Kevin Morrissey, managing editor of the Virginia Quarterly Review, committed suicide late last month when he shot himself in the head.  Now, details of turmoil within the small staff of the Virginia Quarterly Review have begun to surface as questions surrounding the suicide arise.   Family members and people close to the review say Morrissey had been complaining to the university about workplace bullying by his boss, Ted Genoways.  Multiple sources indicate that Morrissey sought help from various University of Virginia departments, including Human Resources, the President’s Office, and University Ombudsman Brad Holland.  Allegedly, the institution did virtually nothing to help.  Some close to the situation say that in the days before the death, they even warned the university that Morrissey, who suffered from serious depression, might commit suicide.  University of Virginia has no formal anti-bullying policies in place.  Full Article

Worker abuse is a widespread problem as 37% of American adults said they had been bullied at work in a 2007 Zogby poll.  Some time ago NY passed a Workplace Violence policy to protect public employees and part of that law includes worker-on-worker violence.  However, the current law only covers bullying if there is a physical assault or the explicit threat of physical violence.  The Healthy Workplace Bill recently passed in the NY State Senate and now waiting for a vote on the Assembly side is expected to fill that gap.  If the bill becomes law, workers will be able to sue for physical, psychological or economic harm due to abusive treatment on the job.  Workers who can show that they were subjected to hostile conduct — including verbal abuse, threats or work sabotage — could be awarded lost wages, medical expenses, compensation for emotional distress and punitive damages.  Read more: Full Article

The attorneys at Leeds Morelli & Brown, P.C., dedicate a large amount of their practice to employment law.  For any questions, contact an attorney at the Leeds Morelli & Brown P.C. law firm for a free consultation at 1-800-585-4658. Leeds Morelli & Brown P.C.’s website is located at www.lmblaw.com

The Obama administration is calling upon Congress to pass the new Paycheck Fairness Act, which will require businesses to inform the government about the payment of their employees as it relates to their gender, race, and national origin.  This Act is an amendment to the 1964 Civil Rights Act and will aid the government in their efforts to end pay discrimination.  The Paycheck Fairness Act was first introduced January 2009 by then Senator Hillary Clinton and Rep. Rosa DeLauro.  The Act was to strengthen the Equal Pay Act of 1963 by expanding damages under the Equal Pay Act.  President Obama stated that employment discrimination is harmful to American families, as well as the economy.  The Paycheck Fairness, if passed, will put more responsibility on corporations to provide fair pay to their employees, regardless of gender.  CNS News 

According to census statistics, U.S. women earned only 77 cents on the male dollar.  African-American women earn only 68% and Latinas earn a mere 58% of their male counter parts.  The median weekly earnings of female full-time workers were $657, compared with male median weekly earnings of $819. Based on these data, the ratio of women’s to men’s median weekly earnings was 80.2.  Institute for Women’s Policy Research.  As the institution of the “Traditional Family” slowly disappears, and more women become the bread winners of their family, the necessity of gender equality becomes more evident.  Gaining the support from the President gives great hope to women in the workplace.

Leeds Morelli & Brown, PC is a nationally recognized firm in the area of employment law.  Our firm has had considerable success in matters of employment discrimination throughout Long Island and the New York City area.  For more information, contact Leeds, Morelli and Brown, PC at 1-800-585-4658 for a free consultation.

On June 17, 2010, the United States Supreme Court unanimously decided City of Ontario v. Quon, holding that the city’s review of an employee’s text messages on an employer-issued device was a reasonable search under the Fourth Amendment.  The City issued pagers and advised police officers that text messages would fall under the City’s policy as public information and would be eligible for auditing.  Quon and others exceeded their allotted number of texts, but claimed that a supervisor had informed them that their messages would not be audited as long as the officers paid for any overage charges.  An audit to determine why the officers were exceeding their limits revealed Quon, while on duty, was using his employer-issued pager to send sexually explicit text messages.  The Supreme Court unanimously held that the city’s review of the text messages was a reasonable search under the Fourth Amendment.  However, the Court declined to address the privacy expectations of employees when using employer-provided communications devices.  Quon Opinion

It is important to understand your right to privacy when it comes to the workplace, especially in this technological driven society.  The Quon decision suggests that employers should exercise good judgment in monitoring employee use of the employer’s computer or communications facilities, whether the employment is in the public or private sector.  Employers must establish the level of privacy expectations with a policy that covers all the technologies given to employees.  Employers may be at risk if they delve into the content of messages without a work-related purpose for the investigation.  The Quon decision provides that employers must have a legitimate, work-related objectives for the search.

