Tennessee Employment Lawyer Blog

In Tennessee and all across the United States employees who have worked at least one thousand two hundred and fifty hours are eligible to take Family Medical Leave. Employees that have not worked these required hours are usually not protected by FMLA but one court ruled recently that pre-eligible employees may be protected under the leave in certain cases.

According to this case, Kathryn Pereda worked at an assisted living facility. After eight months of working on the job, she told her boss that she pregnant and planned to take Family Medical Leave after the child was born five months later. By the time she took the leave, Pereda would be eligible for it. However, Pereda didn’t make it to five months. The company terminated her three months after her FMLA request when she was one month short of the required twelve months for FMLA eligibility.

The company claimed her performance was poor but Pereda claimed that she was a top employee before making her request for the leave. Pereda then claimed that her request was the real reason why she had been fired and filed a lawsuit against the company, claiming retaliation and interference with her right to take leave. The company claimed that the lawsuit should be dismissed because Pereda was not eligible for FMLA at the time that she was fired. The lower court agreed stating that if the law does not cover you, you are not protected.

However, when the case was taken to the appellate court, the ruling was reversed. The court stated that, “simply by requesting FMLA leave for the future, Pereda was “engaged in a protected activity” under the FMLA and the employer could not take adverse action against her.” Ruling otherwise would provide a loophole which would mean that pre-eligible employees requesting future FMLA leave could be fired without remedy.

Continue reading "Pre-Eligibility FMLA Leave Requests May be Protected" »

In Tennessee and all over the United States, most employees that work more than forty hours in a single work week, you are entitled by law to receive overtime pay even if you work for a celebrity. Unfortunately, many companies and bosses including celebrities like to find ways around paying overtime or just fail to pay it completely. In a recent case, Jennifer O’Neil was employed as Lady Gaga’s personal assistant for thirteen months. She claims that she was required to handle after task that Lady Gaga demanded. This meant she did tasks such as handling the singer’s scheduling, finances, meals, and making sure Lady Gaga had a towel in her hand when she was finished taking a shower. O’Neil was with Lady Gaga during her 2010 Monster Ball world tour, and she claims that was barely awarded time for breaks, meals, or even sleep so that she could be available to the singer at all times of the day and night.

O’Neil’s job was supposed to pay $75,000 but she claims she was never paid overtime. She filed a lawsuit last week, claiming almost $380,000 in back pay. The lawsuit was filed against Lady Gaga’s company, Mermaid Touring, Inc. The former assistant also states that she was owed an estimated 7,168 hours of overtime. The employment lawsuit is also seeking unspecified damages.

Continue reading "Former Personal Assistant for Lady Gaga Filed Overtime Pay Lawsuit against the Singer " »

In Tennessee and all across the United States, employees with disabilities are supposed to be given reasonable accommodations that allow them to be able to work better according to the Americans with Disabilities Act. However, some companies fail to provide these accommodations and may even go as far as to fire an employee when they are asked to provide the accommodations for them. A recent lawsuit claims that Wal-Mart denied a twelve-year employee of its Tennessee distribution center a reasonable accommodation after he had cancer surgery which meant that he suffered weakness in his right shoulder. The lawsuit is also claiming that Wal-mart terminated him in retaliation for complaining about the company’s refusal to accommodate him.

This employee had been a successful forklift driver after his surgery. He had requested that Wal-mart not require him to cover a twenty minute break in the shipping department because it would require manual lifting. Wal-mart denied him the accommodation and discharged him. They claimed that he could not perform the essential functions of his job. The lawsuit was filed by the EEOC on the employee’s behalf after first trying to reach a pre-litigation settlement. This case was among the EEOC first lawsuits filed under the Americans with Disabilities Amendments Act of 2008 or the ADAA.

According to the settlement, Wal-mart will pay $275,000 and has to agree to an eighteen month consent decree which prevents them from further failing to provide reasonable accommodations, absent undue hardship or failing to follow proper procedures for handling requests that deal with the ADA or ADAA. This decree also requires Wal-mart to provide anti-disability discrimination training to its management staff, maintain records of any accommodation requests and furnish them to the EEOC and post a notice to employees about the lawsuit that includes the EEOC’s contact information.

Continue reading "Tennessee Wal-Mart Employee Terminated After Cancer Surgery " »

According to a new lasuit, in August of 2011, David Sakich, Kevin Holton, Scott Jones and Todd Hammond as well as others facing a similar situation filed a suit against Sheriff Randall Boyce and the county under the Fair Labor Standards Act claiming that they were denied overtime as well as straight time pay and worked “off the clock.” They also claim they were retaliated against for bringing up the issue. Sakich and Holton also claim that they were demoted from positions as detective to patrol duty for whistle blowing activity. They later requested a preliminary injunction to prevent retaliation against others who may want to be a part of the lawsuit. Jeremy Beech, a maintenance worker joined the federal lawsuit two weeks later.

