Earlier this month, the North Carolina Court of Appeals issued Kornegay v. Aspen Asset Group LLC, an interesting case that raises and decides some key issues under the North Carolina Wage and Hour Act (NCWHA). At issue was whether the employee-plaintiff had a contract that included bonus payments, and if so, whether those had to be […]
Law Blog
Government enforcing child labor and wage laws for farmworkers in North Carolina
The New York Times has this article about the Obama Administration’s effort to enforce the child labor and wage and hour laws on farms, and describes the effort in North Carolina in particular. The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) contains several exceptions for farmworkers, but sometimes-ignored restrictions of child labor are apparently now being more vigorously […]
Republicans continue to hold up unemployment extension in Senate
In a vote Thursday night, Senate Democrats were unable to overcome the Republic filibuster of the bill that contains the much-needed extension of unemployment benefits. Even though the cost of the bill had been reduced to alleviate the (misguided) concerns of increasing the federal deficit, all Republicans and two Democrats maintained their opposition. This bill would not […]
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In an unpublished decision last month, the North Carolina Court of Appeals issued Crocker v. Griffin, a case that touched on emotional distress claims in the workplace setting.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 […]