Good Morning, HR

In episode 271, Coffey talks with Mallory Herrin about recent workplace news stories involving AI note-takers, executive accountability, sex discrimination, and performance feedback.
–HRSOUTHWEST October 11-13, 2026 –
Good Morning, HR listeners can use the promo code 2026-CoffeyGMHR-100 to save $100 on an HRSouthwest full conference registration at https://hrsouthwest.com!
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They discuss how an AI meeting transcript became evidence in a gender discrimination lawsuit; why vague termination explanations invite employees to assume discriminatory intent; the admissibility and reliability of AI-generated transcripts in litigation; the board ouster of Better.com CEO Vishal Garg after $1.5 billion in losses; why leader behavior and judgment are legitimate, quantifiable performance criteria; an Arkansas hospital's loss in a sex discrimination case brought by a male surgical tech barred from deliveries; why bona fide occupational qualification defenses rarely survive inconsistent application; how third-party referral sources pressure employers into unlawful employment decisions; survey data showing 43% of managers entered employee names, performance details, or PII into public AI tools; the difference between consumer AI accounts and enterprise agreements with zero data retention; why AI chat logs are discoverable in employment litigation; the need for written AI policies, training, and HR support; why subjective feedback like "executive presence" fails employees; and why continuous real-time coaching beats annual performance reviews.
For HR teams who discuss this podcast in their team meetings, we've created a discussion starter PDF to help guide your conversation. Download it here https://goodmorninghr.com/EP271
Good Morning, HR is brought to you by Imperative—Bulletproof Background Checks. For more information about our commitment to quality and excellent customer service, visit us at https://imperativeinfo.com.
If you are an HRCI or SHRM-certified professional, this episode of Good Morning, HR has been pre-approved for half a recertification credit. To obtain the recertification information for this episode, visit https://goodmorninghr.com.
About our Guest:
Mallory Herrin is an experienced human resources consultant and industry recognized thought leader, serving as HerrinHR's CEO and Principal HR Consultant. She is a frequent speaker at HR conferences and the author of Intentional HR: A Revolution in Strategic Thinking.
With over 20 years of HR experience, she holds certifications from both HRCI and SHRM. She is also the recipient of DallasHR's 2024 HR Executive of the Year Award - Small Company, and the 2025 Best Places to Work HR Impact award.
Mallory is also the co-host of the fast-growing podcast 'Breakthrough with Mallory and Julie'.
Mallory can be reached at:

https://herrinhr.com/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/malloryherrin/
About Mike Coffey:
Mike Coffey is an entrepreneur, licensed private investigator, HR consultant, and registered yoga teacher.
In 1999, he founded Imperative, a background investigations and due diligence firm helping risk-averse clients make better people decisions.
Imperative delivers in-depth employment background investigations, know-your-customer and anti-money laundering compliance, and due diligence investigations to more than 300 risk-averse corporate clients across the US, and, through its PFC Caregiver & Household Screening brand, hundreds more private estates, family offices, and personal service agencies.
Imperative has been named a Best Places to Work, the Texas Association of Business’ small business of the year, and is accredited by the Professional Background Screening Association.
Mike serves as a board member of a number of organizations, including the Texas State Council, where he serves Texas' 30 SHRM chapters as State Director-Elect; Workforce Solutions for Tarrant County; the Texas Association of Business; and the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce, where he is chair of the Talent Committee.
Mike is a certified Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR) through the HR Certification Institute and a SHRM Senior Certified Professional (SHRM-SCP). He is also a Yoga Alliance registered yoga teacher (RYT-200) and teaches multiple times each week.
Mike and his very patient wife of 29 years are empty nesters in Fort Worth.
Learning Objectives:
1. Evaluate the legal and evidentiary risks created by AI note-takers and meeting transcription tools in employment conversations.
2. Distinguish between subjective personality-based feedback and objective, actionable performance criteria that hold up under scrutiny.
3. Develop written AI use policies that protect confidential employee data and address the discoverability of chat records.

