You’ve probably seen clever musings about the need for commas. “Let’s eat, Grandma!” versus “let’s eat Grandma” goes from joyful to dreadful, all for want of a lowly comma. In O’Connor v. Oakhurst Dairy, the lowly comma brought down a giant. Maine’s overtime statute says that the employer doesn’t have to pay overtime for peopleContinue reading Packing a Punch(tuation)
Remember those updates to the overtime pay threshold that we were all wringing our hands about? (It’s back here if you’d like to remember what you were supposed to remember). A few things have happened since then. One, a Texas judge issued a national injunction barring blocking the US Dept of Labor’s overtime rules fromContinue reading Nevermind…
Generally speaking, if my boss decides that my job performance is unacceptable, I can be fired for poor performance. Pretty cut and dry. But what if my poor performance is outside of my control because I have some kind of disability? The Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”) prohibits discrimination against an employee because of theirContinue reading It’s All About Perceptions
Most of you know that employees are generally “at will”, meaning you can hire/fire an employee at your discretion. Except, of course, you cannot fire someone “because” they were too old, too pregnant, too… you get the idea, in a protected class. Likewise, you generally can’t fire someone for exercising their Constitutional right of freeContinue reading Being Both Wrong and Evil
The law has a curious concept called “standing”. Meaning, you stand for yourself. You can’t stand for someone else. This comes to play in a lawsuit when you try to sue to enforce your right, but then it turns out that it’s not really your right that your trying to protect but rather someone else’sContinue reading Not a Leg to Stand On
Ew, ick, right? Sharing a toothbrush… Sharing login credentials should generate the same kind of “ew ick” response if you want to make sure you don’t end up in federal prison for violation of the things like the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA) or the Economic Espionage Act (EEA). If your company subscribes toContinue reading Don’t Share a Toothbrush… or Your Login Credentials
It’s popular today to bash the big bad government bureaucracy. Whether or not you agree with the bashing, the US Dept of Labor has recently published this admittedly helpful “Employer’s Guide to the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA)“. It’s chock full of useful examples based upon hypothetical yet frequently encountered situations.
Last week was the Independence Day holiday. We’re talking independents here. As a small business, there is a temptation to want to call all of your workers “independent contractors” to avoid the hassle of the various payroll taxes and reporting that comes with having “employees” versus 1099 independent contractors. However, both the state and (especially) theContinue reading Post “Independents” Day housekeeping
Quite often, your vendors’ contracts will include a choice of law provision and a forum selection clause. For example: This Agreement is governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of California, without giving effect to its principles of conflicts of law. Any litigation arising out of this Agreement shall beContinue reading Choose Your Poison
You have some real estate. It’s mortgaged. The mortgage company requires you to carry insurance. So the insurance company should pay directly to your mortgage company, and not to you, if the property burns to the ground and there is no longer any collateral for the bank to foreclose on, right? Wrong. Your insurance policyContinue reading The Best Insurance is …
