Posts

Guest post by Jennifer K. Halford, Esq. I recently had a conversation with a very disgruntled employee. She was upset that her employer had reprimanded her for violating a company policy. The problem was that the “policy” did not officially exist…at least not in written form. It is important that business owners create certain business policies and practices. Good policies help your employees perform to your expected standards. Good policies can also ensure your employees are not acting in a manner that will get you sued....

Happy National Teacher’s Day! Thank you teachers for teaching us our ABC’s and 123’s. Thank you for all the sleepless nights because we couldn’t finish our homework before bedtime. In appreciation of National Teacher’s Day, here are four laws every teacher should know: 1. Student Loans “I’m doing it for the money,” said no teacher, ever. Teachers don’t get paid very much, so it can be hard to pay off student loans....

Legal planning may not be something to which you’ve given much thought. After all, you can’t always plan ahead for unexpected things like crime and workplace accidents. But for plenty of other legal issues that you know you’re going to face, you can (and should!) have some sort of action plan in place to address them. Don’t worry, FindLaw’s got you covered. Our new Legal Planning homepage is a “one-stop shop” for your legal planning needs....

Arizona’s SB 1062 – a proposed law which would effectively affirm a business’ right to refuse service to gays and lesbians – is poised to be enacted or vetoed by Saturday. Gov. Jan Brewer, a Republican, has been pressed by friends and lawmakers from both sides of the political aisle to veto the bill. Her office has received more than 10,000 calls and e-mails about the issue, reports The Arizona Republic....

You love your kids, but let’s face it – they have already done the greatest thing they will do for you, which is give you grandkids. Now you’re over the next generation but very excited about the one following, your youngest family members with all their potential. You hope to live long enough to see them fulfill it and you want to ensure that you will be able to help even after you are gone....

The Supreme Court received much praise from the business community this year when it upheld the enforceability of consumer class action waivers. Some even believe that the ruling upholds mandatory arbitration agreements in employment contracts. Unfortunately, this may not be true. The private attorney general is a nationwide concept. A number of federal and state laws give individuals the ability to file suit in the public interest. Individuals bring representative actions, and in turn are awarded penalties and attorney’s fees....

Few employees want to work on Thanksgiving, unless they are looking for a solid excuse to get out of a family dinner. Employers often do what they can to spread holiday work around in whatever manner seems fair, but it’s likely some percentage of employees in certain industries will have to work this Thanksgiving. Employers are thankful for their service, but do they have to pay them overtime? Holiday pay is governed by state law, not federal law, and so the answer to this question depends on where you work and the industry in which you work....

Homeowners and consumers have a new online resource for updates and assistance with the tainted drywall problem that’s been grabbing headlines in recent months, with widespread reports of damage to homes and fears of health problems linked to the building materials. The new Drywall Information Center from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) features updates on the CPSC drywall investigation, instructions for homeowners who may be affected by tainted drywall, and answers to frequently asked questions on tainted drywall....

Young immigrants could be a potential new source of qualified employees for small businesses in the wake of the President’s deportation deferral program. The program is expected to provide many young immigrants with temporary relief from deportation and permission to work in the U.S. It applies only to those who entered the U.S. before age 16 who are either enrolled in or have graduated from high school, earned a GED, or served honorably in the military....

Following years of constant criticism for its purported privacy problems, Facebook has made a second group of changes to its privacy settings in less than a month. In April, Facebook announced several privacy-related changes to its heavily criticized system of apps. The latest changes to be announced are focused on individual user profiles and are an attempt to combat a widely held view that the company has a habit of sacrificing user privacy for potential profit....

We are often warned that the Internet is forever. Since we users are not (yet) immortal, what happens to our online lives after our corporal ones are over? On Thursday, Facebook announced that users can now designate a legacy contact: “a family member or friend who can manage their account when they pass away.” So what happens to your feed after you’ve shuffled off your last status update? And what about your digital assets: email, e-books, etc....

Even business owners need a vacation – especially now, with the weather heating up and the days getting pleasantly longer. Not only is a vacation a great way to decompress, but it can often be beneficial for your business. You’ll come back recharged, and your business will be more valuable than ever as a result. But before you make a mad dash to pack your bathing suit and snorkel gear, remember that you’re still leaving a business behind temporarily, and there are things that need to be taken care of beforehand....

Gun rights advocates all over the country have a reason to shoot a few rounds in celebration. Ohio’s Supreme Court shot down Cleveland gun laws that banned assault weapons and mandated the registration of handguns. The Cleveland Plain Dealer reports that while gun rights advocates claim that this decision protects a fundamental constitutional right, there are others who claim that the decision just prevents Cleveland from protecting its citizens from violence....

“Oracle’s suppression of pay for its non-white, non-male employees is so extreme that it persists and gets worse over long careers.” Not exactly something you want to hear about your business in any context in this day and age, and certainly not something you want to read in a complaint filed by the U.S. Department of Labor. And these are not new allegations. Federal labor officials are updating a 2017 lawsuit, now claiming that discriminatory hiring practices at the software giant cost women and people of color more than $400 million in lost wages....

How do you sign up for health insurance under Obamacare? State and federal health insurance exchanges are now open from coast to coast, as the first open enrollment period begins under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Many Americans may already have insurance through work or a private plan, or are covered by Medicare or Medicaid. But for those individuals and families who are uninsured, “signing up” for Obamacare may be the only way to avoid paying a penalty....

Mario Batali has agreed to settle a lawsuit filed by waiters, bussers, bartenders, runners and other employees working at a number of his New York restaurants. The $5.25 million class action settlement, which involves approximately 1,100 employees, covers accusations the celebrity chef and his partner illegally confiscated employee tips. Plaintiffs in the Batali tips lawsuit claim the practice was widespread, and that it was in place at all of the chef’s Manhattan eateries....

There are normal injuries sustained from everyday activities like fender benders or slip-and-falls. And there are catastrophic injuries from asphalt melters that fall on your head. Brian Goodrich of Oxford, Massachusetts sustained the latter, suffering permanent disfigurement to his face and skull, permanent blindness in one eye, and loss of “even remedial cognitive function.” And last week a jury awarded Goodrich and his family $8.25 million, determining that the melter’s designers were more than 50 percent at fault for the accident....

After a long day of debating and voting, Michigan is now the nation’s 24th “Right to Work” state. Michigan’s House of Representatives on Tuesday approved two bills about union membership for both private and government employees. Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder, a Republican, signed the bills into law a few hours later. Similar so-called “right-to-work” legislation has spread across the country in recent years. So what does Michigan’s new law mean for the Great Lakes State?...

Bob has left the building, but his lawsuits follow after him. Former Price is Right host Bob Barker has been hit with a pregnancy discrimination suit by one of the former Price Is Right models, Shane Stirling. Stirling is suing ol’ Bob for more than $25,000 in damages for allegedly forcing her into an early pregnancy leave and keeping her off the set until the show had crossed over into new management....

Monster Beverage Co. has been sued yet again by a parent who blames Monster Energy Drinks for causing her teenage son’s death. Alex Morris, 19, of Oakland, California, died from a cardiac arrhythmia last year. His mother Paula is alleging that Alex’s death was caused by Monster Energy Drinks, which he habitually drank. The wrongful death lawsuit asserts that Alex Morris would not have died if he had not consumed two cans of Monster energy drinks every day for the three years before his death, including the day he died, reports CBS News....