When Jeff Schmeling’s TB test did not make it to his supervisor by the specified due date, he was fired. The California Department of Corrections thought the termination made perfect sense. The Third District Court of Appeals disagreed. Schmeling’s Perspective Schmeling knew that employees at the prison were required to submit annual test results indicating… Read More
Posts Categorized In: Employment Agreements and Termination
Missouri Trucking Company Found to Have Violated Whistleblower Protections
In 2014, a Missouri trucking company unlawfully damaged a former employee’s reputation after he got medical attention for an injury sustained on the job. In 2008, the driver informed his employer that he had sustained a back injury. It was serious enough that he had to be prescribed pain medication that would prevent him from… Read More
Haagen Dazs, Anyone?
The current economic and political climate creates many challenges for Washington state-area farms. In many ways, these challenges are unprecedented. The economic climate of law unemployment means that Washington growers will likely have to pay higher wages or at least better conditions for workers, who are largely migrant workers who head north during the busy… Read More
Do Undocumented Workers Have a Right to Sue for Unpaid Wages?
The 8th Circuit US Court of Appeals sent a strong message to employers in 2013. The Court decided to rule in favor of undocumented immigrants who had been employed by The Jerusalem Cafe in Westport. The Court determined that regardless of the legal status or citizenship of the employees who were hired to work at… Read More
Can You Get Fired for a Personal Post on Social Media?
Social media is here, and it is not going away. The average American spends a minimum of one hour of their workday answering personal calls, emails, and of course, social media. Millenials are quoted to be even more invested, spending an average of 1.8 hours a day on social media alone. Studies show that spending… Read More
United Farmworkers Union Wins Over Fruit Farm in California
Organized farm labor took on Gerawan Farming in a legal battle over labor contracts, and won. A huge fruit farm conglomerate that produces fruit across the United States, Gerawan fought for the right to create a labor contract that the farmworkers’ union opposed. Previous court rulings dating back to 2002 mandated that California could intervene… Read More
How Nevada Employees Should Handle Wrongful Termination
Losing one’s job is never easy, but it is a fact of life in every economy—Nevada’s included. The unpredictability and consequence associated with job loss can be extremely detrimental to one’s welfare and future. In addition to pursuing a new line of work, one must of course deal with bills continuing to pile up in… Read More
Your Right to a Jury Trial in California Legal Civil Cases: Grafton Partners LP v PrincewaterhouseCoopers LLP
If you have signed an agreement giving up the right to a jury trial in order to secure a contract, do you have grounds to change your mind? What if, once the work begins, you find the other party to be negligent or otherwise unsuitable as a contractual partner? You have signed a legal document,… Read More
H2-A Program
Last month saw the end of an unusual labor strike in the apple orchards of Central Washington. 17 workers from Mexico decided to strike against their employer in the apple industry, leading to face-to-face negotiations and an eventual agreement, which brought the striking workers back to work. With negotiating help from the Northwest Farmworker Union,… Read More
Collective Bargaining Agreements
Fans of professional sports teams have no doubt heard the phrase “collective bargaining” with respect to union contracts negotiated on behalf of the players. The purpose of collective bargaining is to come to a collective bargaining agreement, also known as a CBA. CBAs typically contain certain clauses, which have long been recognized by courts as… Read More