A federal judge has granted the detectives motion for a hearing on their preliminary injunction request as well as their motion for a case management conference in the lawsuit. The judge has told both sides to be prepared to present proof during the upcoming hearing, scheduled for January 5th, 2012, related to the factors the judge must weigh in considering the detectives motion for the injunction. The judge also stated that after the hearing if it is warranted, he will conduct a scheduling conference in the case.

However, the judge also told both sides of the case to discuss whether they will consent o have a U.S. magistrate judge conduct all further proceedings in the case, including trial and entry of a final judgment. The judge has also recommended that both sides become familiar with the judicial preferences of the judge before attending the scheduling conference.

Continue reading "Hearing Scheduled in Lawsuit against Sheriff’s Department Concerning Unpaid Overtime" »

In Tennessee and all over the United States, employees working in any business or position deserve overtime rights as well as minimum wage rights. Unfortunately, however, in some positions workers are not given these rights or protections. However, the White House and the federal government are working to change these rules. If you or someone you work with feel that you do not get the overtime and minimum wage rights you deserve or want to know how these changes may affect you, then you should talk to a Tennessee employment overtime and minimum wage lawyer right away. They will work with you to make sure you get the employment rights and compensation that you deserve.

The White House has announced a proposed rule to mend the Supreme Court’s decision in Coke by extending minimum wage and overtime protections to home health care workers who are employed by third party agencies. Before this decision, Coke, impacted hard working and low paid employees all across the country. Many home healthcare workers, who provide care for the elderly and disabled, were extremely underpaid for the work that they do because of a Fair Labor Standards Act exemption and Coke made this worse by extending this exemption to third party agencies. Coke was a harsh precedent because it crushed the Fair Labor Standards Act narrow construction of the exemption rule and it made a sub-class of low wage employees who could have suffered from wage abuse by third party agencies. The White House’s proposal to mend Coke’s decision is a great decision for these employees and other employees in similar situations all across the country.

Continue reading "White House Proposed Rule for Overtime and Minimum Wage Protections for Home Care Workers" »

In Tennessee and all across the country, employees are entitled to the proper wage amounts for their specific job. Unfortunately, many companies and businesses find ways around these wage requirements by misclassifying their employees or keeping improper records of payment. If you or someone you work with feels that your rights to a certain wage have been violated, then you should speak with a Tennessee employment lawyer as soon as possible. They will hear your case and work with you to make sure you get the compensation you are entitled to by law.

According to this case, The U.S. Department of Labor stated on December 14th, 2011, that “35 franchised hotels and motels, including eleven in Middle Tennessee, violated minimum wage, overtime and other labor laws during the fiscal year ended Sept. 30.” The Department also said that those businesses received fines and they owed $14,552 and the agency was able to recover more than $173,000 in wages which were owed to two hundred and eighty-three employees. These business violations included charging employees excessive room and board if they also lived on the property and paying housekeepers by the number of rooms they cleaned. These violations led to these employees receiving less than $7.25 minimum wage. They also only paid employees regular pay or “straight” pay for all the hours they worked, including overtime, and failed to pay for hours that temporary employees worked. Some of the hotels and motels also misclassified their employees as independent contractors which denied them their wage rights according to federal law.

These citations were part of a multi-year enforcement initiative which focused on Tennessee’s hotel and motel industry during which the U.S. Department of Labor found, “found widespread noncompliance with the minimum wage, overtime and record-keeping provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act.” Ten hotels and motels in Nashville were cited and also one in Smyrna.

Continue reading "Eleven Tennessee Hotels Receive Fines for Wage Violations " »

In Tennessee and across the United States, the Family Medical Leave Act allows an employee that is eligible for the leave to take it and prohibits employers or businesses from discouraging an employee from taking their leave. If you or someone you work with has been discouraged for any reason from taking your Family Medical Leave when you are eligible then you should talk to a Tennessee employment and FMLA lawyer as soon as possible. We will work with you and help to determine if you are entitled to compensation because of your employer’s actions concerning your Family Medical Leave.

In this case, Jack Bell worked for the Department of Health and Human Services as a disease intervention specialist. Bell suffered from severe allergies and ear problems. His doctors confirmed that Bell had a serious health condition and needed intermittent FMLA leave when his medical illness flared up. Bell was approved for four hundred and eighty hours of intermittent FMLA leave. When Bell often called in sick using his approved leave, this led the his work informing him that he would be placed on full time FMLA leave if he continued to use his intermittent leave and would have to get doctor’s authorization to begin working full time again. When Bell got the authorization from his doctor for full time work but continued to take his intermittent FMLA leave, his work with the county department placed him on full time FMLA leave. Bell claimed that there was no reason to use up his full time FMLA leave but after another work absence, he was terminated by the county department. Bell then filed a lawsuit against his work claiming that they were interfering with his right to FMLA leave and that he was facing retaliation for taking his leave.

After his work explained that they terminated Bell for excessive absences and did not hold us FMLA against him, his retaliation claim was thrown out. However, Bell’s claim that by his work telling him that he must take full time FMLA leave when he only needed to take intermittent leave, inferred with his right to take the leave was upheld by the 5th Circuit Court and sent back to trial. Bell claimed that his work wanted him to take full time FMLA leave so he would use it up and could then be terminated for absences that would have been covered by intermittent leave had he be allowed to use it.

