Atlanta Employment Attorneys Blog

A Georgia Worker’s Self-Authored Discrimination Complaint Fails Due to Multiple Pleading Mistakes

March 31, 2022 | Parks, Chesin & Walbert

If you believe that you’ve been the target of discrimination at work, the right Atlanta employment discrimination lawyer can help you in innumerable ways. One of the key areas where your attorney will help is the composition of the complaint that you’ll file with the court.

There are certain things you must do and certain things you must not do, and failures in these areas can lead to the dismissal of your case. Getting this right is critical, and many potential traps await those who don’t know what they’re doing.

The discrimination case of an employee at a southwest Georgia college makes for a good example. In any discrimination case, you have to allege that you suffered some type of adverse employment action. There are a lot of different actions your employer can take that the law may recognize as adverse. Obviously, getting fired is an adverse action. So is a demotion, and even a lateral transfer may be adverse if your new job has lower pay or is less desirable or prestigious.

Getting Technical: How an Experienced Atlanta FLSA Attorney Can Help When Your Case Presents Procedural Issues

March 24, 2022 | Parks, Chesin & Walbert

Sometimes, some people can lull themselves into a false sense of confidence when it comes to litigating their unpaid overtime, minimum wage, improper classification, or other Fair Labor Standards Act case. They may tell themselves they don’t need an experienced Atlanta employment lawyer. They might say to themselves “I worked 40 hours each week and I only got paid $200 per week, so how hard can it be to present — and win — my minimum wage case?”

Don’t let yourself fall into this trap. Even cases that seem to have very clear-cut facts in your favor often present thorny issues of law and/or court procedure that require (or at least can benefit from) the deft touch knowledgeable legal representation will provide.

Take, for example, the FLSA case of H.T., a man who worked as a builder/installer for a South Georgia construction company. The construction company allegedly “controlled all aspects” of the builder’s work, including choosing the construction sites where the builder worked and assigning the tasks the builder completed while there. The company also set the builder’s work schedule, provided him with all the necessary materials and equipment, and controlled the amount of payment the builder received, according to H.T.’s lawsuit.

How Long You Have to Take Legal Action in Georgia If You’ve Been Denied Overtime or a Minimum Wage

March 17, 2022 | Parks, Chesin & Walbert

In certain areas of business, sports, or life in general, it is often said that “timing is everything.” If you are someone whose employer has failed to pay you appropriate overtime compensation or pay you in accordance with minimum wage laws, timing isn’t everything but it is undeniably a crucially important thing. Waiting too long can mean a case outcome where you recover nothing, regardless of how strong your proof is. If you’ve illegally underpaid, don’t wait to act. Go out as soon as possible to talk to a knowledgeable Atlanta unpaid overtime or minimum wage lawyer about your situation.

A recent overtime and minimum wage case from a federal court in neighboring Florida is a reminder of how important a thorough understanding of how the statutes of limitations, and the deadlines they impose, are.

In that case, J.R. worked at a motel in Lakeland, Florida, starting in 2010. According to her complaint, the woman averaged roughly 98 per week on the job. In return, the motel owner allegedly paid her anywhere from $0 to $30 per week.

How ‘No-Fault’ Attendance Policies May Run Afoul of the FMLA or the ADA

March 11, 2022 | Parks, Chesin & Walbert

Employers today continue to innovate in many areas related to the operation of their workplaces. When they do so, modifications in the way workplaces function may impact many areas. Sometimes, they may even violate certain employment laws, like the Americans with Disabilities Act and/or the Family Medical Leave Act. If that has happened to you, don’t suffer in silence. Instead, retain an experienced Atlanta employment retaliation lawyer and take action.

One of those relatively recent innovations is the “no-fault” attendance policy. These policies are used by some of America’s biggest employers, in industries ranging from food processing to hospitality to manufacturing to retail. Under a “no-fault” system, you, as an employee, incur a “point” (sometimes called an “occurrence”) each time you have an unplanned absence, late arrival, or early departure, regardless of the reason.

On the surface, it might sound good, as it potentially removes the need to jump through various paperwork-acquisition tasks and other hoops to justify or excuse your absence. However, these policies have downsides. For one thing, some can automatically trigger severe consequences after an employee exceeds a certain number of occurrences. These consequences may include a suspension without pay or termination, even if all of the employee’s absences were legitimate and medically based.

Successor Liability and Your Federal Unpaid Overtime Case in Georgia

February 21, 2022 | Parks, Chesin & Walbert

When your employer fails to pay you what you’re owed under the law, you inevitably are going to face certain challenges in getting that compensation. Having your employer engage in legal subterfuge to avoid paying you should not be one of them, but it does happen. Any time you need to pursue legal action for the pay you’ve wrongfully been denied, but especially when your employer has engaged in illegal steps to try to escape paying, you need the advocacy of a knowledgeable Atlanta unpaid overtime lawyer.

One of those techniques may be for your employer simply to shutter their old business and create a new one at the same location, run by the same people, doing the same work.

A pair of paralegals who worked at a law office in Miami recently filed a legal action where they claimed that that was what happened to them. According to the paralegals, the employer improperly failed to pay them proper regular and overtime compensation, so they quit in the summer of 2019 and initiated a Fair Labor Standards Act lawsuit in federal court.

