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Archive for April, 2010
Thursday, April 29th, 2010
Starbucks’ environmental policy has adapted??through the years to strive to identify environmentally and socially conscious business strategies and practices.?? Indeed, in its 2009 Global Responsibility Report, Starbucks identified progress in purchasing ethically-sourced coffee, energy and water conservation, and ???green??? building practices.??
However, Starbucks’ environmental policy has faced recent challenges in its effort to reduce the number of trashed paper cups in landfills.?? It is estimated that each year, 3 billion paper coffee cups are sold in the United States alone.?? Starbucks cups currently use 10% recycled fiber content, but the cups are, nevertheless, difficult to recycle because of the thin plastic coating used to make the cups impermeable.??
Moreover, one of the most significant challenges to Starbucks??? recycling efforts is the wide range of recycling capabilities of local towns and cities.?? The wide-ranging capabilities of recycling centers across the nation make it difficult for large companies like Starbucks to implement efficient and effective recycling efforts and to identify packaging that is universally recyclable.?? Notwithstanding these difficulties, the practices and policies of large companies, including Starbucks’ environmental policy, continue to develop in their efforts to institute additional practices for improving their carbon footprint.
Tags: Starbucks, Starbucks environment, Starbucks environmental policy
Posted in Industry News | No Comments »
Wednesday, April 21st, 2010
A Muslim woman filed a discrimination complaint against the McDonald???s claiming that she was denied a job at a one of their Detroit restaurants because of her religion and ethnicity. The woman wears an Islamic head scarf known as a hijab as part of her religious customs. According to the Complainant, the McDonald???s manager with whom she interviewed asked her about her nationality and whether she had to wear the hijab, and proceeded to tell her that she would not be able to wear the hijab while she was working. Ultimately, McDonald???s hired someone else. This is not the first time that a Michigan McDonald???s has been under fire for discriminating against Muslim individuals. In July 2008, two Muslim women complained after a manager at a McDonald’s restaurant in Dearborn said they could not wear Islamic headscarves at work. Their attorney filed suit and he said today that the case may go to trial in a couple of months. McDonald???s director of operations responded that the restaurant strictly prohibits any form of discrimination. A McDonald???s representative said that the Company never intends to offend anyone and it requires its employees to comply with all applicable anti-discrimination laws.
For more information, see Nation’s Restaurant News.
Tags: Detroit, McDonald's, Muslim, Nation's Restaurant News, religion, religious discrimination
Posted in Diversity, Employment Law/Cases, Restaurant Liability | No Comments »
Friday, April 16th, 2010
The U.S. District Court, (M.D. Pennsylvania) held that in Title VII wage discrimination claim, under the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, if plaintiff faculty member can demonstrate that her wages were the result of a discriminatory decision to pay her less than her male co-workers, she may recover for each paycheck received during the Title VII 300-day statute of limitations period and need not show that a discriminatory pay-setting decision occurred within the 300-day period. The court also holds, however, that the Fair Pay Act, which states that each paycheck paid pursuant to a discriminatory pay structure is an independent, actionable employment practice, precludes application of the continuing violation theory to support recovery by plaintiff of amounts attributable to discrimination represented in paychecks issued prior to the 300 day limitation period. The court also discusses application of the Discovery Rule and Equitable Tolling to extend the 300 day limitation period and the application of the Fair Pay Act to Plaintiff???s Title IX, Sec. 1983 and 1985 claims.
See: Summy-Long v. Pennsylvania State University et al.
Tags: discrimination, Diversity, Fair Pay Act, gender discrimination, Lilly Ledbetter, Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, Penn STate, Penn State University, Pennsylvania State University, Title IX, Title VII
Posted in Diversity, Employment Law/Cases | No Comments »
Wednesday, April 14th, 2010
Andy Stern, head of the Service Employees International Union, has announced his resignation.????
Stern has been a controversial leader in the union cause, concentrating on expanding union membership and weighing in on??national policy debates, while some traditionalists argue he forgot the roots of the union movement as a local, workplace advocacy movement.?? ??
For example, Stern??leaves??after helping the White House achieve its legislative victory with??national health care overhaul.?? The SEIU spent $60 million for the??Obama presidential campaign.
