The VLW Blog

An employer did not forfeit coverage for an employment discrimination suit when it waited until a legal complaint hit the court to notify the carrier. The insurance company, Philadelphia Indemnity, refused to defend the eventual suit. It said the employer had an obligation to report the employee’s accusations after the employer had been contacted by [...]

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The plaintiff in a suit filed in Alexandria federal court claims Best Buy’s theft-prevention program in Virginia and Washington targets racial and ethnic minorities. Todd Abed, a former Best Buy manager, says the company torpedoed his 13-year career with the electronics retailer because he objected to the company’s “Be On the Lookout” policy for suspected [...]

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A judge has overturned a jury’s awards totaling $101,000 based on gender discrimination claims against Virginia Tech. Roanoke U.S. District Judge James Turk ordered a new trial holding the trial evidence showed Virginia Tech paid fund-raising employees based on experience rather than gender. The two women plaintiffs both worked at Tech’s Office of University Development [...]

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A hearing-impaired employee who sued Walmart for disability discrimination forfeited both her lawyer and her claim for damages when she lied about receiving mental health treatment. Stephanie Holmes worked four years as a stocker for a Walmart in Alexandria. She sued under the Americans with Disabilities Act, alleging Walmart failed to provide her with an [...]

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A Roanoke federal jury has determined Virginia Tech discriminated in salaries for two women employees of its fund raising office. The jury returned damages awards totaling $101,000 on Thursday. The amounts could be doubled under the federal Equal Pay Act. The two plaintiffs also are asking for an award of attorneys’ fees, reports The Roanoke [...]

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Karl Larson may not be the first employee to think his job would be fine if his supervisor would just leave him alone. Larson sued to make that happen. He said he suffered post-traumatic stress after a “verbal altercation” with his supervisor and he filed a disability discrimination suit asking the court to order the [...]

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As March Madness peaks, consider the fall football season. On any given Sunday, most fans at an NFL stadium may take for granted the rockin’ atmosphere. For some fans, something was missing from the multi-sensory assault of a live game. Which stadium anthem is booming over the loudspeaker? We are the champions? Who let the [...]

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While standing by his contention that he lacks the authority to ban employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation as a matter of overall state policy, Gov. Bob McDonnell made it clear this afternoon that he will not tolerate such discrimination in the state’s executive branch. “Discrimination based on factors such as one’s sexual [...]

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Unhappy with a published report about settlement talks and tawdry comments on a radio show, Richmond’s Williams Mullen law firm had a judge impose a gag order on the parties and their lawyers in a sexual harassment lawsuit against the firm. The plaintiff’s lawyer agreed to the order in the case of former WM staffer [...]

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Virginia Tech says two cases alleging unequal treatment for women are so similar they should be combined for trial. According to The Roanoke Times, both suits allege that women who worked as university fundraisers were harassed or were not paid as much as men who did the same work. The school denies all claims. A [...]

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