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News Notes: Court Throws Out One-Sided Arbitration Agreement
When Municipal Resource Consultants (MRC) tried to compel former employee Nicholas O’Hare to arbitrate a wrongful discharge and age-bias lawsuit, O’Hare contended the mandatory arbitration provision he signed wasn’t fair. The agreement required him to arbitrate all claims against the company, while it permitted MRC to file a lawsuit against him for injunctive relief. A […]
Feb. 27 Audio Conference to Detail Requirements – and Risks – of the New E-Storage Rules
Revised court procedures, now in effect, may forever change your way of storing e-mails and other e-messages. A special BLR audio-conference will tell you how you’re impacted. In January, BLR presented an audio conference on important changes in federal employment law for 2007. It was one of our best received events. As it turns out, […]
Exempt Employees: 3 Tips for Complying with the Companionship Services Exemption
Sexual Harassment: Same-Sex Harassment Case Settles for $1.8 Million
United Healthcare of Florida, Inc., has agreed to shell out $1.8 million in back pay and damages to resolve a same-sex harassment and retaliation lawsuit. The suit, filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), charged that a male regional vice president subjected a male senior account executive at the company’s Sunrise, Fla., office […]
News Notes: “Exempt” Drugstore Managers Sue For Millions In Unpaid Overtime
Rite Aid Corp. has been slapped with a class action lawsuit claiming that as many as 1,600 managers and assistant managers at approximately 800 drugstores in California were improperly classified as exempt from overtime. The employees charge that Rite Aid put pressure on managers to deny overtime to hourly clerks and, as a result, managers […]
Retirement Plans: Should Employers Advise Their Workers on 401(k) Investment Options?
With the enactment of the Pension Protection Act of 2006 (PPA), plan sponsors were given a freedom they didn’t have before. The legislation, which William Arnone of Ernst & Young calls “the most far-reaching legislation impacting benefits since ERISA,” enables plan sponsors to offer employees investment advice without exposing themselves to liability for the outcome […]
News Notes: Electronics Retailer Settles Overtime Misclassification Lawsuit
Video game retailer Electronics Boutique of America has agreed to pay $950,000 to settle a lawsuit filed in a Los Angeles court charging the company misclassified managers in the retailer’s California stores as exempt from overtime. The lawsuit charged that managers regularly worked overtime without additional pay and spent more than 50 percent of their […]
Discipline Derailed by ‘Evidence’ of Discrimination and Poor Documentation
In yesterday’s Advisor, we saw Jill’s mistakes disciplining Jack; today, more that can go wrong, plus an introduction to a unique guide for smaller—or even one-person—HR departments. Jill fired Jack, but hadn’t followed policy, hadn’t been consistent, and had little documentation. Jack sued. What else could go wrong? Plenty. [Go here for Jill’s story] ‘Evidence’ […]
Short Takes: Records Access
What rights do employees have to access their personnel records?