Workplace Injuries

• $4.45 Million Settlement To Be Paid to New York Employees of Service Corp. International Affiliates

  Jeremi Young | February 21, 2006 8:26 AM | 0 CommentsDallas, TX

  Service Corp. International will pay over $4 million to settle a lawsuit alleging violations of overtime laws.The case involves premium payments, overtime and other wage & hour claims for funeral directors and other non-exempt employees under the Fair Labor Standards Act ("FLSA") and the New York Labor Law ("NYLL"). More than six hundred present and former employees of affiliates of SCI from...

• Arizona Punitive Damages Legislation

  Staff Writer | February 15, 2006 10:36 AM | 0 CommentsPhoenix, AZ

  Each year various members of the Arizona legislature introduce bills concerning all aspects of "tort reform." This year is no different. I recently learned that Arizona State Representative Jennifer Burns introduced a bill to prevent Plaintiffs from recovering punitive damges but not to outlaw puntive damages awards in their entirety. Rather than outlawing punitive damages, Representative...

• UBS will Pay $89 Million to Settle Overtime Suit

  Jeremi Young | February 14, 2006 8:49 AM | 0 CommentsDallas, TX

  UBS Financial services has agreed to settle class-action suits by employees claiming to have been underpaid for overtime work. Settlement of all claims, both state and federal, could result in payment of up to $89 million. The basis for the suits was that UBS misclassified as exempt certain financial advisers and employees in training for that job. These employees were paid on a salary basis...

• Lessons Learned from Litigation against Wal-Mart about Class Certification in Sex Discrimination Cases.

  Staff Writer | February 10, 2006 1:07 PM | 0 CommentsDallas, TX

  In Dukes v. Wal-Mart Stores the federal district court certified the largest ever private civil rights class. There are 1.5 million female current and former Wal-Mart workers certified to be part of the suit. Beyond the unprecedented size and scope of the class the class members come from different geographic locations and held a variety of positions, both hourly and salaried. Despite these...

• Denial of Workers' Compensation Benefits

  Staff Writer | February 03, 2006 3:03 PM | 0 CommentsKansas City, MO

  Recently, the Missouri Court of Appeals affirmed the denial of workers' compensation benefits to an employee who had a pre-existing condition that he argued was aggravated by a work-related incident. The administrative law judge that heard the case determined that the work-related incident did not cause the underlying problem, and the condition was related to a pre-existing injury and thus was...

• Computer Professionals Are Denied Overtime Pay

  Jeremi Young | January 31, 2006 11:45 AM | 0 CommentsDallas, TX

  Under the Fair Labor Standards Act ("FLSA"), a federal law, workers are entitled to overtime pay unless they fall under specific exemptions. Computer professionals are often improperly treated as exempt. If you install, maintain, or supportcomputer hardware or software (but are not primarily engaged in software development or other independent, creative work (coding or architecture design)...

• Lawsuit Filed Challenging Worksite Injury Laws

  Staff Writer | January 24, 2006 3:14 PM | 0 CommentsKansas City, MO

  On November 30, 2005 a lawsuit was filed by the Mo. Alliance for Retired Americans, et al. against the Missouri Dept. of Labor and Industrial Relations and Division of Workers' Compensation, Case No. 05AC-CC01114 in the Cirucit Court of Cole County, Missouri. The lawsuit seeks a ruling by the Court regarding the Constitutionality of the new workers' compensation law.This matter is scheduled for...

• Healthcare Staffing Industry Employees Illegally Denied Overtime Pay

  Jeremi Young | January 24, 2006 9:42 AM | 2 CommentsDallas, TX

  Due to a shortage of health care workers in the U.S., healthcare staffing companies have experienced tremendous opportunities and growth in recent years. Companies like MHA Group, the parent company of Merritt Hawkins & Associates as wells as Staff Care, Inc., and Martin Fletcher & Associates, employ hundreds of workers who attempt to entice physicians, nurses and other health care workers to...

• Court Order Entered in Worksite Injury Cases

  Staff Writer | January 22, 2006 2:56 PM | 0 CommentsKansas City, MO

  In August of 2005 new legislation took effect which impacted the area of Missouri's workers compensation laws. The new law contained drafting errors which called into question whether or not injured workers would be covered by workers compensation insurance. Liberty Mutual (a workers compensation insurer) filed a declaratory judgment action seeking an order from the Circuit Court of Cole...

• Ferry Workers Entitled to $8 Million in Back Pay

  Michael Myers | January 20, 2006 3:49 PM | 0 CommentsSeattle, WA

  Pierce County Superior Court Judge Rosanne Buckner recently ruled that the Washington Department of Transportation must give back pay to ferry workers who were forced to work overtime without pay during the last four and a half years. The workers are part of a class action lawsuit brought on behalf of ferry engineers and oilers. The employees had not previously been paid for safety training...