gabrielle Graham).

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Laughing in the Face of 2020

2020 seems to have decided to be the year that will live in infamy. COVID-19 hit the headlines early in the year and really swung into action in March. I strongly suspect everyone reading this post has had his or her life upset in one way or another by the virus.

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Leslie Jordan: Unlikely Instagram King Celebrates a Historic Pride Month

If you haven’t been following actor and comedian Leslie Jordan’s Instagram feed throughout the coronavirus pandemic, you have been missing out on a beacon of light and levity. The 64-year-old self-described “pocket gay” has been sharing a running commentary while sheltering in place in his hometown of Chattanooga, Tennessee.

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HBO’s Insecure Might Need to Compensate Issa’s Unpaid Intern

Due to the lack of televised sporting events in the United States, I have recently been reduced to catching up on shows that have been collecting dust in my various watch lists. One such show is HBO’s hit comedy Insecure, which follows Issa, an African-American woman, as she navigates the highs and lows of her professional and personal life, all while managing her own insecurities while living in the heart of Los Angeles.

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Is Age Simply a Number? Yes, Say the Courts

In fall 2018, Dutch media personality and self-proclaimed “positivity trainer” Emile Ratelband garnered worldwide attention after petitioning a Dutch court to change his age by 20 years. Ratelband was born in 1949 and wanted to change his year of birth to 1969. Why not?

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Hulu’s Little Fires Everywhere Takes Liberties with Employee Background Checks

My wife and I are currently binge-watching Little Fires Everywhere, a Hulu miniseries based on a book of the same name. Set in Shaker Heights, Ohio, during the late 1990s, Fires stars Reese Witherspoon as Elena Richardson (a white, married, upper-middle-class newspaper reporter with four children) and Kerry Washington as Mia Warren (a black, single mother who works as an artist and supplements her income through other part-time jobs).

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Work-from-Home Fails

The COVID-19 situation has left us all scrambling to maintain our professional lives as much as possible. We’re coming up with alternate work situations: social distancing when we must be at work, working from home when we can, and stretching our resources and creativity when we must.