Is 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 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 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 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 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 ArticleA Final Look at CHRO Case Statistics – Part 3
So, in my prior two posts about the new case statistical reports from the Connecticut Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities, I’ve looked at the case statistics to see that harassment and terms...
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 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 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 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 ArticleLegislative 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 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 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 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 over...
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 ArticleA Final Look at CHRO Case Statistics – Part 3
So, in my prior two posts about the new case statistical reports from the Connecticut Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities, I’ve looked at the case statistics to see that harassment and terms...
View ArticleDon’t Worry, Be Happy: Supreme Court’s Decision on Conciliation a Yawn for...
Yesterday, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the EEOC has a duty to conciliate that has go a bit beyond words before filing suit as a party. In the case, EEOC v. Mach Mining (download here), the...
View ArticleBackground Check Settlements Still Costing Employers Big Dollars
My colleague Peter Murphy and I have been talking a lot about background checks lately. It’s easier than ever to run a basic Internet search on someone, but what information do you find? And are there...
View ArticlePaper Trail: DOJ Brings Issue of Hiring Documentation to Forefront
Late Friday, you might have (ok, I’m sure you did) missed a press release from the United States Department of Justice announcing a settlement with a staffing agency in California. The charge? That a...
View ArticleSplit of Authority Develops on Issue of Judicial Approval for FLSA Settlements
Your former employee files suit against your company in federal court in Connecticut claiming that she is entitled to overtime under the Fair Labor Standards Act. You go to a settlement conference...
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