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Labor & Employment Law

Washington Labor, Employment & Employee Benefits Law

Current Events in Labor, Employment, and Employee Benefits Law in Seattle, Washington and across the United States.
By Donald W. Heyrich

Post Frequency: 1.8/day

Last Entry: June 18, 2009 at 17:37:06

"Associational Discrimination" Claim For Termination Caused By Spouse???s Medical Costs

Posted on March 04, 2008
A recent decision by the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals addresses ???association discrimination??? under the Americans with Disabilities Act (???ADA???) in the context of medical insurance expenses. The plaintiff in the case contended that she was fired because of her...

$46,000 In Attorney's Fees for $44 in Unpaid Wages?

Posted on March 01, 2008
In most states, including Washington, an employee who wins a lawsuit for unpaid wages is entitled to reasonable attorney?s fees. As most employers know, a getting sued for unpaid wages brings additional risks that the company must pay the unpaid wages plus substantial attorney fees, which fees could in many cases be more than the wages owed...

New EEOC Guidance on Disabled Veterans

Posted on March 01, 2008
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has issued new guidance on employment of veterans with service-connected disabilities. The EEOC?s guide for employers is here and the guide for veterans is here. The new guidance explains (1) how protections for veterans with service-connected disabilities differ under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA), and (2) how the ADA applies to recruiting, hiring, and accommodating veterans with service-connected disabilities.

$4 Million Award to Former Executive in Non-Compete Dispute

Posted on March 01, 2008
I wrote a few words below about non-compete agreements and their proliferation. Now comes a story about a company that must pay $4 Million for denying compensation to an executive who refused to sign a non-compete agreement. Articles about the case can be found here and here...

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Lowe's Store in Longview, Washington Sued for Sexual Harassment

Posted on February 27, 2008
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has filed a lawsuit against a Lowe's store in Longview, Washington for sex discrimination and sexual harassment. There is an article about the case here. According to the media reports, two heterosexual employees allege that they were repeatedly called "gay" by store managers, and a female employee alleges that a store manager told her she could advance in the company if she had sex with him...

A Few Words About Non-Compete Agreements in Washington

Posted on February 27, 2008
Here is an interesting article in today?s Chicago Tribune about the proliferation of non-compete agreements. I thought this was a good opportunity to say a few words here about non-compete agreements. As the article observes, more and more employers are using non-compete agreements for more and more employees, but the article also notes that such agreements can be difficult to enforce...

Sexual Harassment Case Results in $5.3 Million Verdict

Posted on February 26, 2008
Today a federal court jury in Florida awarded a sexual harassment plaintiff $5.4 Million. The case was filed by a woman who alleged the defendant touched her and offered her money for sex, among other things. An article about the case appears here...

U.S. Supreme Court: Employment Discrimination Evidence Must Be Determined by Trial Courts

Posted on February 26, 2008
The U.S. Supreme Court is busy with an unusually large number of employment cases this term, and today the Court issued its opinion in one closely watched case. By many accounts, the decision is somewhat of a letdown for employment attorneys because the Supreme Court did not really decide much of anything, and certainly did not change the law or the way that employment discrimination cases will be litigated...

Wage Claims Can Go Forward Where Employer Failed to Pay Under Settlement Agreement

Posted on February 25, 2008
A new published case from the Washington Court of Appeals addresses the proper remedy when an employer fails to pay a case is settled. The case is Rosen v. Ascentry Technologies, Inc. and can be found here. In this case, Rosen sued Ascentry for breach of contract and unpaid wages...

Supreme Court Allows Employee to Sue for 401(k) Losses

Posted on February 20, 2008
Today the Supreme Court said that a 401(k) participant can sue for losses when a plan fiduciary fails to follow investment directions. A copy of the opinion is here. In the case, James LaRue of Southlake,Texas, contends that his stock market holdings plunged $150,000 because administrators of his 401(k) retirement plan failed to follow his instructions to switch to safer investments...

Supreme Court Agrees to Hear 3 More Employment Cases

Posted on February 19, 2008
The Supreme Court agreed to review three more employment cases addressing: (1) whether an arbitration clause in a collective bargaining agreement can apply to statutory issues as well as contract issues; (2) whether a union may charge non-union members for litigation costs expended on behalf of the union members; and (3) how a divorcing spouse may waive rights to the other spouse's ERISA pension benefits...

Split Decision in Litigation Over CIGNA Cash Balance Pension Plan

Posted on February 19, 2008
Those following employee benefits litigation know that there have been hundreds of cases filed over the trend by companies to convert their traditional, defined benefit pension plans to cash balance plans. Another ruling was issued late last week in a class action case involving a plan conversion by CIGNA...

Workplace Bullying Legislation Introduced in 13 States, Including Washington

Posted on February 18, 2008
Legislation has been introduced in 13 states, including Washington, to allow employee lawsuits against employers for bullying or offensive behavior even when the conduct is not illegal harassment under discrimination laws. For an interesting article on these bills see "No Putting Up With Putdowns"...

Overtime and Misclassification Class Action Goes Forward Against FedEx

Posted on February 18, 2008
A federal district court judge in California has certified a class action of former managers suing for overtime pay. The managers argue that they were improperly classified from overtime because most of their time was spent doing manual labor rather than managerial tasks...

