Sexual Harassment in the Workplace: How Arbitrators Decide

For thirty years courts and labor arbitrators have grappled with what constitutes sexual harassment and how to remedy such behavior. The Federal judiciary has developed case law on sexual harassment under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. However, arbitrators addressing this issue under collective bargaining agreements have often treated similar fact patterns differently than jurists. In contrast, labor arbitrators decide culpability first, and then consider the appropriate remedy. In reconciling these separate paths for establishing standards of workplace conduct, the authors will provide a model that explains how arbitrators decide sexual harassment cases and how this model dovetails with the case law developed by the Supreme Court since 1986. This analysis is intended to be useful to advocates in sexual harassment cases brought under a collective bargaining agreement, as well as to arbitrators and academicians. Guidance is provided for a variety of considerations such as selection of an arbitrator, framing the issue, effective use of requests for information, and much more

Refugee Repatriation and the Problem of Consent

Over the past decade, millions of refugees have fled their countries of origin and asked for asylum abroad. Some of these refugees do not receive asylum, but are not deported. Instead they are detained, or denied basic rights of residency, some forced into enclosed camps. Hoping to escape such conditions, they wish to return to unsafe countries, and ask for help from non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. In such cases, should NGOs and the UN assist refugees to return? Drawing on original data gathered in South Sudan, and existing data from around the world, I argue that they should assist with return if certain conditions are met. First, the UN and NGOs must try to put an end to coercive conditions before helping with return. Secondly, helping with return must not encourage the government to expand the use of coercive policies to encourage more to return. Finally, NGOs and the UN must ensure that refugees are fully informed of the risks of returning. Organizations must either conduct research in countries of origin or lobby the government to allow refugees to visit their countries of origin before making a final decision

Decline in subarachnoid haemorrhage volumes associated with the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic

BACKGROUND: During the COVID-19 pandemic, decreased volumes of stroke admissions and mechanical thrombectomy were reported. The study\u27s objective was to examine whether subarachnoid haemorrhage (SAH) hospitalisations and ruptured aneurysm coiling interventions demonstrated similar declines. METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional, retrospective, observational study across 6 continents, 37 countries and 140 comprehensive stroke centres. Patients with the diagnosis of SAH, aneurysmal SAH, ruptured aneurysm coiling interventions and COVID-19 were identified by prospective aneurysm databases or by International Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision, codes. The 3-month cumulative volume, monthly volumes for SAH hospitalisations and ruptured aneurysm coiling procedures were compared for the period before (1 year and immediately before) and during the pandemic, defined as 1 March-31 May 2020. The prior 1-year control period (1 March-31 May 2019) was obtained to account for seasonal variation. FINDINGS: There was a significant decline in SAH hospitalisations, with 2044 admissions in the 3 months immediately before and 1585 admissions during the pandemic, representing a relative decline of 22.5% (95% CI -24.3% to -20.7%, p\u3c0.0001). Embolisation of ruptured aneurysms declined with 1170-1035 procedures, respectively, representing an 11.5% (95%CI -13.5% to -9.8%, p=0.002) relative drop. Subgroup analysis was noted for aneurysmal SAH hospitalisation decline from 834 to 626 hospitalisations, a 24.9% relative decline (95% CI -28.0% to -22.1%, p\u3c0.0001). A relative increase in ruptured aneurysm coiling was noted in low coiling volume hospitals of 41.1% (95% CI 32.3% to 50.6%, p=0.008) despite a decrease in SAH admissions in this tertile. INTERPRETATION: There was a relative decrease in the volume of SAH hospitalisations, aneurysmal SAH hospitalisations and ruptured aneurysm embolisations during the COVID-19 pandemic. These findings in SAH are consistent with a decrease in other emergencies, such as stroke and myocardial infarction

