A woman filed a $1 million plus lawsuit against La-z-Boy, Inc., last week in U. S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri.Lori Ann Adams claims La-Z-Boy officials violated her rights under the federal Family and Medical Leave Act by firing her on Sept. 2, 2004. She says she suffered more than $300,000 in actual damages for lost wages, benefits, "diminished future earning capacity,...
The lawsuit was filed because of gender discrimination. The jury found there was none. But, it found the employer had retaliated against the employee for filing the suit. Result: a $150,000 verdict against the University of Florida. The Gainesville Sun has the details:Professor awarded $150K in suit vs. UFAfter nearly 10 hours of deliberation, a federal jury awarded a music professor...
Employees have a right to complain about unsafe working conditions and to report worksite hazards to agencies, such as OSHA. When employees exercise this right employers are not permitted to retaliate by firing them. Yet, some employers take punitive action anyway. The remedy for the employee is a retaliatory discharge lawsuit seeking damages. Cingular named in retaliatory discharge...
There is protection for whistle-blowers when their employers decide to take retaliatory action.A whistle-blower who warned of problems with safety equipment planned for Florida nuclear plants has been awarded $100,000 for his wrongful firing.Unjustly fired worker awarded back payDavid L. Robinson, a Texas engineer who was a specialist in quality controls at nuclear plants, had been fired by...
Just a couple of weeks after the SEC announced that they were investigating Computer Sciences Corporation for backdating stock options, it has come to light that Analog Devices (ADI) and Affiliated Computer Services (ACS) have had lawsuits filed against them alleging the same indiscretions. Backdating stock options can be used to artificially lower prices to lock in profits for officers and...
The nation's fastest-growing legal battlefront may be between workers and companies. Since 2000, the number of wage-related cases filed in federal courts has doubled, and most involve overtime claims.More workers suing to get overtime payLori Langer poured herself into her job, putting in extra time calling prospective students as an admissions adviser at American Intercontinental University...
The Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating Computer Sciences Corporation for possibly failing to report backdated stock options that were given to the company's executives. CSC announced last month that they are cooperating with the investigation, which focuses on whether the backdated options increased the executives' compensation.The informal request by the SEC for information...
Computer Sciences Corporation announced last week that corporate VP and former CFO Leon (Lee) Level will retire at the end of this month. Level previously stepped down from his post as CFO, and his full retirement will take place July 31st. Just over a year ago, a class action lawsuit against CSC on behalf of more than 14,000 employees was finalized. That suit involved overtime pay and was...
FedEx Ground does a great job handling packages but not such a great job handling some of its employees. This story from US Newswire is only the tip of the troubles FedEx has brought on itself by trying to be cute with its drivers and their relationship with the company. FedEx Ground Could Be Out Nearly $100 Million from Recent Employment-Related Legal Actions and Tax Assessments(R)ecent cases...
A very recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling appears to weaken the rights of some government employees who are fired or experience retaliation for some whistle blowing actions. However, there is still a legal basis to consider legal action when a governmental agency fires or mistreats the good civil servant who puts the spotlight on bad conduct. $250,000 settlement with former utilities worker...