These rulings will limit companies’ liability for harassment by apparent bosses without full hire-and-fire authority, and will complicate employer benefit plans as applied to same-sex couples, who will have new rights under current employment laws. Definition of Supervisor under Federal Employment Civil Rights Laws On June 25th, in Vance v. Ball State University, the U.S. Supreme Court clarified the meaning of “supervisor” for purposes of the Civil Rights Act of 1991. The Supreme Court defined
Generally no. Employers are entitled to evaluate an employee’s performance and communicate criticisms to the employee and others within the company to resolve performance issues. Most criticism falls within the category of opinion, which cannot defame an employee, and harsh criticism alone does not constitute an adverse employment action under Federal civil rights laws. In certain circumstances, however, a manager may criticize an employee so harshly and broadly as to create potential liability for the
Criminal lawyers in Arlington are abuzz over a new Reckless Driving defense stemming from a case appealed from the Arlington County Circuit Court. It is a common fact pattern: a police officer investigates a car accident in which a driver was driving erratically. He performs a drunk driving (“DUI”) investigation, but abandons it when the Preliminary Breath Test (“PBT”) turns out to be low. Can the police use this low PBT in order to help
Two government contractors entered into a Teaming Agreement for the purpose of working together towards securing a prime contract from the Federal government. The companies, Information Experts, Inc. (“IE”) and Cyberlock Consulting, Inc. (“Cyberlock”), successfully put forward a persuasive bid, and the government awarded the prime contract to IE. Despite the Teaming Agreement, IE refused to use Cyberlock as its subcontractor and went on to perform the contract without it. Not surprisingly, Cyberlock sued IE
Both lawyers and laypersons have heard of the “law of unintended consequences.” This is when policymakers craft new laws to address one set of problems, only to create a new set of problems with the laws they have just passed. Much has been written in recent years about the unintended consequences of the Affordable Care Act, also known as “Obamacare.” Some argue that this new law will hurt the economy or negatively impact health service