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Employment Law

Violating your e-policies can be a federal crime

06/24/2011

If you’re worried that an employee or ex-employee will break into your computer network and damage the company, a new court ruling gives you more teeth to enforce your policy. And it gives employees something to think about before they commit e-sabotage.

Settlement may mean higher pay for pharma firm’s N.C. women

06/23/2011

Pharmaceutical giant Astra Zeneca has agreed to settle a gender pay bias claim, and the consent decree that spells out the terms of the settlement could affect North Carolina women who work for the company. Under the settlement, 124 female pharmaceutical sales specialists will split $250,000.

Feds issue new tip-credit pooling rules

06/23/2011
Employers are now free to set the percentage of employee tips that can be placed in a tip pool. In years past, several court decisions conflicted with the U.S. Department of Labor’s position restricting the amount of tips an employer could require to be pooled.

KobeWieland pays $84,750 to settle ADA suit

06/23/2011
A North Carolina man whose job offer was rescinded when KobeWieland Copper Products discovered he was missing several fingers will receive $84,750 under the terms of a settlement brokered by the EEOC.

No self-defamation claim possible in North Carolina

06/23/2011
A former employee at a North Carolina Walmart has lost a novel claim that could have opened the litigation floodgates in North Carolina and destroyed the at-will employment concept. He sued, alleging he had been forced to reveal why he had been fired, which in effect amounted to self-defamation.

Employee is own lawyer? Don’t ignore the suit

06/23/2011

With more and more lawyers getting selective about the cases they take, em­ployees sometimes have to go it alone. Don’t ignore these pro se cases. Instead, get expert legal assistance. Often, courts will toss out dubious cases rather quickly.

When workers must wear special gear, beware lawsuit if you don’t pay for ‘donning & doffing’

06/23/2011
Employees who believe they haven’t been properly paid for the time they spend getting into and out of protective gear are engaging lawyers and filing class-action lawsuits.

Weigh liability limits when structuring company

06/23/2011

Think you can split your business into separate entities to avoid being covered by some laws like the FMLA—and maybe limit the amount employees can collect if they sue under Title VII? Think again. That won’t work if the entities retain a centralized management structure.

Want to catch harassment? Go looking for it

06/23/2011
More than a decade after the U.S. Supreme Court decided its biggest sexual harassment and hostile work-environment cases, women are still filing and winning sexual harassment lawsuits. Many of them could easily have been prevented had HR and upper-level management taken regular, surprise walks through the factory floor and other work areas.

Do we have to pay for nonexempt’s travel time for one-day out-of-town trips?

06/23/2011
Q. One of our executives will be making day trips once a week to Boston from Philadelphia for a special assignment. Do we have to compensate the secretary (she is nonexempt) for her travel time to and from Boston?