A New Jersey woman, Dr. Mary Beamer, is pursuing a lawsuit against her former employer, Herman Chiropractic Center. In her lawsuit, she claims Herman Chiropractic fired her because she was pregnant. According to a news report about the case, Dr. Beamer claims that she suffered from hyperemesis gravidarum, which is…
Yesterday, the First Circuit Court of Appeals, which has jurisdiction over Maine, Massachusetts, and other states, ruled that a reasonable jury could find that Aggregate Industries retaliated against a whistleblower who revealed the company’s illegal practices in connection with the “Big Dig.” The Big Dig was a massive highway project,…
In recent weeks, the press has extensively covered changes that the LePage administration has proposed to Maine’s unemployment fraud law. Opponents of the proposed changes question the need for the enhanced penalties since unemployment fraud is very rare in Maine. News reports have indicated that Maine has the fifth lowest…
Today, the U.S. First Circuit Court of Appeals, in Boston, affirmed a judgment against a Puerto Rican hospital of nearly $2 million because it retaliated against a doctor who complained of age discrimination. The hospital terminated the doctor after he had complained that the hospital discriminated against him on the…
Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) is sponsoring a bill that would, among other things, return roughly $11 billion to the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) from the Federal Employee Retirement System (FERS). According to Collins, the $11 billion is equal to the amount of money that USPS has overpaid in pension contributions.…
LD 1571 is a bill sponsored by Assistant House Majority Leader Andre Cushing, R-Hampden that seeks to decimate Maine’s workers’ compensation law, making it harder for injured workers to receive lost time and medical benefits for on-the-job injuries. The bill, which will be heard by the Legislature’s Labor, Commerce, Research…
Today, the California Attorney General’s office settled an ongoing lawsuit against a group of car washes for more than $1,000,000. According to the California AG, the case arose because investigators found the car washes denied employees minimum wage and overtime, failed to pay wages to employees who quit or were…
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) ruled today that corporations may not force employees to give up their right to bring class actions to enforce their rights. In recent years, many corporations in the United States have required employees to give up their Constitutional right to use the American court…
James White, a former HIV+ employee of Great Expressions Dental, claims that he faced discrimination and harassment after the company learned of his disability. He alleges that, among other things, the company permitted co-workers to follow him around with Lysol, forbade him from touching doorknobs, unfairly disciplined him, and terminated…
Last year, the U.S. Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta held that no jury could reasonably find that a Tyson Foods manager harbored racial animus against an African American man, John Hithon, even though he referred to Hithon as “boy.” The court’s ruling followed a 2006 ruling from the…