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Employment Law

Good news: Courts reluctant to appoint free attorneys

06/08/2009

Even if it’s all in their heads, some employees think their co-workers and supervisors are out to get them. If they’re unable to find an attorney willing to take the case, they’ll often file the lawsuit themselves, asking the court to find and pay for an attorney. Fortunately, fewer and fewer judges are granting those requests.

EEOC gets crabby with Pembroke’s Club Gabys

06/08/2009

According to an EEOC lawsuit, when new management took over Club Gabys in Pembroke Pines, Fla., it stated its intention to “get rid of all the old and ugly people” and presumably replace them with young, beautiful and charming people like themselves …

Supreme Court decides Hulteen pregnancy discrimination case

06/08/2009

Claims of pregnancy discrimination have gained attention again with the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision in AT&T Corp. v. Hulteen. In light of the decision, now is the time to conduct an audit of your practices, policies and plans to make sure they comply with the  Pregnancy Discrimination Act ’s requirements.

When can a Florida state agency terminate an employee for ‘disloyalty’?

06/08/2009

Q. Our state agency’s board is considering terminating a legal secretary who seems to have been a supporter of one of our attorneys who was discharged for both performance problems and being disloyal to our board. We understand that, under the patronage dismissal doctrine, we can terminate employees who supported the political opponent of our agency’s elective head. Can the board likewise discharge the legal secretary for her seeming disloyalty?

Can we get this suit dismissed? A former employee sued us and then filed for bankruptcy

06/08/2009

Q. One of our former employees filed a discrimination lawsuit against the company. She subsequently filed for bankruptcy, but failed to include the pending lawsuit as an asset in the bankruptcy estate. She eventually obtained a bankruptcy discharge. Will the company now be able to have her discrimination lawsuit dismissed?

OK to fire a bankrupt financial manager? We fear his ineptitude will chase customers away

06/08/2009

Q. One of our financial managers has filed for bankruptcy, and our directors now want to terminate him because they doubt his financial judgment. They’re also worried that customers will react negatively to the news that one of our finance people is going bankrupt. Can we lawfully discharge him?

Labor Department seeks more funds to boost enforcement

06/08/2009

U.S. Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis’ budget request to Congress includes funds to hire nearly 1,000 new employees, 670 of whom will be investigators. The plan calls for 200 more wage-and-hour Labor investigators and 160 additional OSHA gumshoes.

You don’t need a Sherlock Holmes investigation to deny ERISA benefits

06/05/2009

A federal appeals court has made it harder for employees to challenge your decision to deny a benefit covered by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA).

COBRA subsidy available even after ‘involuntary’ termination

06/05/2009

Under the massive new federal economic stimulus law, employees who suffer an “involuntary termination” have to pay just 35% of the cost of COBRA continuation health care coverage. Employers cover the rest and then the government reimburses them. But what does “involuntary termination” mean?

HR groups fire back at mandatory sick leave legislation

06/05/2009

Congress is considering legislation that would require employers with 15 or more workers to provide seven days of paid sick leave per employee per year, an expansion of the FMLA that a coalition of HR and business groups immediately decried.