Also, according to the report this morning on NPR, through innovative organizing campaigns, including the very visible “Justice for Janitors” movement, Stern helped bring into the union fold many immigrant workers who had no job protections.
Stern also developed the model for creating large-scale bargaining units for publicly funded, home-based direct care workers. Those jobs, often in health and child care, were largely held by minority and immigrant women previously deemed ineligible to join a union.
But the union movement generally nevertheless seems stalled notwithstanding the changing political tide.?? For example, the Employee Free Choice Act has lost support and may never be passed notwithstanding predictions to the contrary upon Barack Obama’s election.?? According to the Bureau of Labor statistics, union membership remains low in the private sector (7.2%) as compared to the public sector (37.4%), and while membership has remained steady these last couple years (7.9 mm members in the private sector in 2008 compared??with 7.4 mm in 2009)??membership is at a historical low (17.7 mm members in 1983, or 20.1 % of the workforce).?? ??
Where will the union movement go now remains to be seen.?? Whether the decline in union membership is inevitable or beneficial is the subject of debate.?? Whether the??Obama administration will pursue the EFCA or put it aside in favor of other priorities will be something to watch for.??
Tell us, what do you think?
Posted in Industry News | No Comments »
Friday, April 9th, 2010
At a conference held this week, data presented by the Latinum Network indicated that Hispanics have become the largest segment of the population driving growth in the food, beverage and restaurant sector. The trend in the restaurant industry coincides with the general trend in the economy. That is, just as individuals of Hispanic background have produced the most significant growth in the food, beverage and restaurant industry, they have likewise created significant growth in the U.S. economy as a whole. In the food, beverage and restaurant business, the growth in spending by Hispanics has been so significant that it has offset 84% of the decline restaurant sector, according to recent data.
See U.S. Hispanics Propel Real Growth in Food, Beverage and Restaurant Sectors, According to Latinum Network, Hospitality Trends, April 8, 2010.
Tags: Hispanics, hospitality industry, Latinum Network, restaurant industry, trends
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Tuesday, April 6th, 2010
“The Apprentice” is not just a TV show, it’s a concept going back to the middle ages and probably to pre-history.?? It makes total sense.?? A person new to a trade offers his or her services for free as an “apprentice” or??”intern” just to have the chance to work with a master at the trade??for the pure opportunity to learn and gain experience to launch a career.?? But while abuses and indentured servitude were par for the course hundreds of years ago, The New York Times has recently reported that the United States Department of Labor today is on the lookout for companies who abuse the internship concept to exploit free labor rather than to impart knowledge.?? An employer who crosses the line can run the risk of serious liability, including multiple fines and other enforcement actions.
Interns typically??work in a number of different industries.?? You see them in brokerage houses, law firms, publishing and, yes, in restaurants–particularly in kitchens where culinary arts students would kill for an opportunity to work behind the line and develop themselves, their experience and their craft.?? But the problem arises when companies take on interns as “volunteers” and use them for work that they would normally pay for someone to perform.?? An unpaid intern must not be used to replace a paid worker, and generally the company hosting the intern cannot derive immediate benefit from the unpaid intern’s work.?? Rather, the intern’s activities??must be primarily educational for the intern rather than economically productive for the host company.?? Otherwise, the host company must pay the intern at least at the rate of minimum wage.
Charities and non-profits are allowed more flexibility with unpaid interns than for profit companies, as people generally are permitted to volunteer their time to charitable causes.?? But companies who use unpaid intern labor to fill in at jobs where the company would normally need to hire a worker to perform probably commit violations of minimum wage laws and other aspects of the federal FLSA.
To be sure your??shop does not cross the line, examine the purpose of your intern program, audit the activities of interns and be sure you do not encourage managers to lower their labor costs by relying on student interns.?? Take a look at the DOL website and be sure to consult with counsel for further guidance.
Chris Vrountas, Chair of the Employment Counseling Litigation Practice Group, contributed this posting.
Tags: apprenticeship, Department of Labor, DOL, Fair Labor Standards Act, FLSA, intern, intern abuse, interns, internship, internships, The Apprentice, The New York Times
Posted in Industry News | No Comments »
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