Insights

On December 20, 1999, a jury in San Francisco awarded $180,000 in compensatory damages and $1,080,000 in punitive damages to a former employee who was terminated by reason of her refusal to sign a non-compete...

Many employers, seeking to avoid the risks and expense inherent in jury trials of wrongful discharge and discrimination claims, require their employees to enter into agreements under which all employment-related disputes are...

California employers are all too familiar with claims of wrongful discharge by terminated employees who allege that they were party to an implied contract with the employer, under which they could not be discharged without...

The New York State Labor Law includes what is known as a “Whistleblowers’ Statute.” That law (Labor Law § 740) prohibits a private employer from retaliating against an employee who discloses or threatens to...

Employers often assume that when an employee continues to be employed after the expiration of his or her employment agreement, the employee automatically becomes an employee at will, whose employment is terminable at any...

Negligent hiring occurs where an employer hires or retains an employee who is unfit for his or her position, with knowledge of the employee’s unfitness, and where an injury to a third party results. Under the related...

Employment discrimination claims have long been thought to be outside the scope of the arbitration provisions of collective bargaining agreements and employment contracts. In Alexander v. Gardner-Denver Co., 415 U.S. 36...

On February 5, 1993, President Clinton signed the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993. In explaining the intent of this legislation, the President stated, “American workers will no longer have to choose between the job...

In an effort to avoid the expense and uncertainties of court litigation and jury trials, some employers have entered into employment agreements requiring that all disputes arising out of the employment relationship be...