NorthCarolinaLaw

https://edelsteinpayne.com/employment-law Forsythe County Superior Court Judge Orders City of Kernersville to Produce Personnel Documents for our Client Originally Posted by Sean Cecil May 19, 2016  (0 Comments) On Monday, firm partner Travis Payne argued a mandamus petition in Forsythe County on behalf of our client, a Kernersville firefighter, who was fired and then denied access to unredacted copies of documents used to support his firing. Citing an important 2013 court case,  Wind vs. City of Gastonia  (for which he drafted an  amicus curiae  brief), Attorney Payne successfully argued that records related to our client's discipline is not subject to the disclosure exemptions for employment records. Although the final order is pending, the City has indicated an inclination to appeal the ruling. The City will also be required to provide the client with a new grievance hearing.   A writ of mandamus is a court order to a public offici...

https://edelsteinpayne.com/employment-law 4th Circuit: GEICO Investigators Not Exempt from FLSA Overtime Requirement Originally Posted by Sean Cecil Jan 29, 2016 (0 Comments) The Fair Labor Standards Act   requires, subject to several exceptions, overtime pay of 150% an employees' regular rate for work in excess of 40 hours in a week. (It is not true that you are exempt from overtime merely by virtue of being a salaried employee.) One common set of exceptions that cause a lot of confusion is the Executive, Administrative, and Professional (EAP) exceptions, commonly referred to as the “white collar” exceptions. The EAP exceptions focus on actual job duties as opposed to job titles, and have been subject to extensive litigation over the years. As a threshold matter, no EAP exemption applies to employees who are paid less than $455/week (the Obama Administration is in the process of an administrative rulemaking that would increase this minimum threshold to $955/week). ...

edelsteinpayne.com Writ of Mandamus Obtained on Behalf of Statesville Firefighter Originally Posted by Sean Cecil Jan 11, 2016 (0 Comments) Last month, Edelstein Payne & Lucas partner Travis Payne and I traveled to Statesville, NC to appear in Iredell County Superior Court to petition the court for a writ of mandamus. A mandamus action in North Carolina is a petition for a court order requiring a governmental official to perform his or her non-discretionary official duties. Our client, a longtime member of the city's fire department, had applied for a promotion and underwent promotional processes. When he was not chosen for the promotion, he sought review of the decision to not promote him, as provided  in the City's Charter. He was denied a Civil Service Board review, despite several explicit requests, and was left with no choice but to petition the court for a writ of mandamus.  There are five "elements" which must be established by a party p...

https://raleighworkerscompensation.com/employment-law Jury Awards Victimized Female Farmworkers $17 Million Originally Posted by Sean Cecil Sep 16, 2015  (0 Comments) A jury in Florida just returned a verdict of $17 million to five female migrant farmworkers who complained they were raped and sexually harassed by male supervisors at a packing plant where they worked. Sexual abuse of female farmworkers is a widespread problem; federal government is apparently attempting to do fix the situation.   Here is a link to a very thorough Frontline   series reporting on the problem.  Women do not have to accept sexual harassment and assault because they work in agriculture. Anyone who has experienced these kinds of problems should seek an attorney. The attorneys at Edelstein & Payne have experience dealing with sexual harassment claims and are eager to hear from any workers who feel they have been unlawfully harassed or touched at work.  ______...

www.edelsteinpayne.com/employment-law EEOC Targets Denver Law School for Disparate Pay Originally Posted by Sean Cecil Sep 02, 2015  (0 Comments) Women should be paid the same amount for the same work. Citing Title VII of the Civil Rights act, the Equal Pay Act, and the Fair Labor Standards Act, the EEOC   dropped a bombshell  on Denver University's Sturm School of Law this week, finding that their pay system resulted in widespread disparate pay negatively affecting female professors. The law school now has the opportunity to participate in mediation through the EEOC "conciliation" process, and faces potential liability for back pay and future wage increases, as well as the potential for other monetary and injunctive relief (including the potential for attorney fees). According to a Denver Post  article  about the matter, the school has defended its pay policy as being merit-based, and said that gender plays no role in determining how much...

www.edelsteinpayne.com/employment-law DOL Settles FMLA Charge Against Staples Originally Posted by Sean Cecil Jun 08, 2015  (0 Comments) The Family and Medical Leave Act requires that employers inform employees of available relief. Generally, an employer is covered by the FMLA if it is a private employer with 50 or more employees, a public agency, or a public or private elementary or secondary school. The FMLA provides, among other things, 12 weeks of job-protected unpaid leave for workers who must miss work for an illness, the illness of a family member ( more FMLA info here ). All covered employers must have a general notice about the FMLA posted,  must provide employees general notice about the FMLA, notify workers of their eligibility status and rights and responsibilities, and notify employees whether specific leave is designated as FMLA leave and how much time will be used against their FMLA leave entitlement.  A worker's eligibility is de...

www.edelsteinpayne.com/employment-law 4th Circuit: Black Workers May Pursue Class-Action Racial Discrimination Claim Originally Posted by Sean Cecil May 13, 2015  (0 Comments) Black workers at Nucor Steel in Charleston, SC sued claiming a racially hostile environment and discriminatory promotion practices. However, the trial court judge decertified their class on the promotions claim.  Holding that the trial judge erred in his interpretation of a 2011 class-action case wherein the US Supreme Court ruled that female Wal-mart employees failed to prove their claims were similar enough to satisfy the "commonality" requirement of class certification, a divided 4th Circuit panel remanded the case with instructions to certify the class. Originally, the district court denied class certification on both claims, and the 4th Circuit ordered them certified; the district court de-certified after the Wal-mart case.  For a second time, the Cou...