The Rapid Rise of Same-Sex Harassment Cases
Taunting, joking and teasing are part of the workplace experience, especially among colleagues of the same gender. But there’s a point where that taunting goes over the line, especially when the behavior is sexual in nature.
In October 2013, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans …
Race Discrimination and Racial Harassment
Is There a Difference Between Race Discrimination and Racial Harassment?
This summer, the issue of race in the workplace hit the mainstream when beloved chef and TV personality Paula Deen was sued by a former employee for her use of the “n” word and her admittance to planning a “plantation-styl…
Race Discrimination Continues to Affect American Workers
Race Discrimination Continues to Affect American Workers
As a society that’s become more accepting of different races and cultures, it’s naturally assumed that the corporate world has followed the trend, giving everyone equal footing when it comes to hiring, promotion and compensation.
Yet, studi…
Latest Release of Our Recent Study On Dismissed Discrimination Cases in Georgia
When an employee is harassed at work because of his or her race or gender, it is assumed under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 that the individual will have the chance to confront the harasser in a courtroom of his or her peers. Yet in the Northern District of Georgia, the victim of ha…
Do Working Mothers Face a Glass Ceiling?
When a professional woman becomes a mother, her time management, organization and problem-solving skills all become heightened so that she can tackle her busy days at home and at the office. These skills, combined with her professional experience, should make her a coveted colleague in the workpl…
Disclosing a Major Health Issue to Your Employer
You’re likely working alongside someone facing a serious health crisis. A coworker who is undergoing chemotherapy to treat her cancer. An officemate with a mental illness who requires medication to continue working. Or perhaps even you yourself – about to undergo a heart surgery that requires wee…
Health Care Options For The Unemployed
IS COBRA OR THE AFFORDABLE HEALTH CARE ACT BETTER FOR YOU?
Are you unemployed and thinking about COBRA or currently uninsured? Is COBRA more expensive than you can afford? If you are employed with coverage, should you be looking at other coverage? Amanda Farahany answers your questions about whic…
Coping With Job Loss
Whether we like it or not, we are identified by our career. When we meet someone new, the first question after “What’s your name?” is always “So, what do you do for a living?” For more than 1.2 million American workers last year, the answer was, “I’m a <
Protecting Your Job When Layoffs Loom
In today’s economy, there are few industries that are immune to the possibility of layoffs. In the past week, HTC, Boeing, BlackBerry, Wells Fargo, and Bank of America have all announced cuts, and hospitals across the country are planning massive layoffs citing ObamaCare. In 2012 alone, more than…
Victoria Hosley vs. Agape Hospice Care Inc.
COMPLAINT FOR DAMAGES
COMES NOW Plaintiff Victoria Holsey (hereinafter “Plaintiff”), and files this lawsuit against Defendant Agape Hospice Care, Inc. (hereinafter “Defendant”), and shows the following:
Nature of Complaint
Plaintiff brings this action to obtain full and complete relief and …
What Does “At Will” Mean to You the Employee?
Naturally, it’s assumed that if you’re not performing up to expectations at the office, your job may be at risk.
But did you know you could be fired for any reason, or really, no reason at all?
In every U.S. state except for Montana, employers are protected under “at-will employment” laws, mean…
What Are You Worth To An Employer?
One of the most nerve-wracking aspects of searching for a new job isn’t the interview process – it’s the salary negotiation.
Ask for too much, and you may alienate your potential employer. Ask for too little, and you’re setting the foundation for low salary expectations down the road. Yet the fac…
Don’t Tell Your Employer to “Take This Job and Shove it!”
Because reputation and referrals are the way that most employees are finding better opportunities to move ahead. Leaving a job is not as critical as how you leave the job. Social media and an increasingly competitive economy, more and more American workers are building their careers through netwo…
Asking for a Raise: Turning a “No” Into a “Yes”
When it came to asking your boss for a raise, you did everything right. You wore your professional best, documented your accomplishments, and researched comparative salaries in your industry.
The only thing you didn’t prepare for was a big “no.” Naturally, your first instinct is to flip your chai…
Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act Protects Your Health and Your Privacy
If you had the opportunity to predict the future of your health – to know your risk for disease and to take the preventative steps necessary to protect you and your family – nothing should stand in your way, especially your employer.
Advances in science have made identifying one’s predisposition…
Are You Being Paid Correctly?
The American workplace is changing – today’s businesses are demanding their employees take on more work and longer hours. Many of us work nine to five, but we’re still connected to the office via technology long after the workday is over. We want to go on that week-long vacation, but we feel we’l…
FMLA Expansions Defend the Rights of Military Families
Military personnel make incredible sacrifices to defend our country. Now, recent changes to theFamily and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) ensure that the rights of their family members are defended just as strongly. New legislation allows military spouses, parents and children to take unpaid, job-prote…
Balancing Corporate Power With Workers’ Rights
Seventy-five years ago this past June, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed into law the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) to protect the rights of workers in the United States. Through FLSA, the government set a maximum workweek, guaranteed overtime pay for workers, established a national minimu…
Who’s Your Supervisor? Supreme Court Decides
Who’s Your Supervisor? The United States Supreme Court’s Answer to that Question May Surprise You
Vance v. Ball State University, et al., 570 U.S. ____ (2013)
When an employee is assigned to coordinate her colleagues’ schedules and delegate duties to subordinates, is that individual her colleag…
Do You Know How Many FMLA Hours You’ve Exhausted? Ask Your Employer!
On March 19, 2013, in Sylvestor Richards v. City of Atlanta, Georgia et al., Civil Action No. 1:10-cv-03928-CC, the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia (“Northern District”) denied the Defendants’ motion for summary judgment as to the Plaintiff’s FMLA interference cl…
Eleventh Circuit Affirms That Undocumented Workers Are Entitled to Recovery of Unpaid Overtime Under the FLSA
Through a lengthy opinion issued in Lamonica, et al. v. Safe Hurricane Shutters, Inc., the Eleventh Circuit has affirmed that undocumented workers are entitled to recovery of unpaid overtime under the FLSA. Case No. 11-15743 (March 6, 2013). In addition, the court provided guidance on the issue o…
Your Employer Can’t Ask For Your Genes
Imagine a scenario straight out of the movies: A multi-national corporation discovers that security at its laboratory in Atlanta, Georgia has been compromised. Somebody broke in, stole some corporate secrets and escaped. But wait! It appears the spy cut himself on the way out and left a blood sam…
Former Regional Manager at Chase Manhattan Mortgage Corp. Wins More Than $6 Million in Employment Discrimination Lawsuit
Once liquidated damages equal to the amount of the verdict as well as prejudgment interest are added in -- both are mandated...
Non-Compete Agreements, Are They Valid?
You landed the job you’ve been working for all your life. It offers a competitive salary and benefits and is the ideal step on your career path.
The only problem is – per the law, you’re not allowed to accept it. You signed a non-compete agreement at your last job, and your previous employer isn…