By Lori Phillips In Laubenstein v. Conair Corp., No. 5:14-cv-05227 (W.D. Ark. Nov. 19, 2014), Plaintiff claimed retaliation under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (“SOX”) and a state-law claim for wrongful termination. A recent amendment to SOX preempts the Federal Arbitration Act as to arbitration of SOX claims. (The statute states “No predispute arbitration agreement shall be […]
Month: November 2014
That Shouldn’t Be My Job
By Bill Wright The plaintiff argued he was fired over a host of production issues, but none were his fault. Every single issue was someone else’s fault. So, he argued, he must have been fired because of his age. The employer said it fired him because he wouldn’t take responsibility (collectively with the rest of […]
Arizona Trade Secrets Grow New Teeth
By John Doran Over the last 18 months, the courts had diluted Arizona trade secret protections, notwithstanding the recent criminalization of trade secret theft by the AZ legislature. Today, however, the Arizona Supreme Court breathed new life into trade secret protection in Orca Communications Unlimited v. Noder, No. CV-13-0351 (Ariz. November 19, 2014). Orca […]
Which Petard?
By Bill Wright Title VII says a union may not refuse to refer a person for work on discriminatory grounds. In a recent case, the plaintiff alleged that, because of her sex, her union never referred her to a job driving for movie production companies. The trial court dismissed the case, noting the plaintiff was […]
Court Sinks EEOC’s Broad Subpoena
By Bryan Stillwagon Although the EEOC frequently attempts to expand its investigation of a charge far beyond a single complainant, some courts allow employers to defend against the agency’s broad subpoenas if the subpoenas are irrelevant to the individual charge under investigation. In EEOC v. Royal Caribbean Cruises, No. 13-13519 (11th Cir. Nov. 6, 2014), […]
The Customer Is Sometimes Right
By Elizabeth Chilcoat You’re a subcontractor with employees at your customer’s worksite. The customer orders you to remove an employee from the project. In fact, the customer emails you that the employee’s repeated safety complaints are killing them and they want him gone immediately. In the inevitable whistleblower suit, can you be liable if your […]
Are You On OSHA’s New List?
By Pat Miller Recently, OSHA announced a revision to its recordkeeping requirements. The revision updates the list of industries required to keep injury and illness records. The new requirements go into effect on January 1, 2015. Some industries that were previously required to maintain injury and illness records will not be required to do so […]