An Atlanta Worker Gets $130K After Her Employer Wrongfully Delayed Approving Her Use of Non-Revolving Entrance Doors

February 14, 2022 | Parks, Chesin & Walbert

Some years ago, an employment discrimination attorney on the other side of the country said, after analyzing a court ruling in his state, that the key point employers should take away from the decision was, essentially, “don’t be a schmuck,” (only he didn’t say “schmuck.”) Today, too many employers are making the lives of some workers with disabilities needlessly difficult — as well as violating the law — because they didn’t heed this lawyer’s wise advice when came to approving disability accommodations. If you’re a person with disabilities here in Georgia and your employer has engaged in similar conduct toward you, they may have violated the Americans With Disabilities Act, so you definitely should make the effort to contact an experienced Atlanta disability discrimination lawyer to talk about your situation.

A federal disability discrimination case that was recently settled seems like it may have been one of these times. The employee, S.M., worked for a large health insurance employer in Atlanta. The building where the woman worked had multiple entrances but, generally, employees were required to pass through revolving doors to enter the building.

S.M., however, had significant claustrophobia, and passing through a revolving door was exceedingly problematic for her. Based on her condition, the woman sought a workplace accommodation, which was to use a non-revolving door. S.M. provided the employer with a letter from her doctor stating her need for the accommodation and, though the court did not delve into the details of the building’s entrances, hers would seem like a modest accommodation request.

‘Enter Username and Password’: When the Minutes You Spend Prepping for Your Shift May Be Countable Time for Calculating Your Overtime Pay

February 7, 2022 | Parks, Chesin & Walbert

Lots of workers know the drill. Officially, your workday begins at 8:00 am or 9:00 am or whenever, but it doesn’t really begin at that time. “Eight o’clock” means you have to be ready to take calls or manufacture items or enter data into a computer at 8:00, which means that your workday actually begins at 7:50 or 7:45 or 7:whatever, when you have to be at your workstation and get started prepping for the tasks that must start at the top of the hour. What you may not know, however, is that those minutes prepping may potentially count in calculating overtime pay and in determining whether your pay meets the minimum wage. If your employer isn’t counting this time, it is possible your employer is shortchanging you in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act. Get in touch with an Atlanta minimum wage and overtime lawyer to find out more.

The law says that certain forms of preparation are things that must be counted when calculating your total hours worked. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, employers’ failure “to count and properly pay for pre-shift work is a common violation” of the FLSA and other related federal laws.

A recent example of this kind of FLSA violation involved a company based in neighboring Florida that the Labor Department cited for violating the law, affecting dozens of workers, the Miami Herald reported.

What a ‘Retaliatory Hostile Work Environment’ Is and How Proof of It Can Help Your Georgia Employment Law Case

January 31, 2022 | Parks, Chesin & Walbert

The law gives many workers certain rights. The right to a minimum wage, the right to overtime pay, and the right to a workplace free from sexual harassment and certain forms of discrimination are a few of those. When you, as a worker, stand up for those rights — whether yours or a coworker’s — you shouldn’t be punished for it, but too many are. If you’re concerned about retaliation at your job, you owe it to yourself to get in touch with a knowledgeable Atlanta workplace retaliation lawyer to discuss your situation.

Often, people associate workplace retaliation with a discrete form of punishment. For example, a worker who got fired just a few weeks after filing a formal sex discrimination complaint, or a worker who was demoted just a couple of months after settling an unpaid overtime lawsuit. Those kinds of adverse employment actions, while potentially valid bases for a retaliation claim, are not the only type, however.

It’s also possible that you can be harmed by what’s called a “retaliatory hostile work environment.” A retaliatory hostile work environment happens your protected activity triggers misconduct directed at you that rises to a level of hostility that would motivate a reasonable person not to speak out about a violation. Well-represented recent plaintiffs are continuing to reap the benefits of this newer pathway to success in a retaliation claim.

U.S. Labor Department Busts a Tire Shop for Overtime Violations Affecting 72 Workers in Georgia and South Carolina

January 25, 2022 | Parks, Chesin & Walbert

Violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act — in the form of unpaid overtime — occur frequently. Some of them may be an employer’s good-faith mistake in the calculation of a worker’s overtime hours, or they may be more nefarious things like intentionally misclassifying workers or forcing workers to work “off the clock.” Either way, it is against the law and, if you are a worker harmed as a result of unpaid overtime, you have the right to take action and should get in touch with an experienced Atlanta unpaid overtime lawyer right away to find out more about the legal options that exist for you.

A business in Georgia and South Carolina was one of those entities that the federal government recently caught violating the FLSA. The business, a tire and auto repair shop, had three locations in Georgia (Pooler, Darien, and Dublin) and two in South Carolina.

There were actually multiple ways that the shop violated federal overtime laws, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. For one thing, the shop required employees to complete after-hours service calls but, when it came to calculating those workers’ overtime pay, the employer did not properly factor in those after-hours service calls.

The Significance of Summary Judgments in Your Georgia Employment Discrimination Case

January 18, 2022 | Parks, Chesin & Walbert

After you’ve suffered discrimination at work and determined that a discrimination lawsuit is necessary, there are several essential hurdles you need to clear. One of the biggest ones is defeating your employer’s motion for summary judgment. Whether you’re before, at, or past the summary judgment stage in your case, representation from the right Atlanta workplace discrimination lawyer can be crucial to your success.

Take, for example, disability discrimination plaintiff C.G., who worked as an “Inclusion Specialist” at a Cobb County preschool for children with special needs.

C.G.’s problems arose abruptly when she experienced numerous seizures/neurologic episodes on Dec. 13-14, 2018. By Dec. 20, she was ready to return to work. On Dec. 21, however, the employer convened a meeting with C.G. and the executive director told C.G. and her husband that the school “was going to treat C.G. as if she had suffered seizures that could reoccur so it could not allow her to return to any classroom due to liability risk and exposure to [the school] in case she injured herself, a co-worker, or a student while working.”