In episode 270, Coffey talks with Mollie Campbell about how domestic abuse silently impacts the workplace and employers’ moral and business case for addressing it. 

– HRSOUTHWEST October 11-13, 2026 – 
Good Morning, HR listeners can use the promo code 2026-CoffeyGMHR-100 to save $100 on an HRSouthwest full conference registration at https://hrsouthwest.com! 
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They discuss the prevalence of domestic abuse and why survivors are skilled at hiding it; the broad definition of domestic abuse; the workplace impact of domestic abuse on productivity, absenteeism, engagement, and retention; behavioral and physical warning signs managers can watch for — without diagnosing — and how to have a compassionate, open-door conversation that offers resources without overstepping; the critical importance of individualized employee safety planning when a protective order is in place; the tension between training managers to recognize warning signs and avoiding hypervigilance or over-diagnosis; the eight components of the Safe Place Workplace Program; and resources for survivors, including the National Domestic Violence Hotline, domesticshelters.org , and the Employers Against Domestic Abuse Alliance website. 
For HR teams who discuss this podcast in their team meetings, we've created a discussion starter PDF to help guide your conversation. Download it here https://goodmorninghr.com/EP270  
 
Good Morning, HR is brought to you by Imperative—Bulletproof Background Checks. For more information about our commitment to quality and excellent customer service, visit us at https://imperativeinfo.com.  
 
If you are an HRCI or SHRM-certified professional, this episode of Good Morning, HR has been pre-approved for three quarters of a recertification credit. To obtain the recertification information for this episode, visit https://goodmorninghr.com.  
 
About our Guest: 
 
Mollie Campbell is a professional speaker, corporate trainer, and the Founder and CEO of Employers Against Domestic Abuse Alliance (The Alliance), a nationwide nonprofit organization dedicated to helping employers create workplaces where survivors of domestic abuse feel safe, seen, and supported. With more than 30 years of HR leadership experience spanning industries from healthcare to financial services, Mollie brings a rare combination of professional credibility and deeply personal insight to thetopic of domestic abuse in the workplace. As a survivor herself, she understands firsthand that the workplace can either be a lifeline for someone in crisis or a silent, complicit bystander.   
Through The Alliance’s signature Safe Place Workplace Program, Mollie partners with employers to implement meaningful policy, train managers and HR professionals, and establish referral systems that connect employees with life-saving resources. Her work bridges the gap between HR policy and human compassion, making the business case for employer engagement while never losing sight of the individual lives at stake. Mollie was a speaker at the SHRM Annual Conference & Expo (Orlando, June 2026), the Oklahoma SHRM Annual State Conference (Tulsa, April 2026), and will be a speaker at the Southwest HR Conference (Fort Worth, October 2026), and the Arkansas SHRM HR Conference & Expo (Hot Springs, October 2026). 
 She has also presented for a variety of professional associations, nonprofit organizations, and corporate audiences across the region. Her message is direct: domestic abuse costs U.S. employers $8.3 billion annually, and most affected employees never speak up because no one told them it was safe to. Mollie is on a mission to change that, one workplace at a time. 
Mollie Campbell can be reached at: 
https://www.eadaa.org     
https://www.linkedin.com/in/mollie-campbell-1survivor/  
About Mike Coffey: 
 
