Archive for the ‘Alternate Dispute Resolution’ Category
BRINKER CASE SETTLES FOR $56 MILLION
California Restaurant Workers Settle High Profile Wage and Hour Class Action Lawsuit After waging a 10-year legal battle, Brinker Restaurant Corp., the parent company for Chili’s and Maggiano’s restaurant chains, has settled its wage and hour class action lawsuit. On August 6, 2014, the parties reached a preliminary agreement to resolve all 120,000 class members’ […]
WHEN IGNORANCE IS AN EXCUSE
An Employer is Not Responsible to Pay Off-the-Clock Work Time about Which It Knows Nothing A company normally must compensate an employee for any time he/she put in service to that company even if such work was not authorized. Thus, while an employer can issue policy barring overtime work or policy requiring advance approval for […]
THE ANNALS OF COPYRIGHT NUMBER 1
When In Doubt, Choose Contracts Over Lunch In a 1990 copyright decision over a sci-fi flick featuring alien frozen yogurt enslaving the human race (yes, that is correct), federal Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Alex Kozinski noted that the producer defendant — a “low-budget horror movie mogul” – justified his attempt to use another’s […]
THE DEVIL IS IN THE DETAILS: EMPLOYMENT CLASS ACTION SUITS CAN HINGE ON A COURT’S CHOICE OF DEFINITIONS
U.S. Supreme Court Turns to History and Webster’s Dictionary to Defeat a Class Action Against U.S. Steel A minimal underpayment of wages to a single worker can morph into a claim potentially worth millions if magnified across a “class” of many workers subject to the same alleged employment practices. Targeting larger employers, such “class action” […]
EMPLOYER WINS BATTLE BUT LOSES WAR
Company Ordered To Pay Worker’s $700,000 Attorney Bill United Parcel Service, Inc. (UPS) essentially “won” an age discrimination case when a California jury awarded an ex-employee only $27,280 in damages. That relative victory was short-lived, erased by the trial judge awarding the worker $700,000 for her attorney fees. The appeals court recently upheld this decision. […]
EEOC’S RECORD YEAR
More Than $372 Million Recovered In Workplace Discrimination Claims Despite staffing cuts, hiring freezes and sequestration woes, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) recovered a record $372.1 million for its private sector workplace discrimination charges — $6.7 million more than it recovered the year prior. The EEOC enforces federal anti-discrimination in employment laws. According […]
AVOIDING WORKPLACE HELL
For Heaven’s Sake: Document, Document, Document! Lawyers are in sales, they are not in management. They don’t sell widgets to consumers of course. Rather, competing attorneys each “sell” his/her client’s construction of events and actions to juries and judges, with the most plausible version of such occurrences the winner. This firm defends employers daily on […]
EMPLOYEE ARBITRATION AGREEMENTS
Case Study Illustrates Drafting “Do’s” and “Don’ts” California law very strongly supports two potentially conflicting policies on the handling of employment disputes. On the one hand, employees and employers alike have rights to have their civil claims heard by a jury in a formal court proceeding. On the other, this state recognizes the rights of […]
WHEN IT’S TIME TO CONTACT AN EMPLOYMENT LAWYER
Knowing When to Call for Reinforcements There’s a saying that no-one likes lawyers … until you need one. While experienced and knowledgeable managers are usually capable of handling basic employment issues, there are pitfalls in the more complex or high stakes situations for which consultation with an employment and labor lawyer is probably a good […]
ARBITRATION NATION
Arbitration provisions in employment agreements must comply with specific legal requirements to be enforceable.