'Independent Covenant' Language
Most often, a former employee will claim that the former employer breached the employment agreement . When such a defense is raised, an injunction hearing that should focus on the former employee's wrongful post-employment conduct instead often digresses into an argument about what compensation agreement existed and whether the former employer breached that agreement .
President Obama's Executive Action on Immigration
Headlining the Executive Actions announced by President Obama on Nov. 20, 2014, were plans to defer the removal of, and to provide work authorization to, undocumented immigrants who have lived in the United States for more than five years and are parents of U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents. In addition, the administration will expand the existing Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) initiative.
<i>EEOC v. Ruby Tuesday</i>
Ruby Tuesday Inc. is a restaurant chain known throughout the U.S. for its burgers and casual family-friendly atmosphere. Unfortunately for the company, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) apparently wants to make it known for something less savory: a novel approach to sex discrimination.
Brokerage Windows in Retirement Plans
A discussion of recent developments surrounding what has become an increasingly controversial topic regarding the investment of Section 401(k) plans and other participant-direct retirement plans.
Workplace Bullying Laws and Litigation
While no state, or the federal government, has adopted laws explicitly outlawing bullying in the private sector, employers are well advised to proactively take steps to prevent workplace bullying.
Top 10 International Employment Law Issues
This article compiles and describes, with varying degrees of specificity, what appear, to this author, to be the top 10 global employment law issues facing employers in 2015. They are listed in reverse order.
Secured Lender Primes Earlier Federal Tax Lien
The Fourth Circuit, recently held in a split decision that a lender's unrecorded lien primed an earlier unrecorded federal tax lien on a Chapter 11 debtor's real property. The case reassures secured lenders unaware of a borrower's preexisting tax lien, however, as it protects them against the government's nondisclosure.
Can the EEOC Be Trusted to Police Its Own Compliance?
The EEOC has an express statutory duty to attempt to secure, in good faith, a conciliation agreement with an employer as a precondition to filing a lawsuit. In some cases, however, the EEOC has approached conciliation in a "take-it-or-leave-it" manner, making unreasonable demands while threatening to file suit and issue a press release, which can inflict significant reputational harm on the employer.
Special Needs Families in Divorce
When parents of special needs children experience a divorce, family law attorneys are in a unique position: Not only can they handle the divorce proceedings, but they can also steer their clients toward a plan for maintaining or establishing valuable Medicaid benefits.
QDRO or Buyout?
These days, attorneys drafting QDROs must contend with a new type of retirement plan called a "cash balance pension plan" ' a hybrid that is not really the fish of a traditional defined benefit plan, or the fowl of a defined contribution plan.
