Below is a phone conversation I recently had with a friend who heads Employee Relations at a large company in the retail industry.
Friend: I think you were right!
Me: About what? I am right about many things (unless I am on the other side of an argument with my wife).
Friend: About what’s coming soon once life goes back to “normal” and the workplaces open up again.
Me: I tried to warn you!
Friend: We know now. We want to be prepared to handle it as best as we possibly can. Do you know when it’ll start?
Me: Precisely? No. Likely in the next 180 days. But there are things you can do to get ready now.
At this point, if you’re still reading, you’re wondering what is coming. Hang on, I am going to tell you. But before I do, let me share with you some of the things I know. I know these things based on my 15 years of experience as an employment lawyer and now as the founder and CEO of #NotMe, the best misconduct reporting solution for employees and employers.
I share that so you know my ‘predictions’ are based, not on what I think, but on what I’ve seen and the data collected. What I personally believe has nothing to do with what I will be addressing in the below paragraphs.
So what is coming?
What is coming is a tidal wave of employment lawsuits like we’ve not seen in a long time. I’m not alone in this opinion (employment lawyers, whether on the defense or plaintiff’s sides, agree). But what is surprising, perhaps shocking, is how poorly prepared many employers are.
Why is an employment litigation tidal wave coming?
A few reasons:
The plaintiff’s bar will be targeting certain industries. We know that.
On the single plaintiff’s type of cases, claims will for the most part – I believe – be about:
On the class action front, you will see different types of claims (feel free to contact me at ariel@not-me.com. if you are interested in knowing what those claims will be).
If you are in HR, ER, Compliance or are the CEO of a company in any industry, particularly those listed below, you are going to be very busy.
But not the good kind of busy. The annoying kind. Having to spend time with lawyers, at depositions, dealing with discovery issues, etc.
Can you do some smart litigation armoring and get ready for what is coming next?
Implementing #NotMe helps companies prevent these issues from escalating to this point. It can save time, money and energy by listening and learning about employee concerns earlier, therefore allowing for course-correction rather than late-stage costly clean up.
We’re here to assist smart companies that want to try something different, foster a speak up culture and listen to their employees in an innovative way so they can get a better grasp of the risk to their reputation, reduce employee turnover and prevent employment law related litigation and costs associated with it.
So I ask you again— are you ready for what’s coming?
Ariel is a Los Angeles-based entrepreneur, a leading employment lawyer and an advocate for greater equality, safety, and transparency in the workplace. His passion for equality led him to create #NotMe: an app and AI-powered platform that gives all employees a safe, unbiased way to report workplace misconduct, while guiding employers to take swift and appropriate action.
Ariel has trained hundreds of employees on the subjects of sexual harassment, discrimination and bullying. After fifteen years handling a litany of cases involving harassment and discrimination and watching instances of workplace misconduct constantly repeat themselves, Ariel realized that corporate America was in need of a major paradigm shift. As the #MeToo and #TimesUp movements continue to steamroll through the collective consciousness of America, Ariel, along with a team of high-profile advisors, found himself in a unique position to help turn these movements into action, thus he created #NotMe
Ariel has a vision of a world in which his own children will inherit a workplace environment that is safe and equal, allowing them to freely thrive while accomplishing their own dreams.
