Afternoon Briefs: 2 firms give special bonuses; immigrant leaves church sanctuary for first time in 3 years
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Paul Hastings, Sheppard Mullin provide special bonuses to staff and paralegals
As many large firms continue to reward young lawyers for their work in the past year, Paul Hastings and Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton are also providing special bonuses to staff. According to memos obtained by the American Lawyer, full-time and part-time support staff, paralegals and other timekeepers at Paul Hastings will receive $1,500 or the equivalent in local currency at the end of April, and staff and paralegals at Shepard Mullin will receive a bonus equal to one week’s pay June 25. Sheppard Mullin Chief Operating Officer Ted Tinson told the publication that “staff deserve the same level of benefit that the rest of the firm is seeing from their hard work.” (The American Lawyer)
Honduran immigrant leaves Utah church that offered sanctuary for 3 years
Honduran immigrant Vicky Chavez stepped outside the First Unitarian Church in Salt Lake City on Thursday, more than three years after she and her two young daughters accepted its offer of sanctuary to avoid being deported. Chavez, who fled an abusive boyfriend in Honduras, entered the United States illegally in June 2014 and was later denied asylum. She and her daughters reportedly became the first known immigrants to take sanctuary in Utah but decided to leave the church after receiving notice from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement that she had been granted a stay of removal. (The Associated Press)
Federal lawsuit challenges restaurant group’s policy of paying less than minimum wage
Advocacy group One Fair Wage filed a federal lawsuit against the largest restaurant chain in the country Thursday, alleging that its policy of paying workers who receive tips less than minimum wage leads to higher rates of sexual harassment and pay inequity for employees of color. “When a company adopts wage policies or practices like these that result in disparate, negative impacts on the basis of sex and race, and there is no business necessity for doing so, it engages in illegal employment discrimination under federal law,” according to the complaint against Darden Restaurants Inc., which operates Olive Garden and Longhorn Steakhouse. (Courthouse News Service, the April 15 complaint)
Client is entitled to new sentencing after receiving ‘literally no assistance’ from attorney, 7th Circuit says
A client can be resentenced after his lawyer failed to present any mitigating evidence and let him do all the talking at his sentencing hearing, the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals at Chicago held Tuesday. In an opinion written by Judge Diane P. Wood, the appeals court contended that Roderick Lewis, who was being sentenced on two felony murder counts, “received literally no assistance” from his attorney, Jeffrey Raff, during that stage of the trial. “He uttered two short sentences: ‘Judge, I’m going to defer to Mr. Lewis if he has any comments. I don’t have anything to add,’” the court said. “This went beyond a failure to conduct adversarial testing; it was an announcement of abandonment.” (Bloomberg Law, the April 13 opinion)
