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H.S., who participated in an employee health plan governed by ERISA and administered by Community Health Systems, Inc., began receiving hemodialysis treatment in 2012. His chosen healthcare provider, Dialysis Newco, Inc.,was out-of-network for the plan. Initially, the plan covered 100% of the provider’s billed amount but changed course after three months. H.S. executed an “Assignment of Benefits” allowing the provider to sue his plan for the more than $800K in unpaid healthcare costs.
Two years ago a 10-year-old boy died in an ATV accident while playing at his grandparents’ house. The boy’s mother sued the grandparents who in turn asked their insurer, State Farm, to defend them. State Farm denied their request and asked the court to rule that it had no duty to defend or indemnify.
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals certified a question to the Washington Supreme Court about whether obesity is an impairment under the Washington Law Against Discrimination (WLAD). The court ruled that obesity “always” qualifies as an impairment under WLAD. This ruling departs from decisions made in other circuit courts addressing such claims under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
The high profile case of Anthony Levandowski, a Silicon Valley engineer, demonstrates the federal government’s goal to prosecute “priority trade secret theft cases.” Levandowski worked with Google’s self-driving technology company Waymo for seven years. When he left, he reportedly downloaded 14,000 documents related to the secret technology the company had developed.
Mississippi is the latest state to enact laws limiting what foods may be labeled as “meat.” Senate Bill 2922, codified in Mississippi Code Section 75-35-15 makes it a misdemeanor to
A school event took a damaging turn when Salvador Reyes, an 18-year-old high school senior, crashed into another student during a bubble soccer game. Reyes’s school Campbell High School hired Game Truck Georgia, LLC, to oversee the event. Game Truck provided the “bubble suits” that extended above students’ heads and below their waists. Reyes suffered a fractured skull which left him with brain damage when he rushed another student.
Last month we reported about the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruling in State of Texas v.
Fifth Circuit Applies McDonnell Douglas and Shackleford in Retaliation Claims under False Claims Act
After ten years of work with Professional Contract Services, Inc., Esteban Garcia stepped forward as a whistleblower to reveal allegations against his employer. Two months later the company terminated Garcia for failing to service the jobs to which he was assigned. Garcia sued for retaliation under the False Claims Act. The district court granted summary judgment to the company due to Garcia’s lack of a prima facie case.
In the first half of 2019, nearly 50 cases report emojis being entered as evidence. The three most common cases to include emojis are sexual harassment cases, criminal cases, and workplace lawsuits. With more than 2800 emojis available and a variety of forms and interpretations for many of them, the courts have struggled with the best way to present them in court.
The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals allowed an interlocutory appeal to ask how the Supreme Court of Mississippi would interpret the subrogation waiver in the American Institute of Architects Document A201-2007. The waiver, which intends to limit litigation, generates much litigation not just in Mississippi but around the country. The specific case in question involves a fire that broke out during construction at a Chickasaw County School.
In 2012 the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) issued guidance on using arrest and conviction records in hiring decisions and prohibited the use of no-felony rules. When a former Texas state job applicant filed a complaint with the EEOC based on Texas’s no-felon hiring policy, the state of Texas sued the EEOC in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas.
In another case we recently wrote about, Tatum v. Southern Company Services, Inc., 950 F.
A California company learned the importance of documentation when an employee filed a lawsuit alleging she was fired in retaliation for not signing an affidavit. While the employee’s termination came on the heels of her refusal to sign the paperwork, the company had detailed memos dated prior to the incident regarding the planned reorganization and the employee’s termination.
Capsco Industries, Inc., an Alabama construction company, subcontracted work to another Alabama construction company, Ground Control, to do work on a Mississippi casino. A year later, Ground Control was terminated from the project by the general contractor. Ground Control sued Capsco for payment for its work on the project.
Brandon Tatum sued Southern Company Services, Inc. (SCS), for interference and retaliation in violation of the Family and Medical Leave Act (“FMLA”). Tatum’s employment with SCS was littered with performance evaluations that noted he “needed improvement”. Not long afterward a reprimand by the plant manager, Tatum’s doctor instructed him to cease work temporarily due to high blood pressure.
Vacations taken during Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) absences can be permitted depending on the trip and the reasons for leave. Massachusetts Water Resources Authority (MWRA) believed it acted in good faith after terminating an employee who vacationed during his FMLA leave. The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) rejected the claim and awarded liquidated damages pursuant to the FMLA. To avoid a similar scenario requires more than “good faith” by employers.
The Supreme Court of Mississippi rendered summary judgment for Mar-Jac, a chicken processor because an employer’s responsibility for their employee’s actions is limited to the employee’s job responsibilities. Senah Carter, whose primary job responsibilities required him to bring chicken in and out for employees on the line, secured employment at Mar-Jac for two friends. Carter drove these friends to work each day. One morning on the way to work, Carter hit a school bus killing the two co-workers in his vehicle.
Jose Carlos Caycho Melgar attempted to file a retaliation and discrimination complaint with the Texas Workforce Commission (TWC) following the end of his employment with T.B.B. Printing, Ltd. He failed to provide the requested information before the statute of limitations ran out. TWC forwarded his complaint to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) which has a longer statute of limitations.
In June, the United State’s Supreme Court overruled Williamson County Regional Planning Comm’n v. Hamilton Bank, 473 U.S.
Gary Netto, an employee of Pearl River County, Mississippi, sustained injuries in a car accident when an alleged uninsured motorist hit the county-owned vehicle in which he was a passenger. As a matter of policy, Pearl River County does not release copies of county insurance policies to employees. As an “unnamed additional insured” on Pearl River County’s policy with Atlantic Specialty Insurance, Netto did not know the policy included a “consent to settle” exclusion.