Franklin Templeton is being sued by former employee Amy Cooper for improper termination and racial and gender discrimination, following her firing in May 2020 because of an incident in New York's Central Park when she called the police on a Black man who was bird-watching. "We believe the circumstances of the situation speak for themselves and that the company responded appropriately," said company spokesperson Stacey Coleman.

Decisions about work-from-home schedules should be left to managers -- not the employees -- because remote work can cause employees to feel excluded and have a negative effect on diversity, writes Nicholas Bloom, a Stanford University professor. "Single young men could all choose to come into the office five days a week and rocket up the firm, while employees with young children, particularly women, who choose to [work from home] for several days each week are held back," Bloom writes.

Reps. Jason Smith, R-Mo., and Josh Gottenheimer, D-N.J., introduced a bill this week that would allow reimbursement of audio-only telehealth services for Medicare beneficiaries and lift restrictions so patients' homes can be originating sites for telehealth services. Separate legislation introduced by Sens. Tom Carper, D-Del., and John Cornyn, R-Texas, would require HHS to provide guidance to states to improve telehealth access for Children's Health Insurance Program and Medicaid beneficiaries.

The developers of new consumer-facing apps say their products analyze subtle changes in the user's voice to detect signs of depression and anxiety, then transmit alerts to the user's health care provider or therapist. However, artificial intelligence programs based on unintentionally biased inputs, such as data based only on voices of people with a mental health disorder, will produce biased results, says Sathiyan Kutty, head of predictive analytics at a large health system.

Motivation remains important to employee productivity and job satisfaction regardless of where the work takes place, writes Susan Fowler. "Help them explore how working from home, office, or a hybrid design best fulfills their family values while still supporting coworkers (and enabling coworkers to support them)," Fowler writes.

When a close family member disclosed to me that he was struggling with depression, I went cold with fear. I had zero idea he battled it. It was an uncomfortable reminder not to rely on a person’s outward appearance as a gauge for what’s happening inside them.

Today’s Technology story discusses an interesting way artificial intelligence might be able to help detect markers of depression in a person’s voice. It’s not perfected yet, but this could be good news for the millions who suffer in silence.

How are you prioritizing your mental health? Let me know! And use this link to tell others about this brief.