Call Us 919-240-4054Two labor and employment decisions were released by the U.S. Supreme Court this past week. In the first, City of Ontario v. Quon, the Court unanimously held (with Scalia concurring separately) that the government employer’s search of employee text messages was reasonable under the Fourth Amendment. Unlike private employers, public employers are constrained (somewhat) by […]
Law Blog
Ninth Circuit rejects tip-pooling claims of servers making more than minimum wage before tips
In a case that appears to one of first impression at the federal appellate level, the Ninth Circuit ruled in Cumbie v. Woody Woo, Inc. that there are no tip-pooling claims under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) for restaurant employees who are paid more than the minimum wage before tips. FLSA, the federal wage […]
Op-ed calls for paid maternity and family leave
An op-ed in the Washington Post calls for paid family and maternity leave because the 12 weeks of unpaid leave provided by the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) is grossly inadequate. Sharon Lerner traces the history of legislative efforts to provide paid leave to support workers’ families, the compromised law that is the FMLA, and […]
NC Court of Appeals on workplace infliction of emotional distress claims
In an unpublished decision last month, the North Carolina Court of Appeals issued Crocker v. Griffin, a case that touched on emotional distress claims in the workplace setting. In the case, four plaintiffs brought suit against their employer because their boss, the director of the Transylvania County DSS, verbally abused and bullied them. The plaintiffs brought claims […]
House passes unemployment extension without COBRA benefits; Senate yet to act
On May 28, 2010, the House passed a watered-down jobs bill. It extends the extra unemployment benefits program for another six months, though those benefits have now expired as of the end of May. Significantly, the House bill did not include an extension of the expanded COBRA program for health insurance. The Senate has yet […]
Valerie Johnson wins workers’ compensation case for police officer in Court of Appeals
In Taylor v. Town of Garner, the Court of Appeals affirmed the decision of the Industrial Commission, agreeing that Officer Taylor is entitled to workers’ compensation benefits from the Town of Garner for the serious injury he suffered while working as a mounted officer at an N.C. State football game. Because Officer Taylor was working pursuant […]
Two employment decisions from the Supreme Court
On May 24, the Supreme Court issued two employment-related opinions. The first, Lewis v. Chicago, concerned the filing deadline for disparate impact discrimination cases under Title VII. The black firefighter plaintiffs in the case sought to challenge a written test used for determining promotions. The question was whether their statute of limitations began running when the […]
Brief filed for dealership manager in workers’ compensation appeal
In Evans v. Hendrick Automotive Group, we have filed this brief with the North Carolina Court of Appeals in this workers’ compensation case. Ms. Evans was an office manager for a Hendrick dealership in Texas. She was injured during a business trip to Charlotte, while she was walking back from an employer-sponsored dinner to her hotel. The […]
Ann speaks to Charlotte’s Track and Tri Club about cyclists’ legal rights
Ann Groninger spoke Monday May 17 to Charlotte’s Track and Triathlon club about laws affecting cyclists and how cyclists can protect themselves before and after a crash. Ann has made similar presentations to the Charlotte Area Bicycle Alliance, North Carolina Alternative Transportation Alliance, and other groups statewide. This Saturday, Ann will be riding in Charlotte’s Bethlehem […]
NC Court of Appeals cases on REDA and appellate procedure
Two opinions of note were issued by the North Carolina Court of Appeals yesterday. The first, Beard v. Cumberland County Hospital System, concerns North Carolina’s Retaliatory Employment Discrimination Act (REDA). REDA prohibits discrimination or retaliation against an employee for, among other things, filing a workers’ compensation claim. N.C. Gen. Stat. § 95-241(a)(1). The discrimination or retaliation can be […]
