Suit contends law firm barred female and male lawyers from being alone together

A Dallas lawyer claims in a lawsuit that her law firm undermined her work opportunities with a policy that barred female and male lawyers from being alone together, at work or outside the workplace. The suit by Kimberly Elkjer says her firm, Scheef & Stone, changed its policies a few…

Apr 11, 2013 12:43 PM CDT

Ex-partner sues Thompson Wigdor for $600K; former colleague calls him ‘disgruntled and desperate’

A former partner who left Thompson Wigdor in 2011, after the firm was sanctioned over an employment case in which he was involved, has sued for $600,000 he says he is still owed. Scott Gilly says he is owed the money under the firm’s 2008 partnership agreement and a separation…

Apr 9, 2013 7:37 PM CDT

Companies move from incentives to penalties regarding wellness plans, but is it legal?

More companies are penalizing employees who don’t meet wellness requirements, the Wall Street Journal (sub. req.) reports. CVS Caremark, for instance, recently stated that employees who did not report their weight, body fat and cholesterol levels to the company’s benefit firm would be fined $600, the Wall Street Journal reports.…

Apr 8, 2013 9:13 PM CDT

New fallout for Rutgers over fired coach as ex-employee files whistleblower suit

A former employee filed a whistleblower suit against Rutgers University in state court in New Jersey on Friday, contending that he suffered retaliation for complaining about mistreatment of basketball players. Eric Murdock, who made public a video that led to the recent firing of the basketball coach, followed by the…

Apr 8, 2013 7:27 PM CDT

Saying he was forced out of small firm he founded after leaving BigLaw, partner, 72, gets a new gig

A well-known employment and civil rights litigator says he was forced out of the law firm he founded in 2003 after a nearly 23-year career at Paul Hastings. But Lawrence Ashe, 72, is now starting a new job, as senior counsel, at another firm, Parker, Hudson, Rainer & Dobbs. “We…

Apr 3, 2013 7:12 PM CDT

FTC considers whether databases tracking employee thefts violate federal credit reporting law

Large databases that track employee thefts—and sometimes block accused workers from finding new jobs—are being probed by the Federal Trade Commission. The FTC is examining whether the databases comply with the Fair Credit Reporting Act, a federal law intended to give consumers more control over inaccurate information, the New York…

Apr 3, 2013 11:57 AM CDT

Firm’s job contract doesn’t require arbitration of ex-associate’s suit, appeals court says

A former associate has won a round in a disability discrimination case she filed two years ago against Bingham McCutchen. The law firm had sought to arbitrate a California complaint by Hartwell Harris that the firm didn’t do enough to accommodate her unusual sleep disorder, But a trial-level judge ruled…

Apr 1, 2013 9:24 PM CDT

Slavery continues to haunt the modern world, but efforts to eradicate it are growing

Apr 1, 2013 10:00 AM CDT

More unpaid interns say they want to be compensated

Apr 1, 2013 8:39 AM CDT

Lovely lass learns that looks are litigable

Apr 1, 2013 5:10 AM CDT

Ropes defends firing of partner who claimed her clients were passed to younger male lawyers

In a court hearing in a New York courtroom on Wednesday, Ropes & Gray asserted it acted properly when it fired 63-year-old Patricia Martone in 2010, saying the firm acted because the intellectual property partner was unable to generate significant new business. Arguing for Ropes, lawyer Bettina Plevan of Proskauer…

Mar 28, 2013 5:05 PM CDT

Lawyer formed Freelancers Union after law firm refused to classify her as an employee

Sara Horowitz learned about the downside of working as an independent contractor when she went to work for a Manhattan law firm nearly 20 years ago. Horowitz was shocked to learn the firm was hiring her as an independent contractor rather than an employee, the New York Times reports. That…

Mar 26, 2013 11:15 AM CDT

Ex-associate sues 2 law firms, says negative info they shared put him in a lower-paying job

Jeffrey Downs says he was all set to follow partner Mark LeWinter last year when he exited Philadelphia personal injury law firm Anapol Schwartz to take a job with competitor Raynes McCarty. But then his Raynes job offer was rescinded, Downs contends in a lawsuit filed this week in the…

Mar 25, 2013 5:06 PM CDT

EEOC sues Toys ‘R’ Us, says company failed to provide interpreter for deaf job applicant

Under the Americans with Disabilities Act, employers are required to provide reasonable accommodation to workers, unless doing so would be an undue hardship. What exactly is required, in a given case, can be open to interpretation. But for a big company like Toys “R” Us there’s virtually no question that…

Mar 20, 2013 5:22 PM CDT

Obama taps ‘assertive civil rights regulator’ to head Labor Department

President Obama has nominated Justice Department official Thomas Perez as labor secretary, a move criticized by some Republican lawmakers who say the nominee is too political. Perez has led the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division since 2009, report the New York Times and the Washington Post. The Times describes Perez…

Mar 19, 2013 1:54 PM CDT