It happens all the time.  Police smell an odor of marijuana or other drugs on a person, in a home or in a car.  Does the odor give police probable cause to search the person, home, or vehicle without a warrant for Possession of Marijuana in Virginia? In most instances, the answer is “yes.”  In fact, one recent case illustrates the danger of one being in a vehicle wherein others smoked marijuana at some previous

According to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, an employer cannot have a blanket policy against employing individuals with criminal records.  In 2012, the EEOC issued guidance stating that such policies have a disproportionately negative impact upon racial minorities.  Prior to that time, conventional wisdom held that employers could legitimately deny employment to individuals with convictions to protect themselves and their customers from the danger of employee misconduct and accompanying claims of negligent hiring. Rejecting a

No, according to the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals.  The 4th Circuit recently dismissed such a claim in its decision in Discovery Communications, LLC v. Computer Sciences Corporation, No. 13-1969.  That case involved a chief accounting officer who allegedly breached his contract to work for his employer, Discovery Communications, LLC (Discovery), for a set length of time.  According to Discovery, the executive breached his employment contract by resigning early to go to work for another

A recent 4th Circuit decision opens up claims of employer liability for failing to prevent customer harassment of an employee.  Finding that a negligence standard applies to such claims, the 4th Circuit held that the employer may have behaved negligently even though it took remedial measures shortly after major incidents of harassment occurred.  The 4th Circuit found that the employer’s alleged failure to react to earlier incidents created a jury question as to whether the

While traditionally the answer is “no,” a recent Federal Court of Appeals decision suggests that, in some circumstances, the answer is now “yes.” Telecommuting appeared as a workplace phenomenon in the 1970s, primarily to reduce fuel consumption during the OPEC oil embargo.  Since then, the federal government has implemented telecommuting plans and policies for environmental and traffic reduction purposes.  Many larger companies, particularly in the technology sector, have also permitted employees to telecommute where practical.