I am not a fan. On my commute in this morning I was using a cycle lane to filter on the nearside past stationary traffic in Isleworth when a right turning car took me out. I landed rather ungracefully on his bonnet. Fortunately neither of us was going very fast (15mph my Garmin says) and I am essentially unhurt. Looking at Google Maps (me left to right in that very narrow cycle lane) I see that the lane markings have changed since the satellite photograph as the cycle lane now extends past the driveway to the bus stop. I would normally overtake on the offside but the cycle lane meant the stationary traffic was further out so, with a central traffic island, there was no room. When passing a side road I am always in the primary position or to the offside of stationary traffic but I had not noticed this driveway nor had I seen the gap in traffic that enabled the oncoming car to turn right into my path.
I can now confirm that not all accidents are reported to the police. I shall not bother [edit: actually I shall; I will try to report by email and see if the Metropolitan Police now make reporting easy]- the last time I was taken out on a roundabout and ended up in hospital the police agreed not to prosecute the motorist if she went on a course. I will report it to CTC's SMIDSY campaign instead.
Joint Commission and Bullying
If you have ever worked in or around hospitals, you know that two words that get everyone's attention are, Joint Commission. That's a shorthand description of an accreditation review that is a top to bottom scrubbing of every facet of an institution, with serious consequences if you don't meet the standards.
So when Professor David Yamada, the leading proponent of anti-bullying legislation notes that the Joint Commission has enacted standards that can be read as requiring anti-bullying procedures and training, I take note. See Workplace bullying in healthcare I: The Joint Commission standards.
So when Professor David Yamada, the leading proponent of anti-bullying legislation notes that the Joint Commission has enacted standards that can be read as requiring anti-bullying procedures and training, I take note. See Workplace bullying in healthcare I: The Joint Commission standards.
Labor and Employment Comes (Slowly?) Into the Electronic World
In looking at commentary on yesterday's granting of cert in City of Ontario v. Quon (more about that follows), I found a reference to an interesting law review article by William A. Herbert, Deputy Chair and Counsel for the New York State Public Employment Relations Board, provocatively titled, The Electronic Workplace: To Live Outside the Law You Must Be Honest.
While I haven't read the whole article, I was struck by one of his introductory comments: There's probably a lot of truth to that, but I think that it is changing.
Besides not being able to open your email without the announcement of yet another seminar on social media, there's other evidence that we are actually moving beyond the platform to actual developments. One is a report from Richard Negri at today's workplace, Some Things I Took Away From The Organizing Conference Last Week. That's organizing as in bringing a union to your workplace, not as in straightening your closets. If you don't think it's a different world, just check out the power point presentation, Organizing & New Media in the Obama Era at the conference's web site.
And yesterday, the Supreme Court granted certiorari in the Quon case where the 9th Circuit held that notwithstanding the city's policy that it could review electronic messages on equipment furnished to its employees, the employee nevertheless had an expectation of privacy because of the way the policy was implemented. Although the case is likely to turn on 4th Amendment law that is not directly relevant to private sector employers, any action by the Court that seems to expand the privacy rights of employees is likely to have a ripple effect on related areas such as common law privacy claims.
It may be too early to say that labor and employment law is up to date on all forms of communication and interaction that we now live with on a daily basis, but there's no question that willingly or not, it is clear that we will soon be dealing with them.
While I haven't read the whole article, I was struck by one of his introductory comments:
In many ways, United States labor and employment law sleepwalked into cyberspace. Although there is wide societal recognition that new technologies are leading to the diminishment of personal privacy, there has not been an equal demand for changes in the legal paradigm.
Besides not being able to open your email without the announcement of yet another seminar on social media, there's other evidence that we are actually moving beyond the platform to actual developments. One is a report from Richard Negri at today's workplace, Some Things I Took Away From The Organizing Conference Last Week. That's organizing as in bringing a union to your workplace, not as in straightening your closets. If you don't think it's a different world, just check out the power point presentation, Organizing & New Media in the Obama Era at the conference's web site.
And yesterday, the Supreme Court granted certiorari in the Quon case where the 9th Circuit held that notwithstanding the city's policy that it could review electronic messages on equipment furnished to its employees, the employee nevertheless had an expectation of privacy because of the way the policy was implemented. Although the case is likely to turn on 4th Amendment law that is not directly relevant to private sector employers, any action by the Court that seems to expand the privacy rights of employees is likely to have a ripple effect on related areas such as common law privacy claims.
It may be too early to say that labor and employment law is up to date on all forms of communication and interaction that we now live with on a daily basis, but there's no question that willingly or not, it is clear that we will soon be dealing with them.
