Atlanta Employment Attorneys Blog

Retaliation Claims Under the False Claims Act

September 18, 2013 | Parks, Chesin & Walbert

Many individuals who have jobs are reluctant to report their employers’ wrongdoing or fraudulent activity because they fear that they might lose their job or suffer some other sort of adverse action. However, individuals should be aware that as employees, they enjoy certain protections against retaliation after engaging in protected activity under the False Claims Act.

Are Employees Entitled to Payment for On-Call Time?

September 11, 2013 | Parks, Chesin & Walbert

One of the most common questions in wage and hour cases is whether employees must be paid for “on-call” time . As business needs increase and customers demand more service at any given time of the day or night, many employers have found it necessary to have some of their employees remain “on-call” for a certain period of time or even 24-hours a day.

EEOC Finds No Age Discrimination In Not Hiring 71-Year-Old Applicant For Investigator Position

August 27, 2013 | Parks, Chesin & Walbert

Individuals are turned down for jobs for a variety of reasons. Some job applicants are simply unqualified for the position sought, while others are over-qualified. However, there are occasions when job applicants are turned away for discriminatory reasons, such as race or age. Accordingly, it is important for business owners to work with a Georgia employment attorney to ensure that their policies and hiring practices are legal and nondiscriminatory in every way. An attorney can appropriately evaluate employment policies and make a determination with respect to the possibility or existence of discriminatory hiring practices that might subject a business to litigation.

Georgia Court of Appeals Rules Law Clerks Owed Millions in Fulton County Discrimination Suit: A Report From Your Georgia Employment Lawyers

July 26, 2013 | Parks, Chesin & Walbert

According to a recent article in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the Georgia Court of Appeals has ruled in favor of 23 law clerks who had filed a wage discrimination lawsuit against Fulton County. The Court’s ruling affirmed an arbitration ruling that awarded the law clerks at least $4.3 million in back pay. A Superior Court already had affirmed the arbitration ruling on appeal, and Fulton County sought review of the ruling by the Georgia Court of Appeals, claiming that the award of back pay was barred by the doctrine of sovereign immunity. The Court of Appeals also remanded the case back to Superior Court so as to allow the law clerks to collect back pay from the date of the arbitration to the present, which amounts to an additional $500,000. As your Georgia employment lawyers can tell you, this ruling is a huge win for the law clerks of Fulton County after six long years of litigation.

U.S. Supreme Court Rules in Favor of Employer in Employment Discrimination Case

July 22, 2013 | Parks, Chesin & Walbert

In a five-to-four decision, the U.S. Supreme Court recently ruled that retaliation claims brought under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, which governs discrimination in employment, are held to a stricter standard of proof than other types of discrimination claims. In University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center v. Nassar, the Court very strictly interpreted a statute that was enacted in order to overrule a prior Supreme Court decision. As a result, the Court found that in a retaliation claim concerning the denial of permanent employment to a temporary employee, the individual must prove that he or she would have gotten the permanent job, but was denied for the retaliation that occurred by the employer.

EEOC Reports Huge Increase in Age Discrimination Claims

June 28, 2013 | Parks, Chesin & Walbert

Age discrimination complaints are on the rise as the average age of American workers continues to increase, and Americans continue to work longer before retiring. In fact, a recent Forbes article notes that according to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the number of age-related complaints in recent years has skyrocketed. From 1997 and 2007 there were between 16,000 and 19,000 annual age discrimination complaints filed with the EEOC. Since 2008, that number has increased to between 23,000 and 25,000 age discrimination complaints annually. As your Atlanta discrimination attorney can tell you, it is illegal under federal law for an employer with 20 or more employees to discriminate against an employee who is 40 years or older.

EEOC Issues Revised Guidance on Employment Rights of Certain Disabled People

June 26, 2013 | Parks, Chesin & Walbert

According to a recent press release from the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, there are now publications available that specifically address the employment rights of people with some specific disabilities, including diabetes, cancer, epilepsy, and intellectual disabilities. While EEOC publications in the past have primarily addressed employment rights of the disabled in very general terms, these revised publications specifically designate people with these medical conditions as falling under the purview of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). More particularly, the ADA Amendments Act changes the definition of disability so as to make it easier to conclude that these medical conditions qualify as disabilities for the purposes of the ADA.

The Working Families Flexibility Act and How It Will Affect You: A Report From Your Atlanta Employment Attorney

May 30, 2013 | Parks, Chesin & Walbert

The Working Families Flexibility Act is a piece of federal legislation that was passed by the U.S. House of Representatives on May 8. The Act would amend the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”), and would give private sector workers the same type of “comp time” options that are available for public sector workers. Introduced by Republican U.S. Representative Martha Roby of Alabama, the bill passed with the support of many members of Congress, as well as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other major industry groups. However, prior to its passage, the National Employment Lawyers Association, along with 160 other national and state bases organizations wrote a letter to the House members opposing the bill.

Fulton County Hit With $1.18 Million Judgment in Discrimination Case

May 22, 2013 | Parks, Chesin & Walbert

WSBTV is reporting that a federal judge has awarded an Atlanta man $1.18 million as a result of his discrimination lawsuit against Fulton County. In 2012, a jury awarded Doug Carl, a former employee of the Fulton County Department of Human Services (“DHS”), $300,000 for back pay that he would have received had the county not discriminated against him. The judge’s additional award covers issues such as the loss of the Carl’s position, the loss of his pension, and five years of future pay, since he would have been eligible for retirement at that time. Whether the county will be responsible for Carl’s hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees remains an outstanding issue. This is an important case for your Atlanta employment attorneys, as it shows just how costly an employment discrimination lawsuit can be for parties on both sides of the dispute.

Wage and Hour Lawsuits Increase in 2012: A Report by Your Atlanta Employment Lawyers

May 14, 2013 | Parks, Chesin & Walbert

The National Economic Research Associates (“NERA”) recently released a report indicating that wage and hour lawsuits and settlements have increased in 2012 across the United States. According to NERA’s report on LawyersandSettlements.com, employers paid, on average, 18% more to settle wage and hour disputes in 2012 than they did in 2011.