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
The federal National Transportation Safety Board (“NTSB”) today voted unanimously to recommend a nationwide reduction of the “legal limit” in DUI cases from 0.08 to 0.05. To illustrate what an extreme drop this would be, one is presumed sober under current Virginia law if his blood alcohol content (“BAC”) is below 0.05. Many people can reach a BAC of 0.05 with one to three drinks. Since few can tell when they are 0.05 versus 0.04,