The week that was
Law enforcement at the most basic level seems to me to leave something to be desired. On my daily commutes last week I saw a woman cyclist pulled over by a 4x4 police vehicle who had stopped to hand out a fixed penalty for contravention of a traffic light. Fair enough I suppose (always assuming she had not passed the line to be visible to an HGV) but I have never ever seen a motorist stopped for using a handheld mobile 'phone or for contravention of an advanced stop line or indeed for jumping a red light though I see scores of such offences every day. The police are after all responding to the concerns of the popular press who almost daily call for a crack down on 'rogue cyclists'.
When Westminster councillor Angela Harvey spoke to The Times last week to support a proposal to allow traffic wardens power to fine errant cyclists she told them that:
“We’re always getting little old ladies who are knocked down and abused by a cyclist, who leaves them on the ground as they ride away. The police are the only people who have the ability to enforce this issue, and they just aren’t taking this seriously enough. There are more of our officers on the street than there are police at any given time, so it is a sensible solution.”
Meanwhile BBC news reports a recent study which has confirmed what we all know, that mobile 'phone use amongst motorists is common-place. Motorists now appreciate that the risks of a penalty are negligible and use hand held 'phones no less than they did before legislation banning their use.
Ms Harvey seems to me to be a bit like the sherriff in the lawless frontier town who does not dare to tackle the bandits with the shotguns, but instead urges her deputies to deal with the kids with the pea-shooters. Let's exaggerate the harm done by the pea-shooters and turn a blind eye to the death and destruction threatened by the untouchables.
Imperial Winter Series Race 2
A fine day but with a stiff northerly wind for the second race of the Winter Series. 3 Thames Velo riders in the 4th cat event and 2 in the 3rds today - a record at least in recent years. We were given advice on the start line as to how to avoid last week's difficulties with the coming together of the two races but in fact the problem solved itself this week. Perhaps we 4th cats were marginally faster, or the 3rd cats marginally slower or both, but we were blissfully undisturbed by each other. The field was not quite as crowded as last week's 70 riders but was still fairly full. I aimed to keep near the front for at least the first 30 minutes. For a short moment I thought I might have made it into a break of 5 but the pack has a capacity to put on an impressive burst of speed both to reel in any breaks and to leave me for standing in the final lap. My teammate Andy fared better, in only his second race, he got towards the front and stayed there until the final sprint.
Average speed 24mph
Average speed 24mph
MDV the Malicious Prosecution Way
There are a myriad of ways that employers end up in front of a jury. One of the less frequent, but as seen by the result, no less dangerous, is a case for malicious prosecution. They usually arise like the facts in a federal court in Virginia last week. Clyde Bennett, a night shift foreman was fired and charged with grand larceny in connection with the embezzlement of computer equipment.
When that charge was later dropped, he filed a lawsuit against his former employer for malicious prosecution. According to the report from the Richmond Times Dispatch, the jury took less than half an hour to deliver its message. Jury awards $3.2 million to local trucking company employee.
Because the legal standards are relatively high, this verdict is likely to have a long way to go before it becomes a judgment that has to be paid. But it is a good reminder that any time one of the actions that an employer is considering is filing a criminal charge against an employee, that there is at least the potential for what at the time would seem preposterous -- that it could be the employer that ends up the defendant.
When that charge was later dropped, he filed a lawsuit against his former employer for malicious prosecution. According to the report from the Richmond Times Dispatch, the jury took less than half an hour to deliver its message. Jury awards $3.2 million to local trucking company employee.
Because the legal standards are relatively high, this verdict is likely to have a long way to go before it becomes a judgment that has to be paid. But it is a good reminder that any time one of the actions that an employer is considering is filing a criminal charge against an employee, that there is at least the potential for what at the time would seem preposterous -- that it could be the employer that ends up the defendant.
Imperial Winter Series - Saturday 5th December
At last - racing again in the Imperial Winter series run by the terrific Doug and Lucy Collins. Met up with my teammates Andy and Paul, the former a first time 4th cat and the latter a seasoned 3rd. I got a puncture warming up which I noticed at the start line at 1pm (the start time). I asked Doug for a spare wheel but he told me I had time to change my tube. Well obviously he doesn't know just how slow I am. By the time I got back to the car, fixed the punture and returned to the circuit they had all started. The Commissaire kindly let me join a lap late; well that is one way of getting to the front early on. As my club coach noted I can stay near the front for the first half of the race but seem to lose this ability later on. For me it all fell apart a bit as the 3rd cats went by as it took for ever and for that period it was impossible to pull out and move back towards the front. I came in at the back of the bunch as did Andy (brilliant, for my first few races I was lapped). We hung around long enough to see Paul come in in the rear portion of his bunch.
For a full account of this (and many other) races see Lance Woodman's blog.
Average Speed 24 mph.
For a full account of this (and many other) races see Lance Woodman's blog.
Average Speed 24 mph.
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