Fire Alarm at the Jail

I was at the Denver County Jail yesterday, and the fire alarm sounded right after I checked in to evaluate an inmate. I had just given the deputy my driver's license, cell phone and car keys, and then I was immediately escorted out of the building.

I had no idea if there was an actual fire or how long it would take for me to get my id and car keys back. And, there was no way for me to call anyone to let them know it might be hours before I could leave.

Fortunately, it was a false alarm and we were back in the building after about five minutes.

Thanks for reading-- Max Wachtel, Ph.D.

www.CherryCreekPsychology.com

Read More

Fired Because of Facebook?

A Connecticut woman was fired in late 2009 because she posted a disparaging comment about her boss on Facebook. She then traded comments with several fellow employees about her initial post. Her employer then fired her.

The National Labor Relations Board is now suing her employer, arguing that Federal law has held for some time that employees must be protected from reprisal after talking about the workplace on their own time. The woman who was fired was not at work when she posted her comments, and she was using her personal computer.

I suppose the argument for firing her might be that a a few coworkers complaining about their boss at a restaurant is different than creating a permanent, electronic record of such complaints that is accessible to thousands (possibly hundreds of thousands) of people.

Here is a link to the story: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/40097443/ns/business-personal_finance/

It will be interesting to see how this plays out in court.

Thanks for reading-- Max Wachtel, Ph.D.

www.CherryCreekPsychology.com

Read More

New Office Lease

Next week, I will sign a new three-year lease on my current office space. It is hard to believe I have been in the same building for six years already.

Read More