Mike Coffey is an entrepreneur, licensed private investigator, business strategist, HR consultant, and registered yoga teacher. 
In 1999, he founded Imperative, a background investigations and due diligence firm helping risk-averse clients make well-informed decisions about the people they involve in their business. 
Imperative delivers in-depth employment background investigations, know-your-customer and anti-money laundering compliance, and due diligence investigations to more than 300 risk-averse corporate clients across the US, and, through its PFC Caregiver & Household Screening brand, many more private estates, family offices, and personal service agencies. 
Imperative has been named a Best Places to Work, the Texas Association of Business’ small business of the year, and is accredited by the Professional Background Screening Association.  
Mike has been recognized as an Entrepreneur of Excellence by FW, Inc. and has twice been recognized as the North Texas HR Professional of the Year.  
Mike serves as a board member of a number of organizations, including the Texas State Council, where he serves Texas’ 30 SHRM chapters as State Director-Elect; Workforce Solutions for Tarrant County; the Texas Association of Business; and the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce, where he is chair of the Talent Committee. 
Mike is a certified Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR) through the HR Certification Institute and a SHRM Senior Certified Professional (SHRM-SCP). He is also a Yoga Alliance registered yoga teacher (RYT-200) and teaches multiple times each week. 
Mike and his very patient wife of 29 years are empty nesters in Fort Worth.  
 
Learning Objectives: 
 
Define domestic abuse broadly — beyond physical violence — to include coercive control, emotional abuse, stalking, and financial manipulation, and explain why survivors often do not self-identify as victims. 
Identify the behavioral and performance warning signs that may indicate an employee is experiencing domestic abuse and describe how to initiate a compassionate, resource-focused conversation without overstepping appropriate boundaries. 
Outline the eight components of a Safe Place Workplace Program and identify at least three immediate steps an organization could take to begin creating a safer environment for survivors.

In episode 269, Coffey talks with Clint Pulver about what 11,000 undercover employee interviews revealed about why people stay, why they leave, and what separates managers who are merely tolerated from the ones employees call mentors. 
–  HRSOUTHWEST  October 11-13, 2026 –  
Good Morning, HR listeners can use the promo code 2026-CoffeyGMHR-100 to save $100 on an HRSouthwest full conference registration at https://hrsouthwest.com!
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They discuss the gap between how leaders perceive their own organizations and the reality employees experience — and why employees rarely tell their boss the truth; the four manager archetypes — the removed manager, the buddy manager, the controller, and the mentor — mapped against the twin variables of standards and connection; mentorship over management as the consistent differentiator in organizations where people thrive and stay; the five Cs of mentorship — confidence, credibility, competency, candor, and care — and how each can be developed, not just inherited; why there is no universal retention formula and why getting to "the part about the individual" outperforms any generational strategy or workplace perk; the currency of recognition and why personalized, moment-based acknowledgment drives engagement far more than standardized rewards; the status check as a practical alternative to performance reviews — three questions that open a real conversation about what an employee needs, what's blocking their success, and what would keep them; why leaders who say they don't have time to connect are simply choosing other priorities, and what it costs them; and the difference between collaboration and control in difficult conversations, including how candor and trust work together when a manager can't give an employee what they're asking for. 
About our Guest: 
 
Clint Pulver is an Emmy Award winner, Hall of Fame Speaker, Pro Drummer and one of the world’s leading voices on employee retention and organizational culture. He’s the bestselling author of the book titled I Love It Here: How Great Leaders Create Organizations Their People Never Want to Leave and was named one of Business Q Magazine’s Top 40 Under 40 for his groundbreaking research as the Undercover Millennial. 

As founder and president of The Center for Employee Retention, he has helped organizations like the NBA, Microsoft, Red Bull, and NASA create engaged, loyal, and thriving workplaces. He’s also appeared on America’s Got Talent, acted in feature films alongside stars like Jack Black and Jon Heder, is an avid helicopter pilot, and—fun fact—is a proud member of the R2D2 Builders Club. He is also the president and founder of Dream Machines, a foundation that gives children with disabilities the gift and magic of flight. 
Clint strongly believes that a single moment in time can change a person’s life. He has traveled the world speaking to a wide spectrum of diverse audiences, challenging them to dream, excel, connect, and believe--both in themselves and in the power of others. His mantra? “It’s not about being the best in the world…it's about being the best FOR the world.” 
Clint Pulvert can be reached at:  
 
Your Website:  | https://clintpulver.com/
LinkedIn:  | https://www.linkedin.com/in/clintpulver/
Instagram:  | https://www.instagram.com/clintpulver
YouTube:  | https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpWB8oLO5HOjstE9gmL9Qxg 
 
