The U.S. Supreme Court is busy with an unusually large number of employment cases this term, and today the Court issued its opinion in one closely watched case. By many accounts, the decision is somewhat of a letdown for employment attorneys because the Supreme Court did not really decide much of anything, and certainly did… Read More
Employment Blog
Here you can find the most recent employment law news and commentary on cases around the country. If you need assistance with employment law, don't hesitate to call us.
Sexual Harassment Case Results in $5.3 Million Verdict
Today a federal court jury in Florida awarded a sexual harassment plaintiff $5.4 Million. The case was filed by a woman who alleged the defendant touched her and offered her money for sex, among other things. An article about the case appears here. The defendant in the case, Florida real estate mogul David Siegel, no… Read More
Wage Claims Can Go Forward Where Employer Failed to Pay Under Settlement Agreement
A new published case from the Washington Court of Appeals addresses the proper remedy when an employer fails to pay under a settlement agreement. The case is Rosen v. Ascentry Technologies, Inc. and can be found here. In this case, Rosen sued Ascentry for breach of contract and unpaid wages. Ascentry agreed to settle the… Read More
Supreme Court Allows Employee to Sue for 401(k) Losses
Today the Supreme Court said that a 401(k) participant can sue for losses when a plan fiduciary fails to follow investment directions. A copy of the opinion is here. In the case, James LaRue of Southlake,Texas, contends that his stock market holdings plunged $150,000 because administrators of his 401(k) retirement plan failed to follow his… Read More
Supreme Court Agrees to Hear 3 More Employment Cases
The Supreme Court agreed to review three more employment cases addressing: (1) whether an arbitration clause in a collective bargaining agreement can apply to statutory issues as well as contract issues; (2) whether a union may charge non-union members for litigation costs expended on behalf of the union members; and (3) how a divorcing spouse… Read More
Split Decision in Litigation Over CIGNA Cash Balance Pension Plan
Those following employee benefits litigation know that there have been hundreds of cases filed over the trend by companies to convert their traditional, defined benefit pension plans to cash balance plans. Another ruling was issued late last week in a class action case involving a plan conversion by CIGNA. The judge summarized the background the… Read More
Workplace Bullying Legislation Introduced in 13 States, Including Washington
Legislation has been introduced in 13 states, including Washington, to allow employee lawsuits against employers for bullying or offensive behavior even when the conduct is not illegal harassment under discrimination laws. For an interesting article on these bills see "No Putting Up With Putdowns". No state has enacted one of these so-called workplace bullying laws. … Read More
Overtime and Misclassification Class Action Goes Forward Against FedEx
A federal district court judge in California has certified a class action of former managers suing for overtime pay. The managers argue that they were improperly classified from overtime because most of their time was spent doing manual labor rather than managerial tasks. The case is Wiegele v. Fedex Ground Package System Inc. A copy… Read More
Employee Use of Cell Phone Leads to $5.2 Million Verdict
Here is an expensive lesson for an employer, in this case International Paper. One of its employees rear-ended another car while talking on a company cell phone causing severe injuries to the driver of the other car. A jury hit International Paper with a $5.2 million dollar verdict as explained in this article. The case… Read More
Employee Fired for Smoking May Pursue Claims Under ERISA and State Privacy Laws
This interesting case is in the federal district court in Massachusetts. The employee was discharged for smoking while off-duty under an employer policy prohibiting all smoking, even outside of the workplace. A copy of the opinion can be found here, and an article about the case is here. The ruling states merely that discovery should… Read More