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Labor & Employment – Employee stock ownership plan denied windfall
Where the owner of a company sold his shares to the employee stock ownership plan, or ESOP, but the ESOP paid an inflated price for the shares, the owner was liable for the price difference. But, because he forgave certain funds owned by the ESOP for the sale, the damages were offset by this amount. […]
Labor & Employment – Equal Pay claim turns on wage rate, not total compensation
Where an employee alleges she was paid less than male comparators, courts should only consider an employee’s base salary or wage rate, and not additional compensation like commissions. Background This appeal arises from the district court’s grant of summary judgment to Tactile Systems Technology Inc. on Tracy Sempowich’s discrimination, retaliation and Equal Pay Act claims. […]
Labor & Employment – WARN Act liability doesn’t extend to non-employer
Where employees constructing a nuclear station alleged the owner violated the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification, or WARN, Act when it halted construction at the facility, the owner wasn’t liable because it wasn’t the plaintiffs’ employer. Background In 2017, SCANA, an electric and natural gas public utility, halted construction at a nuclear station in South […]
Labor & Employment – Federal employees can’t sue for disparate impact under ADEA
The text, structure and the legal landscape in which the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, or ADEA, was passed law do not support a finding that the statute’s federal-sector provision encompasses disparate-impact liability. Background Dr. Jane DiCocco brought Title VII and Age Discrimination in Employment Act, or ADEA, claims because she failed an allegedly discriminatory […]
Labor & Employment — Public Employees – School Bus Driver – Unacceptable Personal Conduct – Speeding
Where (1) a witness testified that he saw the petitioner-bus driver driving a school activity bus on the highway at speeds up to 90 mph; (2) in order to make the trip in the time it took petitioner to drive it, she had to be averaging 70 mph; and (3) petitioner acknowledged work rules prohibiting […]
Labor & Employment — Public Employees – Unacceptable Personal Conduct – Exterminators’ Database – False Information
The petitioner-state employee failed to timely enter a pest control company’s license-renewal application. Subsequently, although a co-worker had already processed the company’s re-application and new check, petitioner overrode multiple failsafe mechanisms in the respondent-department’s database and thereby knowingly entered false information into the database when she asked the IT departmen[...]
Labor & Employment — Constitutional – First Amendment – Church Pastor – Subject Matter Jurisdiction
In order to rule on the counterclaims filed by defendant—a pastor purportedly fired from his position in the plaintiff-church—the trial court will first need to decide which version of the church’s bylaws was in effect and whether defendant was terminated in accordance with the applicable version of the bylaws. Since the trial court can make […]
Labor & Employment — Municipal Employment – Constitutional – Fruits of Labor – Due Process & Equal Protection
Where plaintiff alleges that the defendant-city violated its own personnel policies—by giving him only one day instead of at least three days to prepare for a pre-disciplinary hearing—plaintiff has stated a claim under N.C. Const. art. I, § 1 for violation of his right to enjoy the fruits of his own labor. We affirm the […]
Labor & Employment — Public Employees – Termination – Unacceptable Personal Conduct – Resulting Harm
The respondent-agency fired petitioner, a career state employee, after petitioner—during a conversation with her supervisor—used a racial epithet to describe a client family. Because the agency did not consider the resulting harm from petitioner’s unacceptable personal conduct, the agency’s investigation into the matter was incomplete, and we cannot conduct meaningful appellate review rega[...]
Labor/Employment – Government contractor not plaintiff’s ‘employer’
Where the government contractor did not supervise plaintiff’s work product, determine her hours or provide her with equipment necessary to perform her duties, it lacked the degree of control over the essential terms and conditions of her work necessary to make it her “employer.” Because the Americans with Disabilities Act, or ADA, does not extend […]
Labor & Employment –Contract – Non-solicitation Clause – Overbroad – Tort/Negligence – Misappropriation of Trade Secrets
The complaint alleges that defendant Drinkwater’s duties for his former employer, plaintiff Mechanical Systems & Services, Inc. (MSS), were limited to the HVAC field, and that he spent the “overwhelming majority” of his time managing two client accounts in the Charlotte area. Yet the customer non-solicitation clause in Drinkwater’s MSS employment contract purports to bar […]
Labor/Employment – County must pay winning party’s attorneys’ fees
Where Montgomery County transferred a blind employee to her requested customer service position at a countywide call center after a jury found its failure to do so amounted to discrimination, she was entitled to recover reasonable attorneys’ fees, costs and expenses under the Rehabilitation Act as a “prevailing party.” Background This case stems from Montgomery […]
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Commentary
- Amotion sees resurgence after almost a decade
- The flip side of generative AI in law and how to address it
- The fight for equal educational opportunity continues
- Court’s term was rough on big business
- Ex-president, bar association have made their choice
- Ruling sharpens boundaries in attorney-client privilege
- Lawyers Weekly debuts new and improved web experience
- US Supreme Court bites back at parody’s use of the First Amendment
- Supreme Court leaves key internet protection untouched
- Case study: North Carolina courts provide guidance on scope, limitations of attorney-client privilege
- A Different Ode to Pro Bono Work
- A roadmap to attracting, developing, retaining great associates
