Judge Jay Quam has an excellent article in the latest issue of Bench & Bar magazine making the case for more civility in litigation and a rejection of “Genghis Khan” type tactics. His argument: lawyers who behave badly do not increase the likelihood of winning, and only alienate the judge. As Judge Quam puts it: “Jerks [...]
How to get yourself in trouble when firing an employee
Judge John Tunheim of the Federal District Court in Minnesota will permit a plaintiff to proceed to trial on his claims of discrimination in a case which seems to embody the adage “timing is everything”. Landon Young worked for McLane Minnesota, a grocery supply chain company. After his shift on September 24, Young was injured in [...]
Plaintiffs have a tough time forcing religious accommodations
The decision today by the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals in Harrell v. Donahue re-affirms the difficulty which employees have in proving that their employers failed to accommodate their religious beliefs. In particular, employers are not required to take any action that would violate the terms of an applicable Collective Bargaining Agreement, nor anything that [...]
Congratulations to UST Law Professor Rob Vischer
Kudos to Rob Vischer, Professor at the University of St. Thomas School of Law, for being named as one of 23 law professors in the country to “take before you die” by The National Jurist. The article cites Rob for his “engaging manner” and his ability to create a “dynamic law school experience by challenging [...]
Lies, Damned Lies and Statistics
An unpublished decision issued yesterday by the Minnesota Court of Appeals in Farmers Insurance Exchange v. Tomczik raises a couple of interesting and uncommon issues that are worth noting. Tomczik worked as an insurance agent for Farmers for 31 years. In 2006, Farmers noticed a drop in the number of automobile policies that he [...]
Classification of exempt employee upheld under FLSA
As any employment lawyer will tell you, wage-and-hour litigation has been a hot area for the last several years. A recent opinion by U.S. District Judge Michael Davis provides a useful overview of the elements of one type of such a claim – the claimed misclassification of a non-exempt employee. John Berscheid worked as [...]
Non-competes and preliminary injunctions
The medical device industry is well-known for the competition between companies for good sales talent. Judge Susan Richards Nelson has penned a textbook example of how to analyze a motion for a preliminary injunction in a non-competition case in her decision earlier this month in Boston Scientific Corp. v. Kean and St. Jude Medical [...]
EEOC issues regulations for ADA
The EEOC has just issued the final regulations implementing the 2008 amendments to the Americans with Disabilities Act. They are 202 pages long: have fun!
Charlie Sheen v. Chuck Lorrie
I’m rushing to get out of town for spring break, but as a public service I felt compelled to make Charlie Sheen’s 30-page Complaint available to you. Parts of it read as though Charlie himself wrote it! Enjoy.
Criminal background checks for nursing home employees
The Inspector General of the federal Department of Health and Human Services issued a report yesterday which reports that more than 90 percent of all nursing homes in the U.S. have at least one employee with a criminal record, and five percent of all nursing home employees have at least one conviction. The report [...]
