A Portland man was sentenced to 10 days in jail for videotaping his co-worker while she was using her breast pump at work. Russell Kent Gordon used a spy pen to tape his co-worker claiming that he wanted to make sure she was not stealing from the company. A recent AOL-Jobs post listing 10 legal… Read More
Posts Categorized In: Employment Policies
Navy Yard Shooter And The Need For Background Checks
After the recent Navy Yard shooting, employee background checks got national attention. A Reuters’ article explains that the U.S. Navy was not aware of the specifics of the shooter’s criminal history in Seattle. The Navy may have been aware of his recent interactions with police due to his hearing voices. Both the criminal and medical… Read More
A Venture in Arbitrating a Discrimination Claim
Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (KPCB), a venture capital firm that helped companies like Amazon and Google get startup money, will not be able to arbitrate its current discrimination case. The San Jose Mercury News reported that Ellen Pao, a former partner at KPCB, filed a sex discrimination claim against the firm. She claimed that… Read More
SeaTac Minimum Wage Initiative Clears Legal Hurdles, Will Likely Appear on Ballot
The minimum wage is a hot topic these days, especially in light of all of the fast food workers’ strikes that are occurring across the nation. As we recently discussed, voters in the city of SeaTac can vote in November to increase the minimum wage of workers in and around the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. However,… Read More
Back to the Basics: Understanding ERISA
Retirement is something every employee looks forward to, particularly if the employee knows money has been set aside for retirement. Not having money set aside can be stressful for those close to retirement age. However, discovering that the money set aside and promised for retirement is no longer available or is significantly less than expected… Read More
Washington Court Reverses Firefighter's Favorable Jury Verdict
A federal judge in the Eastern District of Washington reversed a jury verdict and award in favor of a group of firefighters who had sued the city of Pullman, Washington for employment discrimination. In his opinion, the district judge reversed the jury’s decision that the firefighters had faced retaliation for defending a fire captain who… Read More
Lack of Protections for Oregon Employees Who Use Medical Marijuana
ue to the enactment of the Oregon Medical Marijuana Act (OMMA) in 1998, Oregon is one 20 states plus the District of Columbia to pass legislation legalizing the use of marijuana for medical purposes. The laws under OMMA, ORS 475.300-ORS 475.346, protect citizens with debilitating medical conditions from criminal liability for the use of small… Read More
Federal Child Labor Laws Draw Criticism
The United States Department of Labor recently fined several grocery store chains in the Midwest more than $130,000 for various violations of child labor laws. While child labor violations may sound serious, in reality the stores were not putting the young employees in harm’s way and no kids were abused or injured in the course… Read More
New Labor Laws in Oregon
The Oregon legislature has passed several new employment measures in 2013, most of which will take effect on January 1, 2014. Many of the new laws provide additional rights and protections for Oregon employees, which demonstrates a positive pro-employee trend among the legislators. Employees throughout the state should familiarize themselves with the new laws to… Read More
Protections for Oregon Employees who Suffer Domestic Violence
The unfortunate reality is that anyone can become a victim of illegal acts such as domestic violence, harassment, sexual assault or stalking. Victims of these crimes may requirement several different kinds of assistance from medical doctors, therapists or psychiatrists, law enforcement, etc. Working with law enforcement and prosecutors and ultimately serving as a witness to… Read More