Emily Keller-O'Donnell, Journalist

One Case Against Wal-Mart

    On June 19, Cynthia Haddad and her husband, Bill, walked across Wendell Avenue from the Berkshire Superior Court to the public library in Pittsfield, Mass., to talk. There they waited as a jury in the Park Square courthouse deliberated over the lawsuit Haddad had filed against her former employer Wal-Mart Stores for gender discrimination and defamation. As they exited the library hand-in-hand, the sun shone, filling Haddad with an impending sense of closure. "It was the first day of the rest of our lives no matter what the verdict," says the 45-year-old mother of four. "My story was told and I did the fight. My life would go on after that."

Shortly thereafter, Haddad was in tears. The jury awarded her nearly $2 million in punitive and compensatory damages. "It vindicated me," says Haddad. "It started to bring life back into me. Someone listened."

    Published by Bloomberg (formerly BusinessWeek.com). Read the story.

Acing the Informational Interview

     Baby boomers pursuing environmental or personal interests after retirement, executives fleeing downsizing companies, and restless upstarts pushing for higher pay all have one thing in common: They are part of a trend of professionals starting second careers, a trend that recruiters and coaches now call "recareering."

    As companies struggle to retain talent and career changers chart unfamiliar territory, recareering is often facilitated through a series of informational or exploratory interviews. Loosely defined and malleable enough to fit a job seeker's desired profession as well as his or her unique circumstances, informational interviews can be as informal as trading contact information at a barbecue or as formal as lengthy office meetings that result in a job offer.

    This article provides networking advice to job seekers who are looking for new opportunities. Published by Bloomberg (formerly BusinessWeek.com).

Disabled's in-Accessible Ride

    This article is about the introduction of eligibility testing to New York City's paratransit service, Access-A-Ride. Published in the New York Daily News. Read the story.