September 2010

Paid maternity leave is virtually nonexistent in the US.  Even unpaid leave is not a given.  Since, the Family Medical Leave Act only applies to employers with 50 or more employees.  A worker must have worked for the employer some 12 months prior to requesting the FMLA leave.  According to one public agency, the FMLA…

How do employment lawyers choose clients?  Mike Maslanka, a defense employment lawyer, talks about this topic.  He discusses a talk he had with a plaintiff employment lawyer from Houston.  The Houston lawyer said he asks two questions: 1) what reason did the employer give for terminating you?  2) what was the real reason?  This…

Hewlett-Packard  sues Mark Hurd claiming that his new job as CEO for Oracle will require him to disclose trade secrets.  Apparently, HP never required Hurd to sign a non-disclosure or non-compete agreement. So, HP is suing under the theory of inevitable disclosure of trade secrets.  HP filed suit in California, which according to one observer…

 A San Sntonio soldier has been killed in Afghanistan.  PFC Diego Montoya was Mehtar Lam in Northern Afghanistan.  A 2009 Taft High School graduate, he participated in the high school JROTC program.  He was serving with the 64th MP Company.  See San Antonio Express News report.  His mother said he always wanted to serve in…

 A worker in El Paso was vindicated after he was fired for talking to his co-workers about work conditions.  The employer’s action in firing the worker violates the National Labor Relations Act.  Taking action against a worker for discussing "terms and conditions" of employment with co-workers violates the NLRA.  Eric Murillo worked for Chaffhaye, Inc.

 Fitness for duty exams are not popular with the workforce.  They can be very stigmatizing.  But, employers want to know if an employee has issues that could affect business.  Most caselaw says fitness for duty exams for unspecified reasons are not justified – they are perceived s a backdoor to discriminate based on disability.  But…