Sexual Harassment in the Workplace: How Arbitrators Decide

For thirty years courts and labor arbitrators have grappled with what constitutes sexual harassment and how to remedy such behavior. The Federal judiciary has developed case law on sexual harassment under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. However, arbitrators addressing this issue under collective bargaining agreements have often treated similar fact patterns differently than jurists. In contrast, labor arbitrators decide culpability first, and then consider the appropriate remedy. In reconciling these separate paths for establishing standards of workplace conduct, the authors will provide a model that explains how arbitrators decide sexual harassment cases and how this model dovetails with the case law developed by the Supreme Court since 1986. This analysis is intended to be useful to advocates in sexual harassment cases brought under a collective bargaining agreement, as well as to arbitrators and academicians. Guidance is provided for a variety of considerations such as selection of an arbitrator, framing the issue, effective use of requests for information, and much more

A systematic review and meta-analysis of interventions to increase stroke thrombolysis

Abstract Background Although the efficacy of tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) for acute ischemic stroke is well established, rates of tPA use remain low. For clinicians, advocates, and policy-makers seeking to increase tPA treatment rates, it is important to understand what interventions exist and their relative effectiveness. Methods We searched PubMed and EMBASE to identify all studies published between 1995 and January 8, 2015 documenting interventions to increase the use of tPA with broadly inclusive criteria. The principal summary measure was the percentage change in rate of tPA administration. Random effects meta-analytic models were built to summarize the effect of intervention compared to control overall and for intervention characteristics. Results The search yielded 1457 results of which 25 met eligibility criteria. We identified 14 pre-post studies, ten randomized controlled trials, and one quasi-experiment. Included studies targeted their interventions at emergency medical services (EMS) (n = 14), telemedicine (n = 6), and public education (n = 6). In a random effects model, tPA administration was significantly higher in the intervention arm across all studies limiting enrollment to ischemic stroke patients (n = 16) with a risk ratio (RR) of 1.80 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.45–2.22). A trend towards increased tPA administration was observed for all intervention approaches: risk ratio of 1.73 (95% CI, 1.44–2.09) for EMS, 1.58 (95% CI, 0.72–3.47) for telemedicine, and 1.89 (95% CI, 0.77–4.65) for public education, the latter not restricted to ischemic stroke patients. Conclusions Interventions to increase tPA use appear to have considerable effectiveness. Our findings support the use of such interventions to improve stroke outcomes.https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/148878/1/12883_2019_Article_1298.pd

Sex differences in stroke: Challenges and opportunities

Biologic sex influences many variables that are important to brain health in general, and to stroke or cerebral ischemia in particular, such as general health status, cerebrovascular anatomy and function, unique risk factors such as pregnancy and preeclampsia, symptomatology, and therapeutic response. A more complete understanding of the scale and depth of sexual dimorphism in the brain and the role of more general sex-based factors is crucial to reducing the burden of stroke in women and men. This focused review highlights recent findings in stroke, including sex differences in epidemiology, risk factor reduction, comparative use of stroke therapeutics in both sexes, the importance of frailty in women, and the biologic basis for sex differences in stroke. Such findings show tremendous promise for the future of personalized medicine in stroke prevention and treatment

Reach out churches: A community-based participatory research pilot trial to assess the feasibility of a mobile health technology intervention to reduce blood pressure among African Americans

Innovative strategies are needed to reduce the hypertension epidemic among African Americans. Reach Out was a faith-collaborative, mobile health, randomized, pilot intervention trial of four mobile health components to reduce high blood pressure (BP) compared to usual care. It was designed and tested within a community-based participatory research framework among African Americans recruited and randomized from churches in Flint, Michigan. The purpose of this pilot study was to assess the feasibility of the Reach Out processes. Feasibility was assessed by willingness to consent (acceptance of randomization), proportion of weeks participants texted their BP readings (intervention use), number lost to follow-up (retention), and responses to postintervention surveys and focus groups (acceptance of intervention). Of the 425 church members who underwent BP screening, 94 enrolled in the study and 73 (78%) completed the 6-month outcome assessment. Median age was 58 years, and 79% were women. Participants responded with their BPs on an average of 13.7 (SD = 10.7) weeks out of 26 weeks that the BP prompts were sent. All participants reported satisfaction with the intervention. Reach Out, a faith-collaborative, mobile health intervention was feasible. Further study of the efficacy of the intervention and additional mobile health strategies should be considered