Employee Use of Cell Phone Leads to $5.2 Million Verdict

Posted on February 16, 2008
Here is an expensive lesson for an employer, in this case International Paper. One of its employees rear-ended another car while talking on a company cell phone causing severe injuries to the driver of the other car. A jury hit International Paper with a $5...

Employee Fired for Smoking May Pursue Claims Under ERISA and State Privacy Laws

Posted on February 16, 2008
This interesting case is in the federal district court in Massachusetts. The employee was discharged for smoking while off-duty under an employer policy prohibiting all smoking, even outside of the workplace. A copy of the opinion can be found here, and an article about the case is here...

Washington Supreme Court Rejects Claims Based on Delayed Payment of Wages

Posted on February 14, 2008
The plaintiffs in this wage and hour class action challenged a practice whereby overtime earned during one month would be paid at the end the following month. In this case, corrections officers in Thurston County would submit time sheets for overtime at the end of the month and the wages were paid on the last day of the following month...

Romance in the Workplace & "Love Contracts"

Posted on February 14, 2008
In a timely article for this Valentine's Day, see this article from Nixon Peabody and this article from Human Resources Executive Online on romance in the workplace and so-called "love contracts."

DOL Advisory Opinion: State Wage Deduction Statute Preempted by ERISA

Posted on February 14, 2008
The Department of Labor has issued an interesting advisory opinion holding that a Kentucky wage deduction withholding statute is preempted by ERISA to the extent it limits placement of employees into default health care plans. In this situation, employees who fail to choose a plan are placed into one by default and the employee?s share of coverage is collected through payroll deductions...

Things to Know About Employment Practices Liability Insurance

Posted on February 13, 2008
Daniel Schwartz of the Connecticut Employment Law Blog today published a Blog post on Employment Practices Liability Insurance (EPLI) called Insurance for Employers (EPLI) - The Good, the Bad, the Unknown. The post can be read here. It builds on some points by Michael Moore, of the Pennsylvania Employment Law Blog (posted here), and identifies some of the issues employers should look at and what employers should know...

National Labor Relations Board Approves New E-Mail Policies

Posted on February 13, 2008
In a recent ruling, the NLRB tweaked its views on whether and how employers may restrict the use of workplace email systems. For a good analysis of the ruling, see this article.

Busy Term for the U.S. Supreme Court on Employment Law Issues

Posted on February 13, 2008
In addition to the MetLife case reported below, the U.S. Supreme Court is set to hear several employment law issues this term. Look for more information as these rulings are handed down. Crawford v. Metropolitan Government of Nashville and CBOCS West Inc...

Racial Slurs Result in $500,000 Verdict

Posted on February 13, 2008
Check out this article about a case that resulted in a $500,000 verdict in a discrimination case against a company in Alabama. The verdict was the result of the company's failure to stop the use of racial slurs at work and the discharge of an employee after he refused to sign an agreement to arbitrate his claims...

U.S. Supreme Court Petition in San Francisco Health Care Benefits Case

Posted on February 12, 2008
Back in 2006, the City of San Francisco passed an ordinance requiring all businesses with 20 or more employees to pay a fee to help cover health care costs. A restaurant group successfully argued that the law was preempted by ERISA. The case is now on fast-track status in the 9th Circuit, with briefs due in April and a possible ruling next summer...

Sexual Harassment and Disability Accommodation Claims Dismissed

Posted on February 12, 2008
The Washington Court of Appeals recently affirmed the dismissal of an interesting case involving allegations of sexual harassment, retaliation, and disability discrimination. Briefly, the plaintiff, Moon, was allegedly asked for sex and sexually assaulted by a supervisor at her home after a party with other coworkers...

Who Won the Writers' Strike?

Posted on February 12, 2008
During the Vietnam War era, the late Sen. George Aiken, R-Vt., famously told both Presidents Lyndon B. Johnson and Richard M. Nixon that they should ?declare victory and get the hell out.? It appears that is what both sides have done in the writers' strike...

FMLA Amended to Add New Leave Rights for Military Families

Posted on February 12, 2008
On January 28, 2008, President Bush signed the National Defense Authorization Act of 2008. The Act includes significant revisions to the Family Medical Leave Act of 1993 (FMLA). FMLA coverage is expanded to employees who care for family members injured while on active military duty or for other exigent circumstances caused by active military service...

New FMLA Regulations

Posted on February 11, 2008
The U.S. Department of Labor has issued its new proposed regulations for the Family and Medical Leave Act. They are published here. The DOL will accept comments until April 11 before issuing final regulations.

U.S. Supreme Court to Hear Important ERISA Case on April 23

Posted on February 11, 2008
On April 23, 2008, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments in MetLife v. Glenn. This is an important case that may affect all future lawsuits to collect benefits under an employee benefit plan. Where a benefits case is subject to ERISA, the lawyers in nearly every case argue over the standard of review...

Washington Supreme Court: Commuting in Company Vehicle Counts as Time Worked for Overtime Pay

Posted on February 11, 2008
The Washington Supreme Court ruled on October 18, 2007, that time spent driving to and from work in a company vehicle should be considered as hours worked and included in calculations of overtime pay. The case, Stevens v. Brink's Home Security, Inc...

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