Author: Kyla Stott-Jess

Sports Agency and Former Employee Take (non) Competition into Courtroom

By Kyla Stott-Jess Hollywood’s portrayal of sports agencies presents a world that is dramatic and cut-throat, with ambitious sports agents competing for the chance to represent talented athletes. A recent court decision in Alberta brought this competitive business into the courtroom when a sports agency squared off against a former employee. It also provides several […]

Attorney Blasts DOL’s ‘Gotcha Approach’ to Workplace Enforcement

The U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) Wage and Hour Division’s (WHD) recent enforcement efforts represent a flawed approach that assumes incorrectly that employers are deliberately violating the law, according to David Fortney, cofounder of Fortney & Scott, LLC, in Washington, D.C., who testified before a U. S. House of Representatives subcommittee November 3. Fortney, editor […]

How to Avoid Perilous FMLA Mistakes (video)

Documentation is critical to warding off trouble when dealing with Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) requests, according to employment law attorney Stacie L. Caraway, who led a session on FMLA at the October Advanced Employment Issues Symposium (AEIS) in Nashville, Tennessee. Caraway names two critical points. First, don’t let doctors leave blanks or write […]

No Doom, No Gloom

Litigation Value: Sabre had better continue socking money away for a settlement with several female employees for their sexual harassment claims against Gabe. First poor Erin, and now “Warehouse Val” has to put up with Gabe’s creepy courtship. Robert may want to ship Gabe back to Tampa before he does any real damage. And Andy’s […]

Importance of Documentation in Employment Disputes

by Gary S. Fealk Discipline and termination are issues for virtually all employers. However, many employers make employment decisions with incomplete knowledge of the events leading to the discipline or termination. Having a system for investigating and documenting workplace incidents helps employers make decisions with better knowledge of the facts. Proper documentation also reduces the […]

OSHA Seeks Comments on Revised Whistleblower Rules

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is seeking comments on interim final rules that revise the regulations on whistleblower complaints filed under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX). The whistleblower protection provisions of SOX were amended by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 to clarify that subsidiaries of publicly […]

Employers Warned to Include GINA Disclosure on FMLA Forms (video)

Employers have some new language to include on certain Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) forms because of the Genetic Information Nondisclosure Act (GINA), according to employment law attorney Stacie L. Caraway, who led an FMLA session at the October Advanced Employment Issues Symposium in Nashville, Tennessee. Caraway says a one-paragraph statement is available on […]

Getting Answers to Advanced FMLA Questions (video)

Not all Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) questions have clear answers, and that often can put employers in a quandary, according to Bradd N. Siegel, who spoke on the issue at the recent Advanced Employment Issues Symposium in Nashville, Tennessee. That means employers must understand “where the regulations stop short of giving clear answers […]

Hiring Athletes as Employees

Once a colleague told me that he thought hiring former athletes was a risky proposition. His take was that while they were often charismatic, on average they just weren’t as smart as most. I politely reminded him that I considered myself a former athlete (with the emphasis on “former”), to which he had to think […]

That Fevered Night

Litigation Value: Not much on the employment law front. But, for many of our readers in Central Daylight Time (you know who you are), the goings-on during — and especially after — the most recent airing of The Office might have given rise to at least the kernel of an emotional distress claim. Allow this week’s […]