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New Virginia ABC Laws Enacted by the Legislature

ABC Law, Civil / Business Law, Uncategorized / By

Here is a List of Likely New ABC Laws in Virginia for 2014 (All the following bills have passed the House & Senate.  The Governor must sign them for them to actually become law on July 1, 2014.) SB 596: Alcoholic beverage control; state and local license taxes on certain brewery licensees. Imposes a state license tax of $350 and a local license tax of $250 for breweries that manufacture no more than 500 barrels…

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4th Circuit Vacates Dismissal: Former Employee Can Cure Defective Service of Process After Defendant Removes Case to Federal Court

Civil / Business Law, Uncategorized / By

Under Virginia law, service of process should be perfected on defendants within one-year of the date a plaintiff files a lawsuit.  A plaintiff’s failure to timely serve often leads to dismissal of the plaintiff’s case with prejudice.  In a recent case, a plaintiff’s former employee waited more than one year to serve her former employers with service of process in her harassment lawsuit, and the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia dismissed

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Virginia Supreme Court Recognizes Intentional Interference Has Five-Year Limitations Period and Can Support Business Conspiracy Claim

Civil / Business Law, Uncategorized / By

On February 27, 2014, the Virginia Supreme Court strengthened intentional interference claims by holding that their statute of limitations period is 5-years long, and that they can support a business conspiracy cause of action.  Before this ruling, many had argued that the statute of limitations was only 2-years long based on Virginia’s distinction between “personal claims” and “property claims”.  Finding that the right to enforce the performance of a contract and to benefit from advantageous business relationships

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Can a company be sued for encouraging another business to fire its employee?

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Yes, a company can be held liable for encouraging another business to fire an employee unless it has a legitimate reason for doing so.  If the employee is an “at will” employee, as most employees are, then the employee must show that the company intentionally interfered with his or her employment using “improper methods” to cause his or her termination.  Because “improper methods” need not be unlawful, but need only violate an established standard of

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Discharge Upheld Based on Disputed Employee Mileage Reimbursements

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Last month, the U.S. District Court in Norfolk granted summary judgment to a defendant employer in an age discrimination lawsuit filed by a 52-year-old ex-manager who had been terminated and replaced by someone half her age. In Masterson v. AAAA Self Storage Mgmt Group (2014), the plaintiff, Ellen Masterson, sued her former employer (“AAAA”) for allegedly violating the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (“ADEA”).  The ADEA, of course, makes it unlawful for any employer “to

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