About Mike Coffey: 
 
Mike Coffey is an entrepreneur, licensed private investigator, business strategist, HR consultant, and registered yoga teacher. 
In 1999, he founded Imperative, a background investigations and due diligence firm helping risk-averse clients make well-informed decisions about the people they involve in their business. 
Imperative delivers in-depth employment background investigations, know-your-customer and anti-money laundering compliance, and due diligence investigations to more than 300 risk-averse corporate clients across the US, and, through its PFC Caregiver & Household Screening brand, many more private estates, family offices, and personal service agencies. 
Imperative has been named a Best Places to Work, the Texas Association of Business’ small business of the year, and is accredited by the Professional Background Screening Association.  
Mike shares his insight from 25+ years of HR-entrepreneurship on the Good Morning, HR podcast, where each week he talks to business leaders about bringing people together to create value for all stakeholders. 
Mike has been recognized as an Entrepreneur of Excellence by FW, Inc. and has twice been recognized as the North Texas HR Professional of the Year.  
Mike serves as a board member of a number of organizations, including the Texas State Council, where he serves Texas’ 30 SHRM chapters as State Director-Elect; Workforce Solutions for Tarrant County; the Texas Association of Business; and the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce, where he is chair of the Talent Committee. 
Mike is a certified Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR) through the HR Certification Institute and a SHRM Senior Certified Professional (SHRM-SCP). He is also a Yoga Alliance registered yoga teacher (RYT-200) and teaches multiple times each week. 

Mike and his very patient wife of 29 years are empty nesters in Fort Worth.  
Learning Objectives:  

Identify the four manager archetypes defined by the intersection of standards and connection, and explain the employee outcomes each one produces. 
Apply the five Cs of mentorship — confidence, credibility, competency, candor, and care — to assess and develop leadership capability in their own organization. 
Conduct a status check conversation using the three core questions that surface what employees need, what's blocking them, and what would keep them — and distinguish this approach from a traditional performance review or one-on-one.

In episode 268, Coffey talks with Jeff Lay about what it means to build a conflict-capable organization, why artificial harmony is more dangerous than open disagreement, and how leaders can develop the skills and culture needed to handle difficult conversations before they become expensive problems. 

–  HRSOUTHWEST  October 11-13, 2026 –  
Good Morning, HR listeners can use the promo code 2026-CoffeyGMHR-100 to save $100 on an HRSouthwest full conference registration at https://hrsouthwest.com! 
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They discuss the concept of a conflict-capable organization as an alternative to the unrealistic goal of conflict elimination; the conflict incubator — how childhood environments and previous workplaces shape an individual's default conflict behaviors; artificial harmony versus genuine trust, and why silence in a meeting rarely signals agreement; the financial cost of unresolved conflict, including disengagement losses that don't show up on a P&L but function like money thrown in a fire; becoming fluent in the language of small things — addressing friction early before emotions escalate into "you always" and "you never" conversations; how a leader's response to the first person who raises conflict determines whether anyone ever raises it again; the challenge of coaching up when the conflict source is the leader themselves, and how HR can build the relational runway to do it; social media, generational change, remote work, and AI as compounding forces making productive conflict harder to navigate; emotional intelligence, humility, and curiosity as foundational leadership skills for conflict resolution; and the CURVE framework — cared for, understood, respected, valued, and empowered — as a diagnostic for organizational health. 
 
For HR teams who discuss this podcast in their team meetings, we've created a discussion starter PDF to help guide your conversation. Download it here https://goodmorninghr.com/EP268 
 
Good Morning, HR is brought to you by Imperative—Bulletproof Background Checks. For more information about our commitment to quality and excellent customer service, visit us at https://imperativeinfo.com.  
 
If you are an HRCI or SHRM-certified professional, this episode of Good Morning, HR has been pre-approved for half a recertification credit. To obtain the recertification information for this episode, visit https://goodmorninghr.com.  
 
