Court Won’t Seal FLSA Settlement

Employer Rebuts Failure-to-Promote Claims

By Deborah Elkins
Published: May 23, 2013
Tags: Employment Discrimination, Judge Norman K. Moon, U.S. District Court - Western District

An African-American male employed in a technician assembly position who alleges he has been passed over for promotion multiple times because of race cannot make out a prima facie case under Title VII, the Lynchburg U.S. District Court says; although plaintiff says employer altered job descriptions produced in discovery to make certain qualifications “required” instead [...]

Lab Director’s Summary Judgment Motion ‘Premature’

By Deborah Elkins
Published: May 23, 2013
Tags: Employment Discrimination, Judge Norman K. Moon, U.S. District Court - Western District

An African-American male and former director of quality control for a Lynchburg manufacturer of fragrance and personal care products who alleges his racially-motivated termination ran counter to the company’s progressive disciplinary policy, was disparate treatment when compared to Caucasian employees’ disciplinary history and violated Title VII, has proved that his suit was timely filed because [...]

No ADA Claim from Leave Denial

By Deborah Elkins
Published: May 21, 2013
Tags: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Employment Discrimination, Judge Stephanie Dawn Thacker

An employee of a chain-store distribution center who filed his disability discrimination claim with the EEOC before he filed his Chapter 13 bankruptcy petition has standing to pursue his discrimination claim, the 4th Circuit says, but the claim has no merit as the employee did not show he could perform the essential functions of his [...]

Employer Has ‘Bona Fide’ Safety-Rule Defense

By Deborah Elkins
Published: May 16, 2013
Tags: Judge Randolph A. Beales, Virginia Court of Appeals, Workers' Comp

The Court of Appeals says a commercial laundry attendant with a prior back injury is barred from workers’ comp benefits for a later back injury because of his misconduct in failing to wear the back brace, despite the attendant’s claim that the employer did not enforce its back brace safety rule. The commission did not [...]

Provider Surcharge for Comp Patients Not Paid

By Deborah Elkins
Published: May 16, 2013
Tags: Judge Walter S. Felton Jr., Virginia Court of Appeals, Workers' Comp

Testimony by the chief financial officer of an orthopedic practice that it charges 40 percent more for workers’ compensation patients, to cover overhead for extra time and administrative costs, does not prove the provider’s case that its fees are reasonable under Va. Code § 65.2-605, and the Court of Appeals upholds denial of the provider’s [...]

Interstate Delivery Drivers Lose on Preemption Issue

By Deborah Elkins
Published: May 15, 2013
Tags: Employment, Judge Gerald Bruce Lee, U.S. District Court - Eastern District

An Alexandria U.S. District Court grants summary judgment to defendant Lasership Inc. in this suit filed by a purported class of delivery truck drivers who allege they were misclassified under the Massachusetts Independent Contractor Statute, M.G.L. 149 § 148B. Though headquartered in Vienna, Va., Lasership maintains facilities in Woburn, Mass., and Meriden, Conn. In the [...]

No ‘Comp bar” from Equipment Assembly

By Deborah Elkins
Published: May 14, 2013
Tags: Judge Jerrauld C. Jones, Norfolk Circuit Court, Virginia Circuit Courts, Workers' Comp

Although a rental company employee who delivered sanitation equipment to a job site spent several extra hours assembling the custom equipment, he is not a statutory employee of defendant construction company, and the Norfolk Circuit Court overrules defendant’s special plea in bar of the Workers’ Compensation Act. The parties have stipulated that sanitation, the work [...]

Sidewalk Fall Compensable

By Deborah Elkins
Published: May 9, 2013
Tags: Judge Randolph A. Beales, Virginia Court of Appeals, Workers' Comp

The Court of Appeals affirms the commission decision holding compensable employee’s fall on an icy sidewalk outside the main entrance to her employer’s building: the commission correctly applied the extended premises doctrine. Nurse worked for employer over 15 years. One day in January, she fell on ice on a sidewalk outside the entrance to her [...]

School Bus Driver’s FLSA Retaliation Claim Fails

By Deborah Elkins
Published: May 8, 2013
Tags: Judge James R. Spencer, Labor, U.S. District Court - Eastern District

The Richmond U.S. District Court says a school bus driver who alleges she was fired in retaliation for filing a claim for overtime pay under the Fair Labor Standards Act may not amend her complaint because her additional allegations still do not show a causal connection between her protected activity and her later termination for [...]