Continue reading "Supervisors should not Discourage Employees from using their FMLA " »

In Tennessee as well as all across the country, employees are not allowed to be discriminated against for their age, gender, disability, medical condition and even for pregnancy. If an employee faces discrimination for these reasons, it may go against their rights under the Family Medical Leave Act and the Pregnancy Discrimination Act. If you or someone you know feels like you have been discriminated against at your workplace or terminated for any of these reasons, then you should speak with a Tennessee employment and FMLA lawyer right away. They will work with you to determine your case and make sure you get the compensation you deserve by law.

According to this lawsuit, Ashley Shelton was placed on family medical leave in January when she was placed on bed rest indefinitely as a result of premature contractions during her pregnancy. At the time, she worked for Synergy Care Inc. In February Shelton was terminated from her job via an e-mail from her supervisor. Shelton then filed a lawsuit against Synergy Care Inc claiming Synergy hired another employee, Katy Shipp, in early 2011, when they learned that Shelton was pregnant.

The lawsuit also is accusing Synergy of interfering with Shelton entitlement to FMLA, violating the Pregnancy Discrimination Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act. Shelton is seeking damages for lost wages, salary, employment benefits, emotional pain and suffering, inconvenience, mental anguish, non pecuniary losses, punitive damages, interest, and attorney’s fees. A jury trial has been requested for the case.

Continue reading "Woman Files Lawsuit over Pregnancy Discrimination " »

The Tennessee Workers Compensation Act provides very specific and limited benefits to injured employees. However, many lawyers often overlook Federal Laws that can also help injured workers. One prime example is the FMLA (Family Medical Leave Act)

The FMLA protects an employees job for up to 12 weeks. For the FMLA to apply the employer most have at least 50 employees and the employee must have worked there full time for about one year. Also, the employee must also be unable to work due to a "serious health condition". If you meet these factors the FMLA can probably give you some protection. So what do you get?

The basic protection is that you can take up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave. If you have a work comp injury you should, however, receive a check know as Temporary Total Disability check. In today's economy a good job can be more important than almost any other benefit. As such, if you want to keep that job and you can't work file a request for FMLA leave with your employer.

Continue reading "FMLA can help if you have a Tennessee Workers Comp Claim" »

Some companies and businesses find ways around paying their employees the wages they deserve by paying their employees and then not keeping records of it or failing to pay them overtime pay. According to a recent case, The U.S. Labor Department stated that more than $1 million in back wages has been recovered for two hundred and ninety-five gas station workers after they investigated and found that the gas stations were not compliant with the regulations of the Fair Labor Standards Act, specifically minimum wage and overtime pay requirements. The Fair Labor Standards Act district director of the federal Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division stated that only twenty-five percent of the gas stations were compliant with the Fair Labor Standards Act.

The investigation by the U.S. Labor Department discovered violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act such as paying below the federal minimum wage of 7.25 an hour and not receiving time and half rates of pay when working more than forty hours in a single workweek. Finally, they also discovered that some employees were being paid “off the books”.

The executive director for the Gasoline C-Store Automotive Association stated that gas station employers are not trying to cheat their workers out of proper paid but that they just need lessons in correct bookkeeping according to federal law. In this case, the employees as a result of its investigation was able to recover a total of $ 1,014,895 for workers during the 2011 fiscal year.

Continue reading "Gas Station Workers to Get Back Wages after Being Cheated out of Proper Pay " »

Tennessee employers and employers all across the country are not allowed under federal law to terminate employment on the basis of gender, age, or disability. Unfortunately, many companies and businesses find ways around this federal law or just fail to comply with it completely.

In a recent case, a convenience store has agreed to pay $115,000 in order to settle a federal lawsuit that claims the store improperly fired an HIV positive bakery clerk. The lawsuit was filed last year against Maverik, Inc by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. The EEOC alleged that the company violated the Americans with Disabilities Act when it terminated employment for a clerk in 2008, two weeks after discovering he was HIV positive. The EEOC stated that the company had employed the clerk for more than three years and stated he was fired “because of an alleged fear that he should not be working around food”. The EEOC also claimed that the company did not make reasonable accommodations for the clerk.

David Hancock, general counsel for Maverik stated that the company denies its violations of law and has only agreed to the settlement in order to avoid more expenses. Hancock also stated, “Maverik’s existing policies and procedures are consistent with the decree and applicable law. Maverik firmly stands behind its policies and training that strictly prohibit discrimination."The settlement requires Maverik to not discriminate against other people on the basis of disability. It also requires the company to provide ADA training to its workers and to its supervisors.

Continue reading "Convenience Store Chain to Pay Settlement in HIV Case" »

Recently, Jim Higgins, was interviewed with regard to a new app that helps employee's keep track of their work hours. Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) all non-exempt workers are entitled to overtime if they work more than forty (40) hours per week. There are now several applications out there to help keep track of your hours. You can watch the interview below to learn about these programs.

Continue reading "Our Employment Law Partners discusses new overtime apps" »