WHY DO EMPLOYEE RELATIONS make everyone want to litigate? All I know is that litigation has led to the rise of HR departments, which has hardly been a boon to the American economy. . . .

UPDATE: A reader emails:

am taking umbrage to your comment about us HR folks

Don’t blame us! (I have been doing this for more than 30 years) … without resorting to stereotypes, you lawyers keep throwing these PC based federal, state and local statutes over the wall that we have to enforce and decipher … I just spent the better part of the afternoon going through my annual update on red-yellow-green light behaviors and maybe I’ll finish up the evening by kicking back and read another chapter of the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act … remember the more laws the less justice!

No argument there.