“The men who became two of the highest-paid solicitors in Britain by mishandling the claims of almost 100,000 sick miners will be struck off [= disbarred] after being found guilty of misconduct yesterday. James Beresford and Douglas Smith, partners in the South Yorkshire firm Beresfords, took advantage of vulnerable miners by putting their own commercial goals before those of their clients, the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal found. The company earned more than £115m under a government scheme for compensating miners with health claims, and Beresford himself made more than £16m in one year.” Among allegations the tribunal accepted as valid were acting in a conflict of interest and structuring fee arrangements in a way not in the clients’ best interest. (Afua Hirsch, Guardian, Dec. 12; Point of Law, Nov. 28).
Posts Tagged ‘workplace’
Religious accommodation law
I expect to be blogging on that subject quite a bit at the new site I’ve helped launch, Secular Right. Today I’ve got a few thoughts up on the so-called Freedom of Choice Act and its potential impact on Catholic hospitals, so-called conscience laws entitling employees of clinics and drugstores to opt out of their job duties when asked to dispense contraceptives or assist in other reproductive services, the never-ending war over Christmas and tit-for-tat atheist displays, and more. (Dec. 7).
EEOC settlement: pork-handling exemption, prayer breaks for Muslim workers
Minnesota: “In a landmark settlement that could change the way Muslims are treated in the workplace, St. Cloud-based Gold’n Plump Inc. has agreed to allow Somali workers short prayer breaks and the right to refuse handling pork at its poultry processing facilities.” The federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission had sued Gold’n Plump Poultry, Inc., along with an employment agency that worked with it, charging religious discrimination and retaliation on behalf of the Muslim workers. The employment agency had required applicants to sign a form saying that they would not refuse to handle pork products if the occasion arose at work. (Chris Serres, “Somalis win prayer case at Gold’n Plump”, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Sept. 10). “The timing of the [paid] added [prayer] break will fluctuate during the year so as to coordinate with the religious timing for Muslim prayers.” The two companies between them also agreed to pay $365,000 as part of the settlement. (Sept. 10; EEOC news release; via Workplace Prof Blog).
Employment lawyers “busier than ever”
Massive payroll-slashing means more advisory work coping with the many legal pitfalls of layoffs, including the WARN Act, which is giving rise to a mounting docket of litigation; the law requires 60-day advance notice of many planned layoffs of 50 or more employees. The law has an exception for “unforeseeable business circumstances”, but “courts have not historically counted major economic downturns under that exception, attorneys say.” (Of course. What could be more foreseeable than sudden sharp economic downturns? That’s why it’s so easy to make money playing stocks!) Littler Mendelson expects October to be the busiest month in its history, and other management-side firms report big jumps in business as well (cross-posted at Point of Law).
Welcome New York Post readers
I’m quoted in a sidebar about colorful or long-shot employment litigation, and mention the Rachael Ray anorexic employee suit and the Milwaukee cop who got disability for the stress of being fired over roughing up a suspect. On the latter case, by the way, rather than saying that the cop’s disability payments continue “to this day”, I should have used a phrase like “at last report”. (Brian Moore, “Tort Stories”, New York Post, Nov. 3; revised slightly to clarify final point).
Microblog 2008-10-24
- Legal risks posed to employers by Web 2.0 [HR Exec Online h/t Nicole Black] #
- Another take on pro bono and its discontents [Carolyn Elefant in ’91] #
- Stock market “capitulation” is another of those unhelpful concepts w/o real-world referent [Surowiecki] #
- “In conference call, no one can hear you knit” [Connie Crosby] #
- October Black Friday crash = “hedge fund going out of business sale” [Ray Lehmann] #
- What’s the opposite of “peak oil” theory, anyway? Trough oil? #
U.K.: Tories vow to roll back police workplace-safety rules
Shadow home secretary Dominic Grieve said if the Conservatives return to power they will amend the Health and Safety at Work Act of 1974, sections of which have applied to police work since 1997. The much-criticized results have included refusals to allow police officers to venture into potentially dangerous crime scenes and rescue situations. The party also pledges to curtail a trend toward the filing of official charges against citizens who intervene in efforts to stop crimes. (James Kirkup, “Tory conference: Dominic Grieve promises to scrap police health and safety laws”, Telegraph, Sept. 30). See also Jun. 30, 2003 (police not warned that climbing on roofs was dangerous).
Tattoos and piercings in the workplace
For the moment, at least, employers are still mostly free to decide whether or not to employ persons with body modifications not in line with their desired corporate image. At least, kind of free:
“There is a lot of employee activism,” said Laurel A. Van Buskirk, a New Hampshire lawyer who has written extensively about body modification and the law. “And because the cost of defending these cases is quite big, it makes employers a little uncomfortable when they start delving into that sphere.”
(Guy Trebay, “Tattoos Gain Even More Visibility”, New York Times, Sept. 25). Earlier here, here, here, etc.
Microblog 2008-09-24
- Both McC and Palin seem cold-blooded about firing people, might be seen as feature rather than bug [McLaughlin/Baseball Crank] #
- Legal obstacles to four day work week [Point of Law via @lilyhill] #
- Yep, that’s Joe: Biden said he’s “done more than any other senator combined” for trial lawyers [Point of Law] #
- Day of protest against software patents [OUT-LAW via @lawtweets] #
- Related? “EPO staff strike over patent quality” [OUT-LAW] #
- What a curious Nigerian scam email, do you think it could be genuine? [Cernovich] #
Smells like a zoo in here
A Miami area maid is suing her employer, Hampton Inn, in federal court there, claiming she was forced to clean up after hotel guests who defecated and urinated on floors, left feathers strewn about, and emitted allergenic dander. The guests included “Maya the spider monkey, Bob the alligator, Tango the Macaw”, and two lemurs, along with their human handlers. The multispecies group all stayed at the Hampton Inn at Miami Airport hotel for about a week while in town as part of a traveling zoo.
Interesting notes about the case include 1) a filing showing a training manual created by Busch Gardens, which had hired the traveling zoo, sensibly suggesting animal handlers “[b]ook a room near an ice machine when on the road with penguins”; and 2) plaintiff Arlin Valdez-Castillo’s claim to have been kidnapped and driven to a cemetery by two men who pressured her to drop the lawsuit. (Douglas Hanks, “Traveling zoo at hotel made me sick, maid says”, Miami Herald, Sept. 24).