Former staff at doomed Titanic sub company OceanGate talk of calls to forego wages
As the inquiry into the doomed Titanic-visiting Titan submersible continues, former staff working for OceanGate claim bosses asked them to forego their wages, in order to keep the company afloat. OceanGate employees were asked to “defer our paychecks,” at the start of 2023, Amber Bay, the company’s former director of administration, said as part of a two-week hearing before the Marine Board of Investigation. Bay’s testimony echoed that of Phil Brooks, OceanGate’s former director of engineering, who said he believed the request illustrated economic challenges for the Everett, Washington-based company – challenges that resulted in sacrifices to safety. Brooks said: “It was clear the company was economically very stressed and, as a result, they were making decisions and doing things that resulted, I felt, [where] safety was just being compromised way too much.” The board also heard from submersible operator Karl Stanley, who said he heard ‘cracking sounds’ while on a test dive off the coast of the Bahamas in 2019. He said of the Titan’s implosion: “The definition of an accident is something that happened unexpectedly and by sheer chance. [But] There was nothing unexpected about this, this was expected by everybody that had access to a little bit of information.”
T-Mobile accused of underpaying employees in the US
Telecoms giant, T-Mobile, is reportedly being sued for failing to correctly pay staff who work overtime. Olvin Gomez, who works as a senior field technician at T-Mobile, claims companies like T-Mobile should be paying workers time plus one half of their normal hourly rate if they who work above a standard 40-hour week. As someone who works overtime, he said he was only getting a flat fee of $30 for each extra shift. The suggesting is that T-Mobile is ignoring the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) overtime rule. Gomez claims thousands of T-Mobile employees in the US may have been similarly underpaid for their overtime. He says he intends to represent all of them. Gomez – who has worked for T-Mobile for more than 11 years – is appealing to former employees who were paid a flat rate for at least one additional shift in the past three years to come forward. The lawsuit seeks to collect withheld wages, damages, and attorneys’ fees. It also wants a ruling that T-Mobile’s actions were willful. Although T-Mobile has yet to comment on the case, Gomez’s lawyers assert that T-Mobile is aware of the federal regulations and deliberately decided not to adhere to them. Lawyers argue that since the company is in charge of employment terms and pay practices, the responsibility to ensure compliance with wage hours falls on its shoulders.
Dept of Labor publishes inclusive AI hiring framework
The US Department of Labor has announced the publication of its AI & Inclusive Hiring Framework – a new tool designed to support the inclusive use of artificial intelligence in employers’ hiring technology and increase benefits to disabled job seekers. The framework has been created to help employers reduce the risk of creating unintentional forms of discrimination and barriers to accessibility as they implement AI hiring technology. It has been funded by the department’s Office of Disability Employment Policy, and it will also help workers and job seekers navigate the potential benefits and challenges they may face when encountering AI-enabled technologies. The framework has 10 focus areas, including practices, goals and sample activities that employers can adopt in their AI governance and disability-inclusive hiring initiatives. Each area has information around maximizing benefits and managing risks for workers and job seekers when an organization assesses, acquires or deploys an AI hiring technology. Commenting on the framework, Taryn Williams, assistant secretary for Disability Employment Policy said: “The Office of Disability Employment Policy works with many employers eager to hire people with disabilities and benefit from their talents. These employers recognize that AI tools can improve recruitment and hiring but may also impact workplace culture and inclusion of disabled employees. The AI & Inclusive Hiring Framework published today charts a clear course for employers to navigate this transformation successfully.”
