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Terminations

When a former employee steals customers

04/23/2008
Q. One of our employees left and is stealing our customers. Can we sue him for breach of the duty of loyalty? …

Continuation medical coverage and small North Carolina employers

04/23/2008
Q. Does North Carolina have a “little” COBRA Act that requires small employers to offer continued health insurance to terminated employees? …

Treat all harassers equally, regardless of their sex

04/23/2008
In what may be a sign of growing equality, more men are complaining about sexual harassment by their female co-workers and supervisors. Although female harassers may still be in the minority, that’s no reason to dismiss claims that men make …

For some employees, banking law trumps state protections

04/23/2008
Banks chartered under the National Bank Act (NBA) don’t have to worry that some of their employment decisions will violate state wrongful-discharge laws. That’s because the NBA says all bank officers serve at the pleasure of a bank board of directors, which can terminate officers as they see fit …

Appeals court dumps whistle-Blower’s claim

04/23/2008
A three-judge panel of the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals rejected a whistle-blower claim by Mark Livingston, former training director at the Sanford vaccine plant of pharmaceuticals giant Wyeth Inc. The company fired Livingston in December 2002 …

Must we explain reason for termination?

04/23/2008
Q. We are about to terminate an employee for several reasons. Are we required to provide a written document explaining the reasons for her termination? …

Termination and unemployment comp

04/23/2008
Q. We have terminated a poorly performing employee and she has applied for unemployment benefits. Since she was terminated, is she entitled to benefits? …

Worker notification in case of plant closing

04/23/2008
Q. The economy is slowing down and we may have to close one of our locations. Does North Carolina have any law beyond the federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act that requires notice of large layoffs or business closings? …

Good faith is the key to litigation-Proof employment decisions

04/22/2008
Employment decisions don’t have to be perfect—they just have to be based on good faith. That’s good news, because it’s a fact that supervisors and managers will make mistakes. What that means: Just because an employee can prove management did something wrong doesn’t guarantee she will win a lawsuit …

ATA Airlines runs on empty, finally stalls as fuel costs rise

04/22/2008
Budget carrier ATA Airlines, based in Indianapolis, laid off 2,230 employees when it filed for bankruptcy and ended operations in April. The company cited skyrocketing fuel costs, plus the loss of two critical deals as primary causes for the shutdown …