Legislative Update: Sexual Harassment Training Bill Fails; Limits on...
Earlier this week, it seemed that a bill requiring employers to conduct additional training on sexual harassment matters was a no-brainer to pass the General Assembly. After all, Senate Bill 132 passed...
View ArticleIt’s Not the Damages, It’s the Attorneys’ Fees
Typically, in our court system, we operate under the “American Rule” which means that parties have to pay their own attorneys’ fees in cases, regardless of whether they win or lose. (Contrast that...
View ArticleWhere Have All The Supreme Court Employment Law Cases Gone?
In a few weeks, the Connecticut Supreme Court will begin it’s next session. As I looked at the calendar assignment for the first term, what I began to realize is something that’s been gnawing at me...
View ArticleWhy Employment Settlement Agreements Contain Confidentiality Clauses
This blog has tried to stay apolitical throughout its 12+ years so I’m not going to start talking politics now. But, over the last week, the issue of confidentiality provisions and non disparagement...
View ArticleCourt: Settlement Discussions at CHRO Mediation Phase Not Admissible
The Connecticut Appellate Court issued a new decision (officially released today) that will have important ramifications for employers proceeding with the CHRO mandatory mediation stage. Specifically,...
View ArticleSettling FLSA Wage & Hour Claims? Court Approval May Be Needed
Throw out the release?Yesterday, I had the opportunity to talk at the Connecticut Legal Conference about employment law issues. My talk focused on free speech rights in the workplace — a topic I’ve...
View ArticleBig Settlement, Big Issues: Sexual Harassment in the Workplace Isn’t Over.
$20,000,000.00. That, as they say in the legal parlance, is a crooked number with a LOT of zeros behind it. And that is also the reported amount of settlement between Gretchen Carlson and Fox News...
View ArticleThe Dialogue: About Firing Employees and Negotiating Severance Agreements
The Dialogue – an occasional discussion between myself and a prominent employee-side attorney, Nina Pirrotti returns today after a late summer hiatus. Today’s chat focuses on employee separations and...
View ArticleA New Era of Big Sexual Harassment Claims is Upon Us
Back in the 1990s, employers still had the Anita Hill-Clarence Thomas hearings and the tawdry sexual harassment allegations relatively fresh on their minds. Employment lawyers will tell you that they...
View ArticleIs the State of Employment Litigation Good for Employers or Bad?
Let’s take a test. In the last ten years or so, the number of charges of discrimination and retaliation filed at the EEOC has done WHAT? a) Gone up by 40 percent b) Gone up by 15 percent c) Stayed...
View Article