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Employment Law

Interstate Bakeries to close Southern California facilities

12/01/2007

On Oct. 3, the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Missouri approved motions to allow the managers of Interstate Bakeries Corp. to go ahead with plans to close most of its Southern California operations …

SoCal contractor pays $200,000 in back wages to employees

12/01/2007

The U.S. Labor Department announced that a Southern California company paid $200,013 in back wages for unpaid overtime to 231 current and former employees. Memo Scaffolding, which specializes in setting up scaffolding for residential and commercial construction projects, also paid $60,000 incivil penalties …

Military spouse on leave? Employee has leave rights, too

12/01/2007

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger recently signed California’s new law allowing military spouses to take leave. The law requires some employers to provide up to 10 days of unpaid leave to the spouse of a qualified member of the U.S. armed forces, National Guard or reserves. Here are employer guidelines on exactly how to administer this new entitlement …

Headed to court? Have everyone ask lawyers if conversations are being recorded

12/01/2007

When it comes to winning lawsuits, it’s a cutthroat world out there. Attorneys representing employees may stoop to low tactics, such as secretly recording every conversation they have with witnesses. What’s worse, it’s not against the Georgia state bar ethics rules to make secret recordings. But lying about it is. That’s why you should instruct anyone who will be speaking with an employee’s attorney to ask point blank whether the conversation is being recorded …

Just got served with court papers? It’s OK to impose already-Planned discipline

12/01/2007

Sometimes, employees who are having trouble at work think that filing EEOC complaints or lawsuits will save their jobs. It’s a ploy generally designed to paralyze management by raising the specter of a retaliation claim. But courts generally don’t hold it against an employer if it carries out a previously made discipline decision. A lawsuit or complaint doesn’t work like a cease-and-desist order …

Nuclear plant whistle-Blower terminated, then sues

12/01/2007

An engineer at a Georgia nuclear plant was terminated and escorted from the plant after he filed a complaint about plant safety with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). The engineer filed the complaint after a valve at the plant became stuck, affecting the plant’s ability to control the nuclear reaction …

Bad noose for airport worker

12/01/2007

A construction worker at a rental car facility at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport was fired for hanging a noose at the job site. Co-workers discovered the noose when they came to the job site one morning. Investigators could not determine a motive for the employee’s actions …

Madison County settles in religious discrimination case

12/01/2007

An agnostic paramedic sued Madison County for religious discrimination after the county offered Christian counseling, held Christian prayer meetings in the workplace and allegedly terminated him because of his agnosticism …

City of Morrow loses overtime/Retaliation suit

12/01/2007

Two city police lieutenants sued the city of Morrow, claiming the city’s managers refused to pay them overtime and retaliated against them after they filed suit. According to court documents, a city manager fired one lieutenant and required the other to use annual leave for training time …

MasTec to settle overtime suit

12/01/2007

Technology company MasTec has agreed to settle long-standing overtime suits involving some of its home installation employees. The complaints date back to 2001 and affect current and former employees in 10 states, including Georgia …