About our Guest: 
 
Jeff Lay is the Founder of The People Curve, a leadership and conflict resolution consulting practice focused on helping leaders and organizations navigate difficult conversations, strengthen workplace relationships, and build healthier cultures. 
 
With more than 25 years of leadership experience spanning nonprofit, ministry, and organizational leadership, Jeff has coached leaders through employee relations challenges, team conflict, organizational change, and workplace investigations. 
 
Jeff believes conflict is not something to avoid but a skill to develop. His work centers on helping organizations become conflict-capable—creating cultures where difficult conversations can be addressed with clarity, respect, and accountability. 
 
Jeff is a SHRM-SCP and frequent speaker for leadership teams, HR professionals, churches, and nonprofit organizations. He lives in East Texas with his wife and family and enjoys camping, reading, and cheering on the Dallas Cowboys Texas A&M football. 
 
Jeff Lay can be reached at: 
 
Website:  |  www.thepeoplecurve.com 
LinkedIn:  | https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeff-lay-shrm-scp-09987a10  
 
About Mike Coffey: 
 
Mike Coffey is an entrepreneur, licensed private investigator, business strategist, HR consultant, and registered yoga teacher. 
In 1999, he founded Imperative, a background investigations and due diligence firm helping risk-averse clients make well-informed decisions about the people they involve in their business. 
Imperative delivers in-depth employment background investigations, know-your-customer and anti-money laundering compliance, and due diligence investigations to more than 300 risk-averse corporate clients across the US, and, through its PFC Caregiver & Household Screening brand, many more private estates, family offices, and personal service agencies. 
Imperative has been named a Best Places to Work, the Texas Association of Business’ small business of the year, and is accredited by the Professional Background Screening Association.  
Mike shares his insight from 25+ years of HR-entrepreneurship on the Good Morning, HR podcast, where each week he talks to business leaders about bringing people together to create value for customers, shareholders, and community. 
Mike has been recognized as an Entrepreneur of Excellence by FW, Inc. and has twice been recognized as the North Texas HR Professional of the Year.  
Mike serves as a board member of a number of organizations, including the Texas State Council, where he serves Texas’ 31 SHRM chapters as State Director-Elect; Workforce Solutions for Tarrant County; the Texas Association of Business; and the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce, where he is chair of the Talent Committee. 
Mike is a certified Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR) through the HR Certification Institute and a SHRM Senior Certified Professional (SHRM-SCP). He is also a Yoga Alliance registered yoga teacher (RYT-200) and teaches multiple times each week. 
Mike and his very patient wife of 29 years are empty nesters in Fort Worth.  
Learning Objectives: 
Distinguish between artificial harmony and genuine organizational trust, and identify the leadership behaviors that create each. 
Apply the "language of small things" approach to surface and address interpersonal friction before it escalates into formal conflict requiring HR or legal intervention. 
Assess the financial and cultural cost of unresolved workplace conflict and use that framing to make the business case for investing in manager training and conflict-capable culture.

In episode 267, Coffey talks with Catherine Clifton about AI-generated employee grievances, another lawsuit arising from a DEI training program, a Walgreens race and age discrimination case, and a Reddit scenario involving FMLA leave and workplace gossip. 

