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Labor/Employment – Nuclear agency immune from whistleblower suit
Although the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, or NRC, is obligated to not retaliate against whistleblowers, because the statute allows suits against a “person,” and the NRC is not a “person,” the NRC was immune from a whistleblower suit. Background Dr. Michael Peck is a NRC employee who made disclosures to Congress and the NRC’s inspector general […]
Labor/Employment – Reassignment backs failure-to-accommodate suit
In a case of first impression, the court held that where an employer transfers an employee from a position they could perform if provided with reasonable accommodations to a position they do not want, that could support a failure-to-accommodate claim. Background Michael Steven Wirtes sued his former employer, the City of Newport News, alleging that […]
Labor & Employment – Refusal, not service, prompted termination
Where an employee of the Drug Enforcement Administration was terminated because he refused to participate in a DEA internal investigation, not because of his Coast Guard service, his claims under the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994, or USERRA, were dismissed. Background The Drug Enforcement Administration terminated the employment of Darek and […]
Labor/Employment – Union may assert good-faith defense
In a case of first impression, a private party is entitled to assert the good-faith defense to liability under § 1983. As such, unions that collected representation fees from nonunion teachers prior to the Supreme Court holding such fees were unconstitutional, were not required to return the funds because they acted in good faith based […]
Labor & Employment – FLSA doesn’t apply to immigration detention
Where civil immigration detainees who were awaiting immigration hearings participated in a voluntary work program for which they were paid between $1 per day and $15 per week, their minimum wage bid failed because they are not “employees” within the meaning of the Fair Labor Standards Act and are not free to leave for another […]
Labor & Employment – Faith-centered school prevails over ex-headmaster
The former headmaster of a faith-based school founded by a bestselling novelist, whose employment and defamation claims were rejected by the trial court and jury, failed to show the court committed error by refusing to allow certain testimony, imposing a time limit on the trial, in its evidentiary rulings or in charging the jury. Background […]
Labor & Employment – Partner not an ‘employee’ for Title VII
Where a patent attorney who was a shareholding partner and equal owner of the firm, was compensated according to the firm’s profits and losses, enjoyed a high degree of independence and could only be terminated by a majority of the firm’s board, she was not an “employee” entitled to Title VII protection. Background Shawna Lemon […]
Labor & Employment – Fire battalion chiefs not entitled to overtime
Where fire battalion chiefs argued they were covered by a “first responder regulation,” which required they be paid overtime, because their primary duty was management and not front line firefighting, the first responder regulation was inapplicable. A review of their primary duties shows they fall within the execution exemption to the Fair Labor Standards Act. […]
Labor & Employment – FLSA exemption incorrectly applied in restaurant wage dispute
Where restaurant employees claimed that tips and automatic gratuities could not be considered in determining whether their employer met its obligations under the Fair Labor Standards Act, or FLSA, it was error to apply a statutory exemption—29 U.S.C. § 207(i)—to the minimum-wage requirements of the law. The exemption applies only to overtime obligations; it says […]
Labor & Employment – Employee could not perform even with reasonable accommodation
Where the employer granted several accommodations to an employee after his knee surgery, including limiting walking to four hours per day and work to eight hours per day and allowing the use of a motorized scooter, but the employee instead crafted his own “accommodations,” he failed to show he could perform the essential functions of […]
Labor & Employment – Contract – Tenured Professor – Faculty Manual – Failure to Follow
Despite a faculty manual’s declaration on nearly every page that “This is not a contract of employment,” the manual did in fact constitute the employment contract between the defendant-college and its tenured professors, including plaintiff. The college president decided to terminate plaintiff. When plaintiff elected not to take the president’s decision to the college’s board […]
Labor & Employment – Claim not cognizable under Equal Protection Clause
Where a former deputy commonwealth’s attorney brought a claim under the 14th Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause claiming she was fired in retaliation for reporting alleged sex discrimination, her claim was dismissed because the Equal Protection Clause cannot sustain a pure claim of retaliation. Background Collette Marie Wilcox, a former deputy commonwealth’s attorney for Carroll County, [&h[...]
Business Law
- Economy forces attorneys to get down to business
- Business Court judges trawl for customers
- Va. company's Web site did not subject business to personal jurisdiction in S.C., appeals panel rules
- Former running back from S.C. wins courtroom victory in contract dispute
- Contract – Government Contract – Qui Tam – False Claims Act
- Tort – Business Tort – Va. Computer Crimes Act – Trade Secrets
- Consumer Protection – FCRA – Auto Loan – Bank Accounting Errors
- Licenses & Permits – Beer & Wine Permit – Restrictive Covenant – Suitable Location
- Licenses & Permits – Veterinarian – Vaccine Maintenance
- State regulators look at car dealer accused of lying to customers
- Textile firm, railroad settle Graniteville train wreck lawsuit
- Subprime mortgage meltdown hits securities law
Commentary
- High court justices cross the line of propriety
- High court’s term was rough on big business
- The flip side of generative AI in law and how to address it
- The fight for equal educational opportunity continues
- Letter From The Editor – Working from Home
- NLRB joins FTC in taking aim at non-competes
- Supreme Court leaves key internet protection untouched
- US Supreme Court bites back at parody’s use of the First Amendment
- My goal: Provide the information that you need now
- Case study: North Carolina courts provide guidance on scope, limitations of attorney-client privilege
- A Different Ode to Pro Bono Work
- N.C. Bar Association embraces homophobia
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