07/13/2010
Some employees have heard through the legal grapevine that if the going gets tough at work, they can just get going. They believe they can up and quit—and then turn around and sue, claiming that they had no choice but to leave because they were suffering retaliation for taking some protected action. This is an example of “constructive discharge.” But conditions have to be pretty onerous before the tactic works.
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07/02/2010
Q. A resigning employee gave us two weeks’ notice, but we decided to terminate the employee right away instead. Are we obligated to pay the person for those two weeks he gave notice for?
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06/14/2010
Employers looking to discourage their employees from going to work for a competitor, take note! As a general matter, courts aren’t in favor of noncompete agreements. Nevertheless, Illinois employers may now have a new weapon to keep employees from taking your secrets when they leave.
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05/17/2010
Under many federal employment laws, employees don’t have to be fired to sue for wrongful termination. Instead, they can claim constructive discharge, alleging they had no choice but to quit. But that argument won’t fly for employees who try to sue their Illinois employers for common-law wrongful termination.
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04/28/2010
If you haven’t already done so, now is a good time to remind everyone in HR to avoid playing down or dismissing the impact of supervisor harassment on employees. It may be tempting to tell a complaining employee that she’s making a mountain out of a molehill. But understand that telling an employee she should get over it and return to work may prompt her to quit—and then sue you.
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04/19/2010
There’s hope for employers victimized by competitors who attempt to poach corporate all-stars. If some other organization tries to unethically steal your best employees, you may have a remedy—even if you haven’t made employees sign noncompete agreements (which aren’t usually enforceable in California anyway).
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04/16/2010
Be cautious about asking employees about their retirement plans. Employees who are fired soon after disclosing their retirement thoughts have brought successful age bias claims in court.
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04/15/2010
In the wake of a recent Illinois court decision in Citadel Investment Group, LLC v. Teza Technologies LLC, employers should rethink their noncompete agreements. Without fine tuning, these contracts may not work as well as they could.
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04/15/2010
A former employee is suing Mike Smith Autoplex and Group 1 Automotive, claiming he was forced to resign from the Beaumont car dealer because of his race.
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04/05/2010
West Chester-based AK Steel has filed suit against three former employees in Butler County Court, alleging that they stole company secrets when they went to work for a competitor.
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03/26/2010
Employees who are forced to work in an unsafe or unhealthy environment may be able to collect unemployment benefits. But some employees seem to think that any work-related problems can justify quitting and then getting unemployment. That’s simply not true.
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03/26/2010
The New Jersey Superior Court has reversed a large jury award previously won by a whistle-blower because the employer never fired the employee or forced him to quit.
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03/26/2010
Q. Is it legal to require management employees to give us a longer resignation period than other employees?
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03/19/2010
High-ranking and well-paid employees occasionally think about jumping ship and starting competing companies. And sometimes they try to poach business as they prepare to launch their own enterprises. An employer may never know until it’s too late that a presumably loyal employee was working against its best interests. If that happens to you, consult an attorney right away! In many cases, the former employee may be liable for any losses his predatory behavior caused.
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03/12/2010
Sometimes, employees get angry over some real or imagined slight and walk out. To make sure they really did quit and can’t claim constructive discharge, document your efforts to determine what happened.
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