Last week, news broke that Nicola Thorp, a UK temp worker assigned to PwC, was sent home for violating her temp agency’s dress code by failing to wear high heels.  Portico, the agency, explained that the policy requiring women to wear shoes with one-to-two inch heels is intended  to “ensure customer-facing staff are consistently well presented and positively represent a client’s brand and image.”  In an interview with the BBC, Ms. Thorp stated, “I think dress codes should reflect society, and nowadays women can be smart and formal and wear flat shoes.” 100,000 people signed a petition in support of Ms. Thorp.

Discrimination

• Home improvement retailer Lowe’s will pay $8.6 million to resolve disability discrimination claims brought by the EEOC.  The claims focused on what the EEOC called the retailer’s inflexible leave plans. 
• Pilots of Frontier Airlines filed charges of gender discrimination alleging that the airline refused to accommodate their needs as breastfeeding mothers.
• Fast Company reported on the gender leadership gap.

Technology

• Quartz reported that stereotypical sexism exists in the workplace even for robots.
• Digitalist discussed how the workforce will be impacted by a digital economy.
• The Electronic Frontier Foundation declared that the Internet of Things is a cybersecurity nightmare.
• Recruiting Daily explained how artificial intelligence will change recruiting.
• Matt Charney argued that employers should show off the tech that workers get to use as a recruiting tool.
• Recruiting Tools described seven disruptive HR companies featured at TechCrunch Disrupt NY.

In other developments:

• President Obama signed the Defend Trade Secrets Act, providing federal protection for employers’ trade secrets.
• The New York Times discussed the prevalence of arbitration clauses in employment agreements entered into by start-ups.
• Wage & Hour Insights answered whether or not exempt and non-exempt employees can have the same job title.
• The Federal Trade Commission issued a new publication for credit reporting agencies on background screening.
• OSHA updated its rules on injury reporting.
• The Wall Street Journal covered allegations of worker misclassification in the trucking industry.
• Minnesota came one step closer to paid family leave for employees with the passage of a bill in the Minnesota Senate.  Paid leave legislation is not expected to pass the Minnesota House this year, however.