Labor & Employment

Unusual Employee Handbook: ‘Use Your Best Judgment’

The parent company of major newspapers in California and Illinois has taken an innovative approach to the revision of its employee handbook under the leadership of a new owner. Forgoing the usual detailed prohibitions and explanations, it hits employees straight on the chin with plain-language rules. Open the handbook—which is…

Jan 18, 2008 8:21 PM CST

High Court to Hear Retaliation Claim of Worker Who Cooperated in Internal Probe

The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to decide whether a worker who is fired after cooperating in her employer’s internal probe of sexual harassment may sue for retaliation. Nashville, Tenn., school employee Vicky Crawford, who was fired after more than 30 years on the job, contends in her cert petition…

Jan 18, 2008 7:31 PM CST

Mass. Judge Sues Over Injury on Courthouse Steps

Judges in Massachusetts don’t qualify for workers’ compensation. So, after Paul Chernoff fell on some jagged steps at the Norfolk Superior Courthouse in Dedham and fractured his knee, the jurist eventually decided he had no choice but to sue to get someone to take responsibility for his injuries. The judge,…

Jan 17, 2008 11:43 PM CST

Nearly Naked Fashion Exec Claims Legitimate Business Purpose

A fashion industry executive who is about to face a sexual harassment trial largely focusing on his workplace attire—or lack thereof—claims there was a legitimate business purpose for appearing at meetings in his underwear, and, on occasion, even skimpier outfits. Because he worked as a fit model, and was designing…

Jan 17, 2008 8:25 PM CST

Legal Clinic for Blind May Be a First

When attorney Nicholas Pomaro offers advice to clients at a Chicago legal aid clinic believed to be perhaps the only one in the country focusing on issues faced by those who are blind, he has one big advantage in understanding their concerns. He’s blind, too, reports the Chicago Tribune. After…

Jan 16, 2008 6:04 PM CST

New ‘Big Brother’ Software Will Monitor Workers’ Facial Expressions

Privacy advocates, rev your engines: Microsoft is developing what a British newspaper describes as “Big Brother” software that will allow employers remotely to monitor their workers’ productivity, competence and physical well-being to a degree never before seen. Among other data, wireless sensors will provide employers with workers’ heart rates and…

Jan 16, 2008 4:41 PM CST

More Verrill Dana Fallout re Former Partner’s Alleged $400K Theft

The managing partner at one of Maine’s biggest and best-known law firms has resigned his post in the wake of a former partner’s alleged theft of just over $400,000 from the firm and some clients. David Warren, who is credited with leading a successful turnaround at Verrill Dana after it…

Jan 15, 2008 6:32 PM CST

Associate Claims Houston Firm Retaliated for Reporting Racist Directive

A former associate with a Houston law firm alleges in a lawsuit that she was fired for reporting the comments of a top partner who told her not to hire any more black lawyers. The former associate, Sandra Perez Ard, is suing Forman Perry Watkins Krutz & Tardy, Texas Lawyer…

Jan 15, 2008 5:00 PM CST

Academic Booted From School Soccer Team Sues for Discrimination

An Oxford University don has sued the renowned British institution for employment discrimination, contending that she was excluded from a staff soccer team that is considered a department of the university because she has children. An economics lecturer at the university’s Balliol College, 40-year-old Cecile Deer is also an expert…

Jan 15, 2008 4:38 PM CST

High Court Drops Wal-Mart Disability Case

The U.S. Supreme Court has dropped a case from its docket in which an injured Wal-Mart worker contended she should been given preference for an open position. The case was dismissed apparently because it has settled, SCOTUSblog reports. Oral arguments would have been held this spring, according to Dow Jones…

Jan 14, 2008 5:08 PM CST

Judge Accused of Sex Harassment Returns to Bench

U.S. District Judge Samuel Kent returned to the bench in Galveston, Texas, yesterday after a four-month suspension for alleged sexual harassment. He won’t be hearing cases involving sexual misconduct or in which the federal government is a party, the Galveston Daily News reports. Kent was suspended based on accusations he…

Jan 11, 2008 2:09 PM CST

Fla. Field-Workers File Class Action Claiming Wage Violations

In an unusual move that has caught the attention of local South Florida residents, several field-workers have filed a federal lawsuit contending that the owner of the farm at which they have been harvesting beans for years has underpaid them and hundreds of other laborers. The basis of their suit,…

Jan 9, 2008 10:12 PM CST

Voter ID Law, Retirement Plan Bias Before High Court

The U.S. Supreme Court hears arguments today in two cases, one dealing with the constitutionality of Indiana’s voter ID law and the other with the legality of the use of age in retirement plans. Indiana’s law requiring voters to show a photo ID barred Valerie Williams from voting in the…

Jan 9, 2008 1:28 PM CST

Secretary Loses Appeal in Disability Suit Against Peabody & Arnold

A Massachusetts appeals court has affirmed dismissal of a legal secretary’s disability lawsuit against Peabody & Arnold based on evidence turned up by a private detective. The secretary, Teresa Brooks, claimed she had a disabling spinal condition, but the detective videotaped her “working in her yard, repeatedly bending over, carrying…

Jan 9, 2008 12:01 PM CST

N.H. City Says Attorney Malpractice Nixed Insurance

A New Hampshire municipality has sued its former legal counsel for malpractice, contending that he not only failed to appropriately advise the city of Claremont of the legal risks associated with firing the city tax assessor in 2000 but also failed to advise the city that the tax assessor, Steve…

Jan 7, 2008 9:17 PM CST