January 2009

In his first significant act as President in the labor and employment arena, President Obama effectively overturned the United States Supreme Court’s decision in Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. by signing the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act (“Ledbetter Act”) into law this Thursday. The main thrust of the Ledbetter Act is that it…

In 2002, Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County, Tennessee (Metro), began looking into rumors of sexual harassment by one of its employees, Gene Hughes. A member of Metro’s human resources department asked plaintiff Vicky Crawford (a 30-year Metro employee) whether she had witnessed any of Hughes’ “inappropriate behavior.” Crawford, who was not the subject…

The recent economic lull has lead to increased layoffs across different industries. Employers may be required to give advance notice to affected employees and certain government entities. There are Federal and State laws which discuss the issue of notice owed to employees before large layoffs. The Federal law is known as the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification or ‘WARN’ Act. California’s version of the WARN act (AB 2957, the ‘baby’ WARN Act) contains additional provisions employers should be aware of. The baby WARN Act applies to “mass layoffs”, “terminations” and “relocations” at “covered” establishments. There are no regulations interpreting the California version which makes it difficult to understand.
Continue Reading California ‘Baby’ WARN Act may Surface During Recession