Tennessee Employment Lawyer Blog

For Tennessee residents and residents across the country the American with Disabilities Act or ADA has prohibited employers and public places to discriminate against someone based on their disability. This has allowed many people with disabilities to go many places and be an active part of their society. Unfortunately, in some areas and in some cases, this type of discrimination still does happen each and every day to people with disabilities. If you feel that you have been discriminated against due to your disability, you should contact a Tennessee ADA attorney right away to hear your case.

The Princeton Health Care system which runs a hospital and provides other health and medical care violated the ADA and other federal laws when they did not provide “reasonable” accommodations to people who needed medical leave and then fired them because of their disabilities. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed a disability discrimination lawsuit against them because they stated that the Princeton Health Care system has policies that do not provide “reasonable” accommodations to qualified individuals who have a disability, fires employees who are not qualified for leave under FMLA laws if they do not return to work within one week, and refuses to permit leave for more than the twelve weeks allowed by FMLA. They also do not make exceptions for qualified people with a disability who need extra leave as an accommodation.

These actions violate the Americans with Disabilities Act which states that employers must provide “reasonable” accommodations for their employees with a disability. The EEOC has stated that several people who have requested leave as an accommodation were denied and then fired. The agency filed a disability discrimination lawsuit against them in the U.S. District Court for the district of New Jersey after trying to reach a settlement first by a conciliation process.

Continue reading "Princeton Health Care System Faces Lawsuit for Disability Discrimination" »

Recently a federal jury awarded former biotech scientist Becky McClain $1.7 million in damages after finding that Pfizer terminated her employment after she became sick with a bioengineered virus and then complained about safety issues. While the actual complaint of contracting the paralyzing virus through workplace safety inadequacies was dismissed by a judge due to lack of evidence, the jury did find that Pfizer violated whistleblower and free speech laws when it fired her.

Many workers' advocates have long pressed for better regulation and safer conditions in biotech facilities fearing just this sort of event. Ms. McClain claimed was stonewalled repeatedly when she tried to get the genetic code for the virus being told it was a trade secret.

According to consumer advocate Ralph Nader, "It's a field that has been trade-secreted out of the sunlight." Nader has taken an interest in the case and has spoken numerous time with McClain. She spoke of situations where desks were right next to biological experiments being conducted and other safety problems.

McClain now suffers from a debilitating illness of partial temporary paralysis caused by a severe potassium deficiency. She believes she contracted this virus from a coworker's experiment. This case has caused OSHA to reevaluate and improve regulations concerning biotech materials.

Continue reading "$1.7M Awarded to Injured Biotech Whistleblower" »

Tennessee workers and workers all across the country work hard to support themselves and their families each and every day. Sometimes however, situations come up where a worker needs to stay at home for an extended period of time to care for a sick loved one. This is when the Family Medical Leave Act usually allows a worker to do so. Unfortunately, though there are times when employers violate the rules of the Family Medical Leave Act and as a result the employee and their family usually suffer. If you feel that your FMLA rights have been violated, then you be entitled to compensation and should contact a Tennessee FMLA lawyer right away to help you.
In this case, Mary Zanakis, a reporter for KHON-TV claimed that her news director, Jim McCoy and their station manager at the time of the incident, Kent Baker, violated her FMLA rights by demoting her after she went on maternity leave in December of 1998. According to FMLA, a worker is entitled to return to his or her same position when returning from leave, unless the employer can show a reason why holding the position open would pose a hardship for the company or its workers.
Baker and McCoy denied this claim and stated that Zanakis position as reporter and producer of the medical segment of the station’s morning news show had been eliminated during her leave. They also claim that her termination in June of 1999 was a result of budget cuts being made and the quality of her work declining.
A federal court jury however, agreed with Zanakis and awarded her $87,000 in damages. Zanakis also wanted $770,000 more for wages she would have earned if she had continued to work at that station. However, a federal judge said she was not entitled to this amount because she had accepted another job with KITV for $45,000 a year in February of 2000. The judge however noted that Zanakis did apply to any other Honolulu TV stations and the salary she accepted at KITV was simply a result of her value in the news reporter market.
The judge also found that McCoy and Baker had “reasonable grounds for believing that their decision was not a violation of Family Medical Leave Act”.
The lawyers for both sides then agreed on a settlement amount of $175,000 which includes attorney fees.

Continue reading "Honolulu Television Station Receives $175,000 in FMLA Lawsuit" »