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HR Wisdom From Hollywood Drama

HR Wisdom From Hollywood Drama

What Managers Can Learn from the Blake Lively/Justin Baldoni Legal Case

The entertainment world does not often intersect with HR, but late last month it did just that, in a complaint filed by Hollywood star, Blake Lively, against former director and co-star, Justin Baldoni. The two had starred in the August release It Ends with Us, and Lively had strangely been subjected to disparaging stories at the time. Lively’s complaint against Baldoni included many damning text messages – but how exactly did those end up in the hands of Blake Lively’s legal team? The answer is Stephanie Jones, founder and CEO of celebrity PR firm, Jonesworks.

The Backstory: Jonesworks had been providing services to Justin Baldoni since 2017, with a Jonesworks publicist named Jen Abel eventually assuming responsibility for the Baldoni account. Ms. Abel was responsible for this account during the events that gave rise to Lively’s complaint. For some reason, in July 2024, Ms. Abel submitted her resignation – “With LOVE!” – with a commitment to remain until August 23.

The Drama Starts to Brew: That final month was hardly uneventful. On August 15, Business Insider published a hit piece on Jonesworks CEO Stephanie Jones, accusing her of being “combative” and “tyrannical.” As an example, the piece included a story of Ms. Jones calling an employee on FaceTime to check on her after she took a sick day (the horror!). The employee had admittedly taken the sick day to attend a job interview and was forced to hurriedly wipe off the makeup she’d been wearing, but she couldn’t hide her mascara.

Ms. Jones suspected Ms. Abel was involved in the piece and fired her on August 21, two days before her planned final day of work. The (likely) surprise termination meant that Ms. Abel didn’t have time to delete personal data from her company-provided cellphone, and when Ms. Jones examined the phone, she confirmed that Ms. Abel had indeed been in contact with Business Insider. The phone also contained the text messages later used in Lively’s complaint against Baldoni.

The intricacies of how Blake Lively became the recipient of these messages includes some speculation beyond the HR implications of this case, and we are not weighing in on the validity of her claims. Yet, it’s worth noting that Jonesworks is not included as a defendant in her complaint, while Jen Abel’s new PR firm, set up in the wake of her termination (and taking several Jonesworks employees and clients, including Baldoni), is. Perhaps it’s best not to conspire against your employer using a searchable company-owned device.

The HR Lesson: At Sierra HR, we are often asked about how to approach employee resignations. Sometimes, resignations mark the end of a legitimately positive relationship (and not just a superficially positive one, like between Ms. Jones and Ms. Abel). In those cases, immediate action is usually unnecessary. But what about mediocre or toxic employees? Are we bound to honor their resignations?

The answer, of course, is no – we are not obligated to honor an employee’s timeline. In fact, doing so may give toxic employees a chance to further damage morale or steal/destroy company assets or information, leaving us to clean up the mess long after they’re gone. An employer may be worried about the former employee being awarded Unemployment Insurance, and it’s true that terminating employment early would change a “resignation” into an “involuntary termination,” but an Unemployment claim is not a compelling reason to hold onto an otherwise destructive employee.

We should also not provide employees with the opportunity to wipe data from company devices. As our Employee Handbook policy states, “all information placed on computers, telephones or any electronic data system, whether or not personal in nature, is property of the company and may be assessed and reviewed by the company, without notice or reason.” And, as with Stephanie Jones, you may have very good reason to “assess and review” what employees have been doing with their company phone or other device. It is a mistake to allow them to reset company devices on their way out the door.

If you would like support in planning or conducting sensitive terminations, don’t hesitate to call Sierra HR Partners (559-431-8090). These unpleasant events may be unavoidable, but a timely and efficient process can help to avoid costly employee behaviors.

Written by Senior HR Consultant, Dan Larsen, PHR

UPDATE: Healthcare Minimum Wage Increase Effective Soon (We Think)

UPDATE: Healthcare Minimum Wage Increase Effective Soon (We Think)

If you’re in the healthcare field or your company is at all connected to the healthcare industry, you’ve been following the status of California’s rising minimum wage for healthcare workers. The increase was supposed to be effective on June 1, 2024, but was delayed to July 1, and then delayed again to possibly October 15.

With this date quickly approaching, healthcare employers should be prepared for two possible announcements that would trigger the higher wage requirements.

The first trigger has to do with 3rd quarter cash receipts (taxes received) reported by the California Department of Finance. If that amount is at least 3% higher than what was projected in the state’s 2024 budget, the minimum wage will go into effect on October 15. If this is the case, we will be notified by the State Director of Finance sometime after the close of the 3rd quarter, meaning on or after October 1, 2024. This will leave, at most, 14 days for employers to implement the necessary wage increases.

The second trigger has to do with data retrieval related to hospital quality assurance fees. These fees could potentially offset the costs associated with minimum wage increases. Once this data retrieval process is initiated, the State Department of Health Care Services will notify the Legislature. The minimum wage increase would then go into effect 15 days later but no later than January 1, 2025. Again, this leaves just 15 days for employers to be notified before the change goes into effect. Currently, there is no known legislative effort to delay the minimum wage increases further beyond January 1, 2025.

We know these updates are complex – if you click on either of the links above, your head may be spinning from the list of subparagraphs and subdivisions that indicate how decisions will be made. Healthcare employers are encouraged to review their compensation plans and be prepared for notification that the wage increases could go into effect as soon as October 15. Sierra HR Partners will keep you informed of any news on this topic.