Employment Contracts

Employee’s sophisticated negotiation skills may help make employment contract binding

04/24/2017

Are you negotiating an employment contract with an applicant for a high-level position? If the applicant actively participates in that negotiation and makes counter-offers to the terms you propose, chances are a court won’t later throw out the agreement even if it includes an arbitration clause.

Your call: Pay lawyer a little now… or a lot later

03/16/2017

Sometimes, it pays to take the time and spend the money to have legal experts carefully review your proposed actions.

The one time it’s good for your handbook to be a contract

03/03/2017

An employer has won the right to pursue a contract counterclaim against a former employee based on a provision in the employee handbook.

Microbrewery alleges former exec spilled trade secrets

02/17/2017

Summit Brewing in St. Paul is suing its former vice president of sales for providing trade secrets to a direct competitor.

Union arbitrator can decide guilt, but not punishment

02/16/2017

If an agreement includes specific disciplinary provisions, it’s up to an arbitrator to determine if an employee violated the rules. But if the agreement spells out the punishment, the arbitrator is not free to modify the penalty.

Keep complete records of settlement talks

02/09/2017

Sometimes, it’s better to settle an employee’s complaint than to litigate it. If you do, be sure to carefully document the entire process.

Could you prove employee really signed agreement?

01/30/2017

If you use arbitration agreements to resolve workplace disputes, make sure you can prove that the employee actually agreed to the terms.

Employee representing herself? Document all parts of settlement process

01/11/2017

Carefully document the settlement process. Be able to prove you suggested having the employee ask a real attorney to review the proposed settlement.

Even in California, arbitration agreement can be valid if employee knowingly signed it

12/22/2016

A federal court has ordered an FMLA interference case to be sent to arbitration pursuant to an agreement an employee signed when he was hired.

Arbitration agreement applies after discharge

12/12/2016

A federal court has ruled that an arbitration agreement that purported to apply to just about all possible employment-related claims now and in the future can also apply to subsequent failure-to-hire claims.