Catholic diocese lodges challenge to federal rules on abortion
The Catholic Diocese of Bismarck and a Catholic employers’ association are suing the federal government over regulations that protect employees who seek abortion or fertility treatments and shield LGBTQ workers from discrimination. Calling the rules an abuse of power that violate the rights of employers opposed to abortion, fertilization treatments and LGBTQ accommodations on religious grounds, the diocese and association are aiming to temporarily suspend enforcement of the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act. Signed into law in 2022, It the act requires employers to provide pregnant workers accommodations including food, water and bathroom breaks, reduced physical labor and medical leave. But when EEOC adopted its nearly 125-page rule executing it, it also included protections for employees seeking abortions and fertility treatments. The Bismarck diocese and Catholic Benefits Association argue that this goes against the original intent of the law, and is therefore a violation of federal statute. The EEOC says its inclusion of abortion protections is “consistent with the commission’s and courts’ longstanding interpretation of the same phrase in Title VII” of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which outlaws workplace discrimination. A federal court in June already halted enforcement of the EEOC rule in Louisiana and Mississippi. North Dakota courts have recently ruled in favor of religious organizations in similar religious freedom cases.
EEOC wades in to contest ‘voluntary resignation’
Hot on the heels of an X employee winning damages after X claimed not responding to an email constituted voluntary resignation, the EEOC alleges that workers unable to return to work after exhausting Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) leave have not voluntarily resigned. Michigan adult care organization, PACE Southeast Michigan, terminated the employment of two employees after they’d requested for an extension of unpaid leave prior to the expiration of their FMLA leave. According to the EEOC, the employer’s conduct violates the American Disabilities Act (ADA), and it is seeking injunctive and monetary relief for the two named employees as well as a class of similarly situated employees. The FMLA provides covered employees up to 12 weeks of job-protected, unpaid leave over one 12-month period, including for serious health conditions that prevent them from working. But both EEOC and some federal courts have said that the exhaustion of FMLA leave does not necessarily preclude additional leave for employees with disabilities under the ADA. “This employer easily could have granted these brief extensions of leave with no undue burden on the company,” said Miles Uhlar, trial attorney at EEOC. “By refusing to do so, it violated the ADA.”
Hotel workers strike to reverse pre-pandemic cuts
Some 1,500 hotel workers from hotel chains: Hilton, Hyatt and Marriott, walked out this past weekend, to demand a better contract, and the reversal of cuts first made during the Covid-19 pandemic. The workers, including cooks, housekeepers and servers, all belong to the UNITE HERE union, and are fighting for better healthcare, wages, pensions, and fairer workloads – the latter of which they say requires staffing levels to be returned to pre-pandemic levels, when positions were cut. The strike – in San Francisco – is a continuation of strikes that happened across the Labor Day weekend, and follows months of contract negotiations between union workers and the hotels. In a statement, Hyatt said: “We are disappointed that UNITE HERE Local 2 has chosen to strike once again while Hyatt remains willing to continue bargaining in good faith. We have contingency plans in place to minimize impact on hotel operations related to strike activity.” A statement from Westin, owned by Marriott reads: “The Westin St. Francis remains open. We remain available to meet with the local union negotiating committee to reach an agreement that is fair to all parties.” But striking hotel workers say they are willing to be off the job as long as it takes.
OpenAI’s staff tell bosses to rethink their logo again:
Perhaps it was designed by AI rather than a real person, but whatever the case, it’s real people – OpenAI’s own employees – that are reportedly saying they don’t like the firm’s proposed new logo concept. The company behind the juggernaut that is ChatGPT is planning a big revamp in 2025 – and part of this is a new logo. But it’s being reported that concepts shown to staff have resulted in a decidedly muted reaction. The big idea is apparently a large, black ‘O’ – said to resemble a ring or number zero. However, compared to the brand’s current logo – a hexagonal flower symbol, representing “precision, potential, and optimism,” the zero is getting a big Zero from employees – who fear a Twitter/‘X’ style backlash. It is reported that OpenAI staff describe the new black “O” design as “ominous.” The logo redesign is just one part of a larger transformation within OpenAI. The company is reportedly considering changes to its corporate structure, moving away from its hybrid non-profit/for-profit model. These adjustments are aimed at attracting more investors and increasing revenue as OpenAI positions itself for future growth. The new logo is expected to be unveiled alongside these organizational shifts in 2025, with insiders hinting at a full brand overhaul.