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Employment Law

Employee who’s suing filed for bankruptcy? You may have a ‘get out of jail free’ card!

03/11/2010

Employees who are declaring bankruptcy are supposed to let the bankruptcy court know about any lawsuits they’re involved in. If they’ve sued you for discrimination and don’t tell the court, their lawsuits may be dismissed. That’s because bankruptcy courts are supposed to look at all possible assets. A pending lawsuit is one such asset because it could result in a monetary award. Concealing that asset is akin to fraud.

11th Circuit opens door for wide discretion when trial courts set remedies in bias cases

03/11/2010

In a decision that could encourage trial courts to aggressively fix discrimination, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld a lower court’s wide-ranging remedy for a proven case of discrimination.

Choose words carefully when challenging unemployment

03/11/2010

When you challenge an unemployment claim, what you say can come back to haunt you.

You can discipline worker whose griping boils over

03/11/2010

Some employees who believe they’ve been mistreated get so angry that they begin airing their grievances to co-workers. That can be a firing offense. Although you can’t ban employees from talking about wages or other conditions of employment, you can prohibit harassing conduct.

Odd ADA strategy means a jury will decide Xentel case

03/11/2010

A decision by the U.S. District Court with jurisdiction in South Florida has spotlighted some sage ADA advice: Don’t be a jerk if you can avoid it. Xentel, a charity fundraising firm, hired disabled veteran Mark Lerman to work in its call center. Lerman uses a wheelchair. On his first day at work, Lerman found the firm’s restrooms weren’t fully wheelchair accessible …

Miami-Dade, vendor settle—and whistle-blower gets $1.25M

03/11/2010

Miami-Dade County has agreed to settle a long-running legal dispute with the Wackenhut security firm, and one of the biggest winners is a Wackenhut worker who blew the whistle on the company. The battle began in 2005 when Michelle Trimble accused her employer of billing the county for 300 hours of work a week that no one was performing. The alleged overbilling amounted to $4.5 million per year.

With arbitration under attack, consider right-to-jury-trial waivers

03/11/2010

With the enactment of the Franken Amendment to the Defense Appropriations Act for FY 2010, Congress and the Obama administration have begun an assault on employers’ use of mandatory arbitration as an alternative to court trials for resolving workplace disputes and claims. Employers have been asking whether other alternatives to jury trials will exist in the absence of arbitration. One alternative that companies can consider: entering into waivers of civil jury trials with their employees.

Employee out on military leave: Must we pay him?

03/11/2010

Q. We have an employee who will soon go on temporary military duty soon and be gone for several weeks. Do we have to pay him at all during his absence, or does he receive military pay?

Know difference between employee, contractor

03/11/2010

Here’s some good news if you use truly independent contractors to perform work. If you have done it right, you don’t have to worry about losing an age discrimination lawsuit. But there’s a caveat: You must make sure you can easily prove your contractor wasn’t really an employee.

Determine if mental condition actually impairs

03/11/2010

Not everyone who has a learning disability or even mild retardation is disabled. Under the ADA, every disability is measured by the individual’s condition and whether or not the condition he claims is disabling substantially impairs a major life function. Thus, someone with minor intellectual deficits may not be disabled under the ADA.