{3:36 minutes to read} As another NFL season begins, the attention of the fans turns to the excitement of the game and the overall football experience. Part of that NFL experience is the team cheerleaders. On the surface, being a cheerleader would appear to be a glamorous job. But to paraphrase the late Freddie Mercury, it’s often not a bed of roses nor a pleasure cruise.
{3:30 minutes to read} In one of the more high-profile, recent harassment claims, former Fox News Network anchor Gretchen Carlson filed a complaint in Bergen County Superior Court in New Jersey against former FOX news CEO, Roger Ailes, alleging that her employment was adversely affected and ultimately terminated because she had rebuffed Ailes’ sexual advances.
{3:06 minutes to read} In recent years, there have been court challenges to the real estate independent contractor relationship, and to date, the real estate industry has prevailed. In Part 1 of this series, we discussed how state statutes mandate that real estate brokers exercise reasonable supervision over the activities of their salespersons, even though those agents are considered “independent contractors.” Below are two recent court challenges to the existing status quo assumption that real agent agents are independent contractors.
{3:06 minutes to read} Real estate agents have generally been classified as independent contractors by brokers, but agents, unlike independent contractors in other industries, are subject to supervision by the brokers. This level of supervision is mandated by state statutes that require brokers to exercise reasonable supervision over the activities of his or her salespersons. The statutes also require the establishment of policies, rules, procedures and systems to review, oversee, inspect and manage such areas as document management and retention, the handling of trust funds, and reports of salesperson activity.
{3:00 minutes to read} It’s a letter that no employer wants to receive—that letter from a lawyer retained by a recently discharged employee, alleging that the employer’s termination was the result of a discriminatory practice—threatening immediate legal action if the employer does not financially resolve the matter to the employee’s (and attorney’s) satisfaction.
{2:30 minutes to read} Following the publication of my last blog post, “The Truth About Interns,” I received an inquiry about whether public sector employers had similar obligations.
{4:36 minutes to read} There are times when an employer may seek to hire an intern without compensation. On the surface, it would appear to be a mutually beneficial quid pro quo arrangement which allows an employer to hire a student to work for free and provides a student with working experience in a field related to that student’s desired career path. However, as mutually attractive as such arrangements may appear to be, this type of arrangement can cause significant problems for an employer who enters into it blindly.
{5:48 minutes to read} What happens if an employer has an employee or an applicant for a position who advises that they have a disability and will require special accommodations to perform their job? That scenario creates a challenge in which the employer must balance the fairness to the employee and/or applicant against the cost of satisfying the accommodation and, of course, being compliant with the law.
{2:54 minutes to read} One of the greatest legal pitfalls facing employees can start at square 1 — the employment application.
It is improper for an employment application to include any of the following inquiries:
{4:24 minutes to read} While employers generally aspire to achieve a harmonious and long-term association with their employees, there will be times when employers will be forced to terminate an employee. When that happens, the affected employee will generally be upset and may be motivated to litigate if they believe that they were unfairly terminated.