Leeds Morelli & Brown, PC is a nationally recognized firm in the area of employment law.  Our firm has had considerable success in matters of employment discrimination throughout Long Island and the New York City area.  For more information, contact Leeds, Morelli and Brown, PC at 1-800-585-4658 for a free consultation

Kate Gosselin’s TLC show, “Kate Plus 8,” is under fire and may lose six of its stars. Representative Thomas Murt of Pennsylvania is calling into question the validity of the work permits issued to the reality mom’s 6-year-old sextuplets.  Under Pennsylvania law, children under seven years old may work in film, but not in television.  It has been reported that sextuplets were granted permits, however, these permits are now under scrutiny as the law does not provide for them.  Pennsylvania’s attorney general and labor secretary have yet to comment on the allegations.  If government officials are found to have given some favorable treatment or bent rules, production on the TLC reality series in which they currently star could shut down—permanently.  Full Article

Under New York law, children under 14 years of age may not be employed any time, neither after school nor during vacation.  However, minors 11 years of age or older may work outside school hours as newspaper carriers to deliver, or sell and deliver newspapers, shopping papers, or periodicals to homes or business places.  Minors 12 years of age or older may work outside school hours for their parents or guardians either on the home farm or at other outdoor work not connected with a business.  There is no minimum age for child performers at theatrical, radio, or television performances or for child models, although a permit is required prior to employment.  For more details regarding New York’s Child Labor Laws see: NY Department of Labor

Leeds Morelli & Brown, PC is a nationally recognized firm in the area of employment law.  Our firm has had considerable success in matters of employment discrimination throughout Long Island and the New York City area.  For more information, contact Leeds, Morelli and Brown, PC at 1-800-585-4658 for a free consultation.

Station Casinos reached a settlement in a suit filed on behalf of thousands of current and former employees who claimed they were shortchanged in their pay by the gaming company.  The suit was filed about one week before the company’s bankruptcy petition, which is facing $6 billion in claims.  The workers alleges that if an employee checks in early for a shift, he or she is not credited with the time, and the same holds true of the worker who leaves later.  The Casino company has agreed to set $1.1 million aside to pay the employees for 180 days prior to filing for bankruptcy.  In addition, the parties agreed to value the remaining unsecured claim in the lawsuit at $5 million covering workers dating to 2005.  Article

A “rounding” pay system operates in a way that by enabling the computer system to clock time so that if an hourly worker arrived up to 14 minutes before the quarter hour, the computer automatically rounded that time forward to the nearest quarter hour. Same if the worker checked out past his or her appointed time, the time is rounded back to the nearest quarter.  Although this issue never reached a trier of fact in the Nevada District Court where the suit was filed, the case may serve as an example of the danger of using such a pay system.  For example, if a worker clocked in 14 minutes early and out of shift 14 minutes late, and that employee worked a minimum wage ($7.25) job 5 days a week, the worker would stand to lose over $16 a week, amounting to $832 a year.  A large corporation that employs over 500 hourly employees stands to gain a significant amount of money in a given year by using this type of pay system.

The attorneys of Leeds Morelli and Brown, P.C. are experienced and determined employment law practitioners who will fight hard to make sure your rights are preserved.  If you find your employer is engaging in questionable discriminatory behavior you can contact an attorney at Leeds, Morelli & Brown, P.C. for a free consultation at 1-888-585-4658 or our firm’s website at www.lmblaw.com.

A trial began last week in a Japanese courtroom, where a 36-year-old Japanese woman alleges she was fired from Prada Japan because she was not attractive enough.  Plaintiff Rina Bovrisse’s legal complaint against Prada Japan states Prada Japan’s CEO asked her to get rid of shop managers and assistant managers who called her “aged, ugly, fat, bad body shape, bad teeth, disgusting, and not cute.”   After she refused to do so, Prada Japan’s human resources manager gave most of those managers transfer orders that amounted to demotions.  Bovrisse’s lawyers said Prada offered Bovrisse around $107,000 in severance but she turned it down to fight for a public and pay compensation for emotional distress.  Article

New York is an “at will” employee State, meaning an employer can keep its employees for however long he wants but may fire them for any reason or for no reason at all, so long as it is not an unlawful or discriminatory reason.  Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 makes it illegal to discriminate against someone on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, or sex.  So, can a New York employer fire a woman for being too ugly?  Technically yes, because ugly is not protected under Title VII.  However, it is best to consult with an experienced employment attorney to ensure there is no basis for a discrimination claim.

