Virginia Lawyers Weekly VA Lawyers Weekly

After taking more than six months of medical leave before her employment was terminated, a bank teller failed to establish a prima facie case for age discrimination. Her medical leave followed a position change that she mistakenly believed was a ...

Tagged with: Employment Employment Discrimination Evidence Judge James P. Jones U.S. District Court - Western District

An employee failed to identify evidence that his supervisor’s lewd comments to him were because of (his) sex, but his employer’s varied explanations for terminating him after he complained precluded summary judgment as to retaliation. Because some evidence suggested that ...

Tagged with: Civil Rights Employment Employment Discrimination Judge Elizabeth K. Dillon U.S. District Court - Western District

Based on her responsibilities as set forth in the Virginia Code, a school board’s Director of Budget & Finance was a “public official” who had to show actual malice to prove that a TV news station defamed her. She failed ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Constitutional Defamation Employment First Amendment Judge Henry F. Floyd Personal Injury Tort

The Workers’ Compensation Commission did not err in declining to infer that a claimant fell due to the condition of the floor where she slipped at work, rather than due to her pre-existing knee condition. Background In 2016, Appellant Sabrina ...

Tagged with: Employment Judge Mary Grace O'Brien Virginia Court of Appeals Workers' Compensation

A plaintiff claiming that her supervisor defamed her with crude comments at work could not hold their employer vicariously liable for the statements. The comments were outside the scope of employment, and the district court lacked any indication that this ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Employment Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III Personal Injury Tort

The Workers’ Compensation Commission did not err in finding that the composition of the review panel was proper and that the claimant adequately marketed her residual work capacity. Background Claimant Kathleen Tefft was an assistant freight manager at one of ...

Tagged with: Administrative Employment Employment Law Judge Mary B. Malveaux Virginia Court of Appeals Workers' Compensation

A retired firefighter diagnosed with throat cancer – an occupational disease – was not a “disabled person” prevented from the further performance of his duties and, thus, was not entitled to continuing health insurance coverage. Background Plaintiff Eddie R. Jones Sr. was ...

Tagged with: Administrative Employment Justice S. Bernard Goodwyn Supreme Court of Virginia Workers' Compensation

A white high school principal can proceed with discrimination claims against the school board, which allegedly demoted her after the superintendent implied that school staff should “look like” the student body. Background Plaintiff Angela Weinerth is a white female over ...

Tagged with: Civil Rights Education Employment Employment Discrimination Judge Michael F. Urbanski U.S. District Court - Western District

Under clearly established law, publication of public safety officers’ allegedly defamatory termination letters to the media before holding a name-clearing hearing supported the officers’ claims of due process violations. Background During the summer of 2014, Officers with the Bald Head ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Constitutional Defamation Due Process First Amendment Fourteenth Amendment Judge James A. Wynn Jr. Tort

The Virginia Retirement System correctly held that a public employee forfeited credited service under the Workforce Transition Act when he resumed employment with the Commonwealth in a covered position. Background In 2009, after about 25 years of employment, Appellant Sundersingh ...

Tagged with: Administrative Employment Employment Law Judge Richard Y. AtLee Jr. Virginia Court of Appeals