They discuss the rise of AI-generated employee grievances citing nonexistent laws and containing factual errors, and how employers should respond to them the same way they'd respond to any poorly written complaint; AI use by medical providers in ADA accommodation responses — including providers drawing conclusions that are legally the employer's to make; the danger of employees using AI to build one-sided cases that start with a conclusion rather than an objective analysis of facts; an EEOC lawsuit against Washington University in St. Louis arising from a DEI training that racially segregated participants over an employee's explicit objection, followed by elimination of her position after she filed an EEOC charge; the structural problems with demographic-based separation in DEI programming and the assumption that shared identity equals shared experience; the Walgreens case and the legal standard for comparators in race and age discrimination claims — including similar job, same decision-maker, comparable conduct, and disparate treatment; how summary judgment works and why consistent policy enforcement across all employees is the strongest defense against comparator arguments; the risk of employees not knowing what disciplinary action others have received, and how that gap fuels gossip and unfounded discrimination claims; and a Reddit scenario involving a coworker complaining about an FMLA-protected employee, a supervisor who deflects with "HR is aware," and how HR should respond to protect privacy while addressing cultural warning signs. 
For HR teams who discuss this podcast in their team meetings, we've created a discussion starter PDF to help guide your conversation. Download it here https://goodmorninghr.com/EP267 
 
Good Morning, HR is brought to you by Imperative—Bulletproof Background Checks. For more information about our commitment to quality and excellent customer service, visit us at https://imperativeinfo.com.  
 
If you are an HRCI or SHRM-certified professional, this episode of Good Morning, HR has been pre-approved for half a recertification credit. To obtain the recertification information for this episode, visit https://goodmorninghr.com.  
 
About our Guest: 
 
Catherine has more than 20 years of experience specializing in employment law in Texas. She worked with multiple local governmental entities as an employment law attorney and also served as a legal advisor for public safety. 
 
She spent several years as an administrative services director, where she was responsible for Human Resources, Risk Management, and Payroll. She has advised clients on recruitment, selection, discipline, wage and hour, policies, and grievance matters, including federal and state laws related to labor and employment. 
  
Catherine also has experience with general municipal law, utility matters, public information, open meetings, and general governance matters. 
  
Catherine is a graduate of Southwestern University, obtained her JD from Texas Tech University. She is certified as a Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR). She joined Ross | Gannaway | Clifton, PLLC in 2022. 
 
Catherine can be reached at: 
 
https://www.gannawayclifton.law/ 
 
https://www.linkedin.com/company/rossgannawayclifton/  
 
About Mike Coffey: 
 
Mike Coffey is an entrepreneur, licensed private investigator, business strategist, HR consultant, and registered yoga teacher. 
In 1999, he founded Imperative, a background investigations and due diligence firm helping risk-averse clients make well-informed decisions about the people they involve in their business. 
Imperative delivers in-depth employment background investigations, know-your-customer and anti-money laundering compliance, and due diligence investigations to more than 300 risk-averse corporate clients across the US, and, through its PFC Caregiver & Household Screening brand, many more private estates, family offices, and personal service agencies. 
Imperative has been named a Best Places to Work, the Texas Association of Business’ small business of the year, and is accredited by the Professional Background Screening Association.  
Mike shares his insight from 25+ years of HR-entrepreneurship on the Good Morning, HR podcast, where each week he talks to business leaders about bringing people together to create value for all stakeholders. 
Mike has been recognized as an Entrepreneur of Excellence by FW, Inc. and has twice been recognized as the North Texas HR Professional of the Year.  
Mike serves as a board member of a number of organizations, including the Texas State Council, where he serves Texas’ 30 SHRM chapters as State Director-Elect; Workforce Solutions for Tarrant County; the Texas Association of Business; and the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce, where he is chair of the Talent Committee. 
Mike is a certified Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR) through the HR Certification Institute and a SHRM Senior Certified Professional (SHRM-SCP). He is also a Yoga Alliance registered yoga teacher (RYT-200) and teaches multiple times each week. 
Mike and his very patient wife of 29 years are empty nesters in Fort Worth.  
Learning Objectives:  
Apply a consistent, policy-grounded response protocol to AI-generated employee grievances — including clarifying conversations, documentation, and using complaints as opportunities to identify real underlying issues. 

Identify the legal elements of a valid comparator in a discrimination claim and explain why consistent enforcement of discipline across all employees is the most effective defense. 
 
Recognize the supervisor behaviors that signal cultural and legal risk — including deflecting accountability to HR and failing to redirect inappropriate peer complaints — and describe how HR can address them.