Target recently agreed to pay $4.6 million to settle a class action by warehouse employees claiming they weren't paid for all their work time.

A federal-court jury just hit a pair of New York hotels (and their owners) with a $1.65 million compensatory and $2 million punitive damages verdict after a female assistant manager alleged residents sexually harassed her daily and management did nothing to stop it.

The facts are brutal — constant sexual comments, physical assaults, even being knocked unconscious by a thrown table. Her male counterpart didn't face the same abuse. Even worse, her bosses ignored or laughed off every complaint that she made. When she asked for a transfer, management said "no openings." Turns out, that wasn't true. She quit in fear for her safety. Then she sued.

The jury believed her. And they made sure the company and its leaders felt it.

Here are five lessons for employers.

1. Harassment by non-employees is still your problem.
Whether it's a customer, resident, or vendor — if an employee reports harassment, you have a duty to act. "That's just how they are" is not a defense.

2. Don't laugh off complaints.
The manager who found a security video of one of the assaults "funny" didn't just show poor judgment. She gave the plaintiff Exhibit A in proving her case.

3. Train and empower managers to respond.
If your frontline supervisors don't know what to do with a harassment complaint, you're one complaint away from liability.

4. Documentation and action matter.
The employer here ignored repeated reports, took no corrective action, and offered no protection. Juries notice and punish accordingly.

5. Culture starts at the top.
When leadership signals that employee safety and respect aren't priorities, the entire organization pays the price (in this case, literally).

This case is an expensive lesson on workplace harassment compliance. Sadly, it won't be the last.

Wells Fargo is reportedly settling a class-action lawsuit alleging it held phony job interviews to make its diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives look better than they really were.

On this week's episode of The Norah and Dad Show, Norah and I play a few rounds of "Am I the A--hole" — inspired by my purge of our garage that resulted in all Norah's unused pet-fish gear ending up in a dumpster. (And, yes, we both agree that in this story, I am, in fact, the a--hole). We then dive into some recent, and ghastlier, stories from the AITA subreddit. 

Let's play one of my favorite games: correct the press.
The Issue: unpaid leave as a reasonable accommodation under the ADA.

Cliff Kaplan, 65, worked for a beverage distributor at Beechwood Sales & Service for 16 years. Then came a diagnosis of stage-four esophageal cancer. He took unpaid medical leave under the FMLA while he underwent chemotherapy.

Twelve weeks later his manager called. His FMLA had just expired, and the company needed him back immediately. When Cliff said he wasn't physically able to return, they fired him. No severance, no discussion, no attempt to work it out. Just a letter ending a 16-year career.

According to the According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel's reporting on this firing: "Although unfortunate, Kaplan's firing was likely legal…. No laws prevent an employer from terminating an employee once their FMLA expires, regardless of the severity of their disability."

A noose, a workplace, and a court that finally got it right The EEOC is abdicating its responsibility to transgender workers; employers shouldn't follow suit WIRTW #777: the 'no kings' edition If this were your workplace, would you tolerate it? 100% healed policy = 100% ADA violation