Leeds Morelli & Brown, PC is a nationally recognized leader in the area of employment law.  Our firm has had considerable success in matters of employment discrimination throughout Long Island and the New York City area.  For more information, contact Leeds, Morelli and Brown, PC at 1-800-585-4658 for a free consultation.

A class action lawsuit was filed late March, 2010, for unpaid overtime wages on behalf of cable installation technicians that worked for Wave Comm, GR, LLC.  The lawsuit was filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of New York.  In the Complaint, the employees assert that Wave Comm violated the federal Fair Labor Standards Act and New York Labor Laws by denying overtime pay for working more than forty hours in a week.  The technicians were paid a fixed amount of money for different types of installation-related tasks, but did not receive overtime compensation for the numerous weeks in which they worked overtime hours.  Marketwire Article

The federal overtime provisions are contained in the Fair Labor Standards Act.  Unless exempt, employees covered by the Act must receive overtime pay for hours worked over 40 in a work week at a rate not less than time and one-half their regular rates of pay. There is no limit in the Act on the number of hours employees aged 16 and older may work in any work week. The Act does not require overtime pay for work on Saturdays, Sundays, holidays, or regular days of rest, unless overtime is worked on such days.  Some categories of employees are excluded by federal law from the requirement to receive one and one-half times their regular, straight-time rate of pay.  The occupations excluded by federal law are outlined in the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), listed by the U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division at US Department of Labor website.  New York State follows these exclusions but requires that they receive at least one and one half times the minimum rate of $7.15 for their overtime hours.

The attorneys of Leeds Morelli and Brown, P.C. are experienced and determined employment law practitioners who will fight hard to make sure your rights are preserved.  If you find your employer is engaging in questionable discriminatory behavior, please feel free to contact an attorney at Leeds, Morelli & Brown, P.C. for a free consultation at 1-888- 5 JOB LAW or our firm’s website at www.lmblaw.com.

Occupational Health Awareness (OHA) Week runs from April 25 to May 1, 2010. OHA’s Week’s mission is to expand awareness and support the need for healthy workplaces and a reduction of work-related illness, injury and fatalities. The New York State Occupational Health Clinic Network (OHCN) was created in 1987 and is the founder of OHA week which is made up of 11 regionally based clinical centers. The OHCN uses physicians, industrial hygienists, health educators and social workers who work with laborers, labor organizations, and employers to help prevent, diagnose and treat work-related illness and/or injury. OHA Week will serve to support occupational health and safety initiatives and provide education for workers to a variety of organizations, unions, immigrant advocate groups, and others. This year, OHA Week is working in conjunction with National Workers Memorial Day, which takes place on April 28th and serves as a nationwide day of remembrance for U.S. workers who die or have been disabled doing their job. See: http://ohaweek.groupsite.com/main/summary

Leeds Morelli & Brown, PC is a respected employment and labor law firm throughout Long Island, the New York Metropolitan area dedicated to supporting the needs of wronged employees and aiding in the compliance of labor laws by employers. For more information, contact Leeds Morelli & Brown, PC at 1-800-585-4658 for a free consultation.

In March of 2010, advocates for immigrants and the poor began seeking a crack down on wage theft. It is estimated by National Employment Law Project that more than 317,000 New Yorkers are cheated out of pay, approximately 18.4 million dollars per week, which averages to $3,016 per person, per year in minimum-wage, overtime and other wage violations. In addition to depriving low-income workers, employers also deprive the city and state of tax revenue by not withholding income taxes, not paying unemployment insurance taxes, or workers’ compensation premiums. This places law-abiding employers at an unfair disadvantage.

