I’ve litigated many battles between companies over trade secrets and non-competition and non-solicitation agreements. The tie that binds them all is that these cases are expensive to prosecute and defend. When these cases advance to court, most are about one thing: getting an injunction to stop a former employee from…
Image Credit: PXhere.com (https://pxhere.com/en/photo/854901) Well, there’s always a chance the court might, you know, enforce it. You think? Actually, the employer almost got away with it had it not been for those meddling kids the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. Here’s what happened: A plaintiff sued her former employer in…
Mikebay1968 at English Wikipedia [CC BY-SA 3.0 or GFDL], from Wikimedia CommonsSpoiler alert: A lot. Yep, last Thursday, a California jury awarded $7.97 million to a woman who claimed that he employer fired her in retaliation for claiming workers’ compensation benefits. And even though the case settled on Monday, while…
[After publishing this post, I was contacted by counsel for the City of Charlotte. It seems that some of the facts in both this post and the underlying reports upon which I based this post don’t tell the full story. So is this … (pause) … “Fake News”?!? Here is…
You folks in HR don’t have to read any further. Go do yeoman’s work today by putting the “human” in human resources. Or whatever it is you do each day. But, the lawyers. Let’s see if I can thaw some of your icy hearts with an irresistible invitation and offer.…
Earlier in the Summer, I blogged here about this federal court opinion, recognizing that a convenience store may have violated the Americans with Disabilities Act by firing a diabetic cashier. The facts showed that the diabetic cashier twice violated the store’s grazing policy by removing bottles of orange juice from the store cooler without immediately paying for…
Many times — most recently last Friday — I’ve discussed instances in which the 24/7 world of social media has cost individuals their jobs. But, here’s a little twist. Earlier this month, a Pennsylvania federal court ruled here that a plaintiff’s Facebook page called “Yo know yo ass is from the da hood,” could…
As I think about all of the agreements with arbitration provisions that I’ve drafted for clients over the years. ***wipes brow, tugs collar, clutches pearls*** Certain arbitration agreements may blunt certain federally-protected rights employees have to discuss working conditions with one another. The National Labor Relations Board is not fond of…
Oh, come on! What fun is that? What did the plaintiff say and why won’t the court allow the defendants to present it as evidence at trial? Find out after the jump… * * * Four months after getting terminated from his job, Allan Thomas went on Facebook and bragged…
You see, in certain instances, a trial witness’s social media breadcrumbs may undermine her credibility and score points for your client. But when the witness — and the lawyer trying to impeach the witness with her social networking activities — display as much combined tech savvy as J-Lo’s PR machine,…