Fourth Circuit Interprets Wal-Mart V. Dukes in Favor of Plaintiffs
Family Dollar Stores, Inc. is facing heat from some 51 female managers that claim that the Dollar Store’s corporate headquarters created a system of compensation that caused female store managers to be paid less than males. The plaintiffs allege that...
Preliminary Injunction Denied: Non-Competition Agreement is Overly Broad
Over the past few years, the Virginia Supreme Court has evaluated the language contained in restrictive covenants, and clarified the types of non-compete clauses which create permissible restraints on trade under Virginia law. Over the past few months, the Court...
At-Will Employment in Washington, D.C.: An Employer’s Advantage
In the District of Columbia, an at-will employee generally cannot sue a third party (other than an employer) for causing his or her firing. This holds true even for a third party strongly adverse to the employee like a former...
Non-Competition Agreement Claim Revived by Virginia Supreme Court
The Virginia Supreme Court recently answered a question long asked by employment lawyers: can a court decide a non-competition lawsuit just by reviewing the non-competition agreement? The Court answered “no,” which means that employers now have a better opportunity to...
October 1, 2013 Deadline to Provide Employees with Written Notice of Health Care Options
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) requires most employers to provide notice to current employees and new hires about the forthcoming health insurance exchanges (termed “Marketplaces” by the Department of Labor), and subsidies that may be available through...
New Employer Health Insurance Reporting Requirement Pushed Back to January 2015
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) originally set January 1, 2014 as the effective date for employers to fulfill certain reporting provisions on health insurance coverage offered to employees. The IRS pushed back the date to January 1,...
Can a company be sued for working with a former employee of a competitor even if the company does not steal any of the competitor’s customers?
Yes, as shown by a recent Virginia federal decision. In that case, a company allegedly agreed to buy business information and materials from an ex-employee of a competitor. The ex-employee was subject to a non-compete, and offered to sell information...
Employers should review FMLA policies after the Supreme Court’s same-sex marriage decision
In the landmark decision of United States v. Windsor, the Supreme Court struck down the Defense of Marriage Act’s (DOMA) provision which denied federal benefits to gay couples who are legally married in their states. The Department of Labor (DOL) responded...
Can an executive be found personally liable for a company’s failure to pay minimum wages and overtime?
Yes. Unlike other debts owed by a company, unpaid minimum wages and overtime can often be recovered from certain high-level company officials as well as from the company. As the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit recently ruled,...