Miscellaneous

• Court Orders Counsel to Send Notice of Right to Participate in Wage and Hour Lawsuit to Time Share Salespeople

  Bill Tucker | April 25, 2008 4:39 PM | 0 CommentsRichmond, VA

  Court Grants Conditional Class Certification of Timeshare Salespeople Seeking Unpaid Overtime and Minimum Wages

• Virginia Loses a Great Jurist- Hon. John W. Scott, Jr.

  Michael Phelan | April 17, 2008 9:55 AM | 0 CommentsRichmond, VA

  Judge Scott, who sat in the Fredericksburg Circuit Court for the past 12 years, died yesterday after having surgery at Johns Hopkins Hospital. Judge Scott was a pioneer as the Fredericksburg area's...

• Warning: The Adults Know All About Facebook and Myspace

  Michael Phelan | April 11, 2008 1:55 PM | 4 CommentsRichmond, VA

  I am not one of those parents who wants to invade my teenagers' privacy and spy on their MySpace, Facebook, YouTube, or other social media sites. But I do want them and other teens and young adults...

• Appellate Court Rules Against Veteran In Suit Against Fahrenheit 9/11 Filmmaker

  Bill Tucker | March 27, 2008 9:49 AM | 0 CommentsRichmond, VA

  A Federal Appellate Court ruled that a veteran did not have a cause of action for defamation against documentary filmmaker Michael Moore for using footage of the veteran's television interview in the movie Fahrenheit 9/11. The veteran, who lost both of his arms after a helicopter tire exploded while he was serving in Iraq, had been interviewed by Peter Jennings of ABC News while he was being...

• Florida Jury Awards $5.4 Million Verdict In Sexual Harassment Case

  Bill Tucker | February 26, 2008 1:20 PM | 0 CommentsRichmond, VA

  A Florida jury awarded $5.4 Million to a female employee who filed claims against her employer for sexual harassment and battery. The employee had worked for the employer for fourteen years, during which the employer admittedly sought more than a professional relationship with the employee, and even kissed her on the lips at a public function. The employee also alleged that the employer had...

• Age Discrimination Protection-the ADEA

  Michael Phelan | February 18, 2008 8:37 PM | 0 CommentsRichmond, VA

  Age discrimination is a hot topic these days, with several cases pending for decision by the U.S. Supreme Court. The Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) protects employees age 40 and older from discrimination in employment based on age. Age discrimination can include discrimination in hiring, promotion, pay, benefits, and discharge. The Act also protects against retaliation for...

• Federal Court Reinstates Sexual Harrassment Claim

  Bill Tucker | February 11, 2008 2:47 PM | 0 CommentsRichmond, VA

  The First Circuit Court of Appeals reinstated a public employee's sexual harassment lawsuit claiming that her supervisor created a hostile work environment by staring at her chest. The employee also claimed that the supervisor, the Town Administrator, retaliated against her by transferring her to another job after she complained to the Town Board. The decision of the Court of Appeals appears to...

• Boys and Girls Club Faces Retaliation Suit

  Bill Tucker | February 08, 2008 2:19 PM | 0 CommentsRichmond, VA

  The former head of a local Boys & Girls Club filed a "retaliation" lawsuit alleging that she was wrongfully terminated after reporting that the organization had inflated the number of children enrolled in its programs in order to obtain hundreds of thousands of dollars from the federal government. All federal employment statutes contain an anti-retaliation provision that is designed to protect...

• Contingency Fee Commercial Litigation

  Michael Phelan | February 04, 2008 10:10 AM | 0 CommentsRichmond, VA

  For generations, the hourly billing business model for law firms has forced plaintiffs involved in commercial litigation to pay attorneys by the hour regardless of the outcome of the litigation. A better business model for plaintiffs seeking to hire counsel to initiate business litigation may involve contingency fees, fixed legal fee pricing or a combination of a diminished hourly rate and a...

• Sexual Harassment in the Workplace

  Michael Phelan | February 04, 2008 1:00 AM | 0 CommentsRichmond, VA

  Even in 2008, sexual assault continues to haunt the workplace. Since 1964, when sex and gender based harassment were outlawed with the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, some male employers and supervisors have continued to use the workplace as a trolling ground for sexual gratification. More often than not, this is much, much more than about sex - it's about raw power. When an employer...