Call Us 919-240-4054The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals recently issued a ringing opinion for employees in Merritt v. Old Dominion Freight Lines, a gender discrimination case until Title VII. The Court’s discussion of gender discrimination, sex stereotyping, and a corporate culture of discrimination is excellent and will make very useful precedent. A long-ish discussion is therefore in order. As […]
Law Blog
Valerie presents at workers’ compensation CLE on contempt proceedings
Valerie Johnson spoke today at the NC Advocates for Justice CLE on “Navigating Claims Through the Industrial Commission.” Valerie’s presentation was entitled “In Contempt? — Contempt Proceedings at the Industrial Commission.” She covered the current state of the law regarding contempt and other means by which parties are forced to comply with the orders and rulings of […]
NC Court of Appeals concludes unexpected injury not covered by workers’ compensation
The North Carolina Court of Appeals recently issued an interesting opinion in Gray v. RDU Airport Authority. In the case, the plaintiff — a traffic control officer — was directing traffic in front of the airport terminals when he stepped backward onto a sloping part of a crosswalk and felt a sharp “pop,” later revealed to […]
U.S. Supreme Court high season begins
Although the Surpreme Court issues opinions throughout its term, many come out towards the back end of the term, which concludes in June. In the last couple of weeks, the Court has issued several decisions which touch on employment law: In Conkirght v. Frommert, the 5-3 majority upheld the company’s denial of pension benefits to […]
President signs bill to extend unemployment benefits
After Democrats were once again able to overcome Republican opposition that was holding up unemployment benefits for millions of workers in difficulty, Congress passed an extension of emergency unemployment benefits, and President Obama signed it into law on April 15. From the New York Times: “The measure, which would continue added unemployment benefits and other expired […]
Articles on workers’ compensation for NFL players
The New York Times has a series of interesting articles on how California’s workers’ compensation system handles the cases of former NFL players. Check it out here, here, here, and here.
Fourth Circuit rules for plaintiff in sexual harassment case
In Whitten v. Fred’s, Inc., the Fourth Circuit issued an important ruling in a sexual harassment case. The Court concluded that the company-defendant could held liable for sexual harassment by its manager, even if the manager did not have the authority to fire the harassed worker. Although the Court was addressing state law claims, South Carolina anti-discrimination […]
DOL concerned about unpaid internships, and new protection for nursing mothers
The federal Department of Labor is stepping up enforcement of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) with regard to unpaid internships because such arrangements very well could be violating the FLSA’s minimum wage requirements. In other FLSA news, the Health Care Reform legislation (technically the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act) contained a little-noticed provision […]
Helpful information on COBRA and health care reform
The New York Times has a very useful article on COBRA and how it is affected by the recently-enacted health care reform act. It starts: “If you’ve recently joined the ranks of the unemployed or are worried that you soon will, you may be wondering if the sweeping new health law will help you. Will you, […]
NC Court of Appeals supports wrongful discharge claim
In Combs v. City Electric Supply Company, the Court of Appeals reversed the trial court in large part, concluding that the plaintiff had presented sufficient evidence to support a claim of wrongful discharge in violation of public policy and tortious interference with contract. The Court, however, upheld the dismissal of the plaintiff’s Unfair and Deceptive […]