A coalition of labor unions, immigrant advocacy groups and nonprofit organizations have announced their support for proposed legislation in the State Senate and State Assembly called the Wage Theft Prevention and Responsible Employer Protection Act in Albany, sponsored by Staten Island state Sen. Diane Savino and Bronx Assemblyman Carl Heastie, which intends to toughen penalties against employers who choose to ignore minimum-wage laws (such as reporting accurate data and pay stubs) and cheat workers out of overtime pay.  As a penalty, employers would have to pay back wages, with interest, and face fines up to double that amount. For example, employers could be fined up to $10,000 for the retaliatory firing of a worker who speaks out against wage violations or files a wage claim.  The worst offenders may be charged with a felony and possible imprisonment.  Additionally, since many employers delay in complying with back-pay judgments, the pending legislation would increase penalties by 30 percent against employers who do not pay wage judgments within 90 days. To encourage hesitant workers to make a claim, this legislation also allows third-party groups to file complaints on their behalf.  Daily News Coverage; New York Times Coverage

The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) contains the Federal standards for minimum wages, overtime pay, recordkeeping, and child labor.  Every employer covered by the FLSA must keep certain records for each worker. Most of this data is the type that employers generally maintain in ordinary business practice. The FLSA does not have any specific reporting requirements. However, records must be open for inspection by the Wage and Hour Division’s representatives who are entitled to ask the employer to make extensions, computations, or transcriptions. The records should be kept at the place of employment or in a central records office.  Additionally, an employer must maintain records of information such as the employee’s full name, address, including zip code birth date (if younger than 19), sex and occupation, time and day of week when employee’s workweek begins, hours worked each day and total hours worked each workweek, the basis on which employee’s wages are paid (e.g., “$9 per hour”, “$440 a week”, “piecework”, and the regular hourly pay rate to name a few.  Employers are required to preserve payroll records for at least 3 years, collective bargaining agreements, and sales and purchase records. Records of wage computations should be retained for two years (such as time cards and piecework tickets, wage rate tables, work and time schedules, and records of additions to or deductions from wages). For a full listing of the types of records an employer must maintain, see the Wage and Hour Division Fact Sheet #21: Recordkeeping Requirements Under the FLSA.

Leeds Morelli & Brown, PC lawyers are experienced in handling wage and hour claims. Their offices address disputes regarding a wide range of employment matters including violations resulting from improper wage and overtime calculations. Leeds Morelli & Brown, PC attorneys have represented employees in wage and hour claims throughout Long Island and the New York City metropolitan area. For a consultation, contact Leeds Morelli & Brown, PC at 1-800-585-4658.

On March 31, 2010, the New York Times reported that the top 25 hedge fund managers raked in $25 billion in bonuses in 2009. During a time when unemployment remains at an all time high, with more than 11 million people now drawing unemployment insurance benefits, hedge fund managers have seemingly come out on top during this tough economic time. The minimum individual payout on the list was $350 million in 2009, which confirms that these top hedge fun managers remain grossly over compensated despite public outrage over the pay packages at big banks and brokerage firms. The question remains, will the government step in and regulate the financial industry? There is growing pressure to treat earnings of hedge fund managers as income instead of capital gains, as capital gains are taxed at a lower rate. Nevertheless, even if these managers pay more taxes on their earnings, they still will bring in enough money to maintain their lavish lifestyle, during a time when most Americans cannot afford to put food on the table and pay their mortgage. New York Times article

In an interview, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner discussed the unemployment rate, stating that the national jobless rate, now at 9.7 percent, is “still terribly high and is going to stay unacceptably high for a very long time” because of the damage caused by the recession. Geithner article. It is important to note that the overall jobless rate of 9.7% is understated, as thousands of people are not computed into the official count because they have given up on looking for work. Those who are employed understand that now, more than ever, employment of any kind is crucial, and that “job security” has become a thing of the past. During these tough times many companies are forced to lay-off workers to keep afloat. Though many companies will act within the bounds of the law, some may use tactics that are unlawful. It is crucial that employees know and understand their rights under the law. The attorneys at Leeds, Morelli & Brown, P.C. work to uncover unlawful business practices and empower employees to stand up for their rights.

The attorneys of Leeds Morelli and Brown, P.C. are experienced and determined employment law practitioners who will fight hard to make sure your rights are preserved. If you find your employer is engaging in questionable discriminatory behavior, we urge you to contact an attorney at Leeds, Morelli & Brown, P.C. for a free consultation at 1-888-585-4658 or our firm’s website at www.lmblaw.com.