Employment Contracts

Filing suit to protect trade secrets won’t kill your arbitration rights

12/01/2001

MicroStrategy put the head of its HR department, Betty Lauricia, on paid leave soon after she filed a discrimination claim with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). Lauricia had an arbitration …

To keep arbitration clause legal, ensure workers’ cost is reasonable

11/01/2001

When SFX bought a New York radio station, it required all workers to sign a binding arbitration clause. Station employee Tracy Christopher later accused the company of gender and pregnancy …

You Can Change Workers’ Hours on Short Notice

11/01/2001

Q. Can we change employees’ work hours on short notice by altering their schedules? Also, we have a part-time employee who’s been employed for a few months working 32 hours a week. She’s preparing to return to work after recovering from a car accident. Can we reduce her work hours? —J.L., Maryland

Close ties with arbitrator can unbind decision

10/01/2001

Prudential fired Alex Montez four months into his job as a senior vice president after it found he had misrepresented something on his job application. But one issue prevented a clean …

Sweeten Deal to Retain Worker After Training

10/01/2001

Q. We just covered the entire cost for an employee to complete nurses’ aide training. We intended to draw up an agreement before the training so that this employee would be available to our business for six months before she could seek other employment, but we failed to discuss the agreement before the training. Can we have her sign such an agreement now? —C.E., Ohio

Don’t let blabbing employees hide their identity on the Internet

09/01/2001

Imagine that an employee posts confidential information about your company on an Internet message board. What do you do? One company sued the message-board site to learn the identity of the …

Poorly drafted policies grant unintended rights

08/01/2001

Dr. Tina Thomas, an optometrist with Pearle Vision Inc., requested maternity leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). After all, a summary of employee benefits said “all employees with …

Cost-sharing can cost you in arbitration agreements

08/01/2001

To get a job as an airport security agent, Damiana Perez had to agree to arbitrate all employment disputes. The agreement required her and the company to split the costs of …

Unsigned contracts can lock you in

07/01/2001

After negotiations to open a new restaurant, a company gave chef Roland Schnider a final draft of a three-year employment agreement that covered salary, benefits, bonuses and an ownership interest in …

Facing layoffs? Avoid laying the groundwork for lawsuits