Dorothy Height, largely unsung giant of the civil rights era, dies at 98
The New York Times
Dorothy Height, a leader of the African-American and women's rights movements who was considered both the grande dame of the civil rights era and its unsung heroine, died on Tuesday in Washington. She was 98. … One of the last living links to the social activism of the New Deal era, Height had a career in civil rights that spanned nearly 80 years, from anti-lynching protests in the early 1930s to the inauguration of President Obama in 2009. That the American social landscape looks as it does today owes in no small part to her work.More

Same-sex visitation rights: For the mandate
The Washington Post
President Obama mandated that nearly all hospitals extend visitation rights to the partners of gay men and lesbians and respect patients' choices about who may make critical health-care decisions for them, perhaps the most significant step so far in his efforts to expand the rights of gay Americans.More

Aetna moves up in DiversityInc's 'Top 50 Companies for Diversity' list
BusinessWire
DiversityInc announced that Aetna, one of the nation's leading diversified health care benefits companies, was named to its "2010 DiversityInc Top 50 Companies for Diversity" list for its demonstrated use of measurable diversity best practices and results. Aetna made significant progress, moving up 18 spots to 30th place this year. In addition, Aetna ranked in the top 10 of companies for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) employees and for employees with disabilities.More

Religion in the Workplace document debated
Scoop
Business people and those involved in church public issues gathered recently to consider a discussion document from the Human Rights Commission that plans to launch Religion in the Workplace guidelines late in 2010 or early in 2011.More

Beliefs the starting point for effective training
Gary Post Tribune
In business, there are a lot of "re-dos" because behaviors are inconsistent with the strategic goals of the organization. Usually the human resource department is responsible for correcting these performance gaps. Sometimes the training is done internally and at other times the training is contracted out. The problem is the "re-dos" continue and this drains the profitability for any organization while making management very unhappy.More

Tracking the wage gap
Newsweek
Equal pay for equal work? Don't bet on it. President Obama may have made the Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act the very first act he signed into law as president, but women still earn just 77 cents on the dollar on average, when compared to men. African-American and Hispanic women earn even less. Yes, the number is an old refrain, repeated so often it has little impact. But in 2010, there's more reason for everyone — women and men — to care about the persistent pay gap than ever before.More

Measuring boardroom diversity
Human Resource Executive
Concerned there may be a lack of Hispanic corporate executives or board directors, a U.S. senator is polling companies to determine the state of diversity in the workplace, including an outline of diversity initiatives. Many companies are still deciding whether to respond.More