Labor & Employment

Suit against HUD is like ‘a low-budget telenovela,’ judge says, allowing lawyer’s retaliation claims

A government lawyer who says she was targeted by her superiors after complaining about sexist treatment will be allowed to pursue a claim of retaliation. U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper said Terri Roman may be allowed to pursue allegations that her supervisors engaged in a “relentless campaign to destroy” her…

Mar 7, 2016 6:15 AM CST

Appeals court OKs $3M whistleblower award to fired university attorney

An Illinois appellate court on Wednesday OK’d a $3 million whistleblower award to a former Chicago State University attorney who said he was fired and discredited because he insisted on following the law. With accrued interest, the award will be closer to $5 million, reports the Chicago Tribune (reg. req.).…

Mar 4, 2016 9:00 AM CST

Ford & Harrison grows again, acquires 5-lawyer boutique and new Connecticut office

National labor and employment boutique Ford & Harrison is growing again. The 155-attorney Atlanta-based firm announced Tuesday that it had acquired a five-lawyer firm, Rose Kallor. The merger establishes a new Hartford office for Ford & Harrison, its first in Connecticut. This is not the first merger this year for…

Mar 3, 2016 1:10 PM CST

EEOC sues for alleged gay bias in two groundbreaking lawsuits

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has for the first time filed lawsuits claiming that the law barring discrimination based on sex covers harassment against gays and lesbians. The EEOC announced the lawsuits in a press release on Tuesday, the Huffington Post reports. One suit against Scott Medical Health Center…

Mar 1, 2016 1:54 PM CST

More law firms find savings, stability through self-insurance

Several years ago Brooks, Pierce, McLendon, Humphrey & Leonard faced a 26 percent jump in its health insurance premiums. Renewals had become "a roller-coaster ride," says office manager Karen Sargent. "You'd never know what you'd get."

Mar 1, 2016 2:10 AM CST

Suit claims Quinn Emanuel didn’t comply with fee agreement

A lawsuit filed last week claims Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan overbilled for its defense of a home sales executive who pleaded guilty last year to conspiracy to commit bank fraud. The suit (PDF) filed in San Francisco on Feb. 19 claims Quinn Emanuel violated a fee agreement for the…

Feb 25, 2016 6:15 AM CST

Federal judge orders lawyer to pay almost $116K for pursuing baseless employment discrimination case

A Pennsylvania lawyer with what a federal judge called a “consistently problematic track record” was ordered on Friday to pay nearly $116,000 in legal costs for the two defendants in an employment discrimination case determined by the court to be baseless. The initial opinion (PDF) by U.S. District Judge Matthew…

Feb 22, 2016 11:05 AM CST

Lawyer wants sexual harassment payment returned, says plaintiff violated nondisclosure deal

Oregon lawyer Ross Day says he has no obligation to pay a $140,000 sexual harassment settlement—and he wants his first payment of $2,500 returned. In a pending lawsuit (PDF), Day says he doesn’t have to pay Andrea Meyer, a former employee at his Tigard law firm, because she violated a…

Feb 17, 2016 5:45 AM CST

New York appeals court says client can sue lawyer over Wall Street Journal comment

A former client can sue his lawyer for malpractice over a comment made to the Wall Street Journal, a New York appeals court has ruled. Founding partner Jeffrey Liddle of Liddle & Robinson had argued that plaintiff Michael Barr can’t prove the media comment caused him to lose a $1.3…

Feb 12, 2016 3:25 PM CST

Pepper Hamilton and project lawyer resolve ADA suit over sleep disorder

A project lawyer and Pepper Hamilton have resolved a suit contending the law firm violated the Americans With Disabilities Act. The lawyer, Andrew Fischer, had claimed that the law firm failed to accommodate a sleep disorder which made it difficult to arrive at work before 2 p.m. On Feb. 5,…

Feb 12, 2016 5:45 AM CST

Law firm among pioneering employers who OK worker use of medical marijuana

A small law firm is among a pioneering group of Illinois employers that are offering assurances they won’t punish their workers for using medical marijuana. InHouse Physicians, one of the other participants, has amended its human resources manual to say that it will accommodate workers who use medical marijuana, CEO…

Feb 5, 2016 4:30 PM CST

Chicago plans $3.1M settlement in DOJ suit over US residency rule for foreign-born police applicants

A federal civil rights lawsuit filed Friday by the U.S. Department of Justice against the city of Chicago over a residency rule for foreign-born police job applicants reportedly will soon be settled for $3.1 million. Although the city council has not formally voted to approve the pact, a court filing…

Feb 5, 2016 11:45 AM CST

Lawyer faces false imprisonment charge over firing of worker

A Georgia lawyer is facing a criminal charge of false imprisonment over his handling of the termination of an employee of the Augusta Warrior Project. Wright McLeod, who is a member of the AWP board of directors, allegedly entered the employee’s office along with the AWP staff director, told the…

Feb 4, 2016 2:40 PM CST

Ex-employee sues over Yahoo worker rating system, says it does end run around WARN requirements

A former Yahoo Inc. editor has filed a federal lawsuit against the company, alleging that a quarterly performance review system that ranks all company workers on a scale of 1 to 5 is unfair and illegal. Instead of providing a rational framework for evaluating employee performance, the QPR system is…

Feb 2, 2016 6:15 AM CST

Lawyer who won $390K for clients at trial must pay $11K for alerting media about case

An Ohio lawyer is appealing a judge’s order requiring him to pay $11,000 to the defense, after winning $390,000 for the plaintiffs in a tort case, because he alerted a newspaper about the lawsuit. Attorney Peter Pattakos was sanctioned for telling a friend who is a Cleveland Scene editor about…

Feb 1, 2016 4:45 PM CST