Saved by the Employment Law Blog Carnival

The Employment Law Blog Carnival is in town, and it's my turn to host. A well kept Lawffice Space secret (until now): For a brief period of time (which I'll call "high school to the present") I loved Saved by the Bell. What better way to honor this great show than to make this month's carnival the Saved by the Bell edition? In the words of Jessie Spano, "I'm so excited! I'm so excited!" (but I'm not hooked on caffeine pills - those are bad Jessie!).

Junior High

John Holmquist brings us Implicit bias? Iowa? on the Michigan Employment Law Connection. And, Randy Enochs delivers Wisconsin Law Allowing Compensatory and Punitive Damages Soon to be Repealed on the Wisconsin Employment and Labor Law blog. What do these Midwest legal issues have to do with Saved by the Bell? Easy. The junior high flashback episodes all take place at JFK junior high... in Indiana.

Bayside High School

Without explanation, Zack, Lisa, Screech, and Principal Belding all coincidentally leave Indiana, and end up at Bayside High... in California. Ari Rosenstein can tell them about California Employment Law: Ramifications of Class Action Lawsuits in 2012 on CPEhr's Small Biz HR Blog.

On HR Examiner, Heather Bussing addresses Hiring for Diversity. Of course, the Bell featured a diverse group: Slater is Latino, Lisa is African American, and if you remember the episode with "Running Zack," then you know that Zack Morris is part Native American!

On The ManpowerGroup Employment Blawg, Mark Toth gives us the Top 40 Engagement Ideas of All Time. Who doesn't love a good top 40? Like the American Top 40, hosted by Casey Kasem... one of the first guest stars to appear at Bayside (he hosted the dance contest with Screech and Lisa doing "the sprain").

Robin Shea offers us, Do you have a gender-based pay gap? If so, you'll have some explaining to do on Employment and Labor Insider. She offers some non-discriminatory explanations for the gender wage gap. No doubt, uber-feminist Jessie Spano would see things differently (after calling Slater a "Neanderthal" and/or a "sexist pig"... and then making up with him).

It's tough being unemployed. Remember when Kelly Kapowski couldn't afford a prom dress because her dad lost his job? It's not all bad news though - Zack made her their own picnic prom. And now, Bob Fitzpatrick tells us that D.C. and New Jersey prohibit discrimination against the unemployed on Fitzpatrick on Employment Law.

Eric Meyer's The Employer Handbook explains that Baseball has a new social media policy. And it may be unlawful. A baseball-Bell tie-in? No problem! Remember when Zack "converted to Judaism" for the day to miss school and attend a Dodgers game? No social media - but he was busted by traditional media when the television broadcast showed him catching a ball off of "Rabbi Strawberry's" bat!

On i-Sight Blog, Dawn Lomer reminds us that Appearance-Based Discrimination isn't Illegal. But, it's not very nice either. Remember when Wendy, an overweight classmate, purchased Zack at a date auction? Zack learned that judging people based on appearance or weight is wrong! Of course, he ended up marrying Tiffani-Amber Thiessen and we never saw Wendy again in the entire series, but I digress.

Summer at the Malibu Sands

Who doesn't love the summer episodes, when the gang got jobs at the Malibu Sands Beach Club (where Lisa's parents were members)? On the Ohio Employer's Law Blog, Jon Hyman reminds us that Despite What Some Think, Employers Do Not Set Out to Discriminate. An employer who seems like the enemy sometimes, but really has a heart of gold... if that's not Leon Carosi, I don't know what is!

Donna Ballman submitted, Are Federal Judges Hostile To Employment Plaintiffs? Report Says Yes from her blog, Screw You Guys, I'm Going Home. Don't be so hard on the judges Donna - as Zack Morris can tell you, it's a tough job. He found himself in quite a dilemma when he had to judge the Miss Liberty pageant on the Fourth of July!

The Bell is Forever

On Just Joan, Joan Ginsberg wrote The NLRB Facebook Cases – What Was Your Employment Lawyer Thinking? She explains that the NLRB social media cases are just new applications of the same old NLRA. Yes, the NLRA - much like Saved by the Bell - is timeless. So, whether your employees are engaging in protected activity on their smart phones, Zack Morris' brick phone, or Screech's futuristic robot, Kevin - respect their rights under the NLRA.

Thanks for indulging me in this nostalgic trip through employment law and Saved by the Bell!

Disclaimer: Inclusion in the carnival does not indicate endorsement of the linked material. If you submitted a link for the carnival, and do not see your entry here, that is likely my error. Please send me your submission again and (assuming it is employment-law-ish and appropriate) I will add it. Saved by the Bell title card is fair use in commentary on the show.