I almost never read the letters to the editor in my local newspaper because, well . . . opinion are like . . . noses; everyone has one. However, last week I “stumbled” on a letter that was thought provoking in this period of high unemployment and borderline recession.
Which Employment Law Would You Vaporize?
Walter Olson at Overlawyered started they debate by asking “If I could press a button and instantly vaporize one sector of employment law…” He answered age discrimination. I’ll let him defend his selection and you can read his explanation here.
Jon Hyman and Daniel Schwartz weighed in that they would reform the depression-era outdated Fair
Court Enters Judgment Against Police Officers on Overtime Suit Against City
In a recent case out of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, a federal judge entered summary judgment for the City of Fort Worth in an FLSA overtime case filed by four former police officers.
In Clark v. City of Fort Worth, Texas, four retired City of Fort Worth police officers filed a FLSA putative collective action seeking to
Congressional Subcommittee to Examine the Effect of the FLSA and the Modern Workforce
This morning the Education and the Workforce Committee Subcommittee on Workforce Protections will examine whether the FLSA is outdated in today’s modern workforce. The hearing is entitled “The Fair Labor Standards Act: Is It Meeting the Needs of the Twenty-First Century Workplace?”
According to the Subcommittee’s media advisory:
Despite the broad impact of the
Wage and Hour Rules for Unpaid Internships
Schools are out for the summer and many college and graduate students are looking for experience in what they hope will be their chosen careers. Employer’s looking to provide that experience through the use of unpaid internships must understand the rules that qualify an internship for "unpaid" status or unwittingly create potential wage and hour
Oral Complaints of Wage and Hour Violations Sufficient to Provide Protection from Retaliation
The Fair Labor Standards Act is the federal law that requires most employers to pay a minimum wage and overtime. The FLSA also includes an anti-retaliation provision that prohibits an employer from discharging any employee who has "filed a complaint" under the FLSA because of that complaint. The issue at the high court in Kasten v. Saint-Gobain
Fifth Circuit Holds that FLSA Action Is Improper Forum for Employer to Seek Set-Off Against Wage and Overtime Claims
Employers often consider asserting counterclaims against employees who file lawsuits against them. Most lawyers representing employers counsel against filing counterclaims except in exceptional cases (e.g., an employee’s theft of trade secrets or breach of a covenant not to compete). However, where an employer pays an employee valuable severance benefits in return for a release
Police Sergeant Sues for Overtime Based on Time Spent Reading and Responding to E-mails
Last year I wrote about the risks associated with providing company issued cell-phones or PDA’s to nonexempt employees. Since that post, there continues to be lawsuits filed seeking unpaid overtime for the off-the-clock time nonexempt employees spend reading and responding to work-related e-mails. The most recent example is that of a police sergeant for the City of
Facts Make the Difference in Misclassification Cases
Lawyers prosecuting and defending wage and hour misclassification cases (i.e., exempt/nonexempt and employee/contractor) will emphasize how fact intensive these inquiries can be. The importance of factual distinctions in litigating misclassification cases is demonstrated by two cases recently decided by the Fifth Circuit. In Cromwell v. Driftwood Electrical Contractors, a panel of the
Fifth Circuit Holds Cable Splicer was Independent Contractor, Not an Employee
In another cable splicer misclassification case arising in the aftermath of hurricane Katrina, the Fifth Circuit affirmed a trial court decision that Louis Thibault was an independent contractor rather than an employee. Therefore, he was not entitled to overtime under the FLSA.
Thibault owned a business in his home state of Delaware selling picnic tables, storage