This week in suits by suits:
A necessary part of life that no one particularly enjoys is the job interview: it’s tricky for the interviewee and taxing for the interviewer. Unless the interviewer gets a thrill out of asking why manhole covers are round or testing the applicant’s knowledge of medieval saints.
We’ve written about questions that shouldn’t be asked on interviews, because they can suggest a discriminatory basis for the employer’s failure to hire the job applicant. But can an interview that doesn’t include potentially discriminatory questions – just the failure to hire the applicant after the interview itself – provide the basis for the rejected applicant to allege discrimination?
Hiring executives may be interested to know the answer to this question, which was the central issue in an opinion in Hill v. Virginia Department of Transportation, released by a federal court in Virginia at the end of January.
Engineer Milos Milosevic may have thought that he and Schlumberger Technology Corporation were like oil and water when he recently left Schlumberger, which provides services to the oil and gas industry, to work for Halliburton Company, a direct competitor. On Friday, a Texas state court said not so fast, and issued a temporary restraining order (or TRO) against Dr. Milosevic that prohibits him from starting his new job at Halliburton. The court also ordered Dr. Milosevic to “restrain from using or disclosing [Schlumberger’s] trade secrets,” and to “immediately return” any of Schlumberger’s documents or other property. Schlumberger requested the TRO at the outset of a lawsuit that it filed against Dr. Milosevic for breach of a non-compete contract and misappropriation of trade secrets.
You may have heard this week that Hasbro, the maker of the Monopoly board game, has decided to let go of one of the board’s signature tokens – the iron. The iron, according to NPR, seems to be a bit steamed behind a stoic exterior, while looking ahead to greener pastures. Of course, we have no idea yet if the iron has a claim for wrongful termination – perhaps there’s a wrinkle in his contract with Hasbro? – but we’ll certainly keep an eye on it, at least to avoid burning ourselves. It does seem, though, that whatever happens this guy always wins.
Turning to relevant matters involving people:
In Part One of this series, we looked at insurance for employment-related claims against business owners and managers. Specifically, we looked at employment practices liability insurance (“EPLI”), and I suggested you find out if your company has this coverage – which, if you’re doing any of the hiring, firing, or supervising, is something you should know.
Assuming your company (or entity – employment-related claims hit not-for-profits as well) has EPLI, then you need to ask some more questions to really understand what it covers and how it will work. And the time to consider this is before you may potentially have a claim for coverage under it.
There are things we’re all supposed to do before a catastrophe occurs, to help prevent that catastrophe or minimize the harm from it. This list would include changing the batteries in your smoke detectors, or making sure your car is kept in good repair, or seeing the dentist every so often for a thorough teeth cleaning.
If you are an executive or a business owner with any role in hiring or managing others, I’m about to add one more suggestion to that list: check to figure out if you have insurance for employment-related allegations for which you may, in some circumstances, be held personally liable.
So much for starting the year off slowly! In the areas we track – primarily disputes and issues between companies and their executives, but also anything that can impact those employment relationships – a lot happened in the first month of 2013. We wrote about it – because while most of the country was in a deep freeze, here at SuitsbySuits headquarters in Washington, we enjoyed an unusually warm January and so were able to keep our fingers warm enough to type (no comment on our Tampa colleagues who bask in comparative warmth year round).
The boundaries and mechanics of litigation and arbitration between executives gave rise to some thoughtful commentary on recent cases from our colleagues John Connolly and Adam Fotiades, which we’ve captured below in case you missed them. We also looked at covenants not to compete, discovery gone awry, perpetual battles over social media and religion in the workplace, and – remember back to the holidays? – potential claims Bob Cratchit might have had against Ebenezer Scrooge under federal law:
Tour De Fraud - When Finally Settling Your Dispute May Not Be Finally Settling Your Dispute (Ellen D. Marcus, January 30, 2013)
Before you read this, go ahead and open your desk drawer. Look beyond what may be some rather odd contents, and the fact that those contents may speak volumes about you.
Dig down and find the employee handbook that’s likely buried in there. There’s a good chance you got this on your first day of work, put in in the drawer, and haven’t looked at it since. But move those ketchup packets aside and pull it out, because the question for today is: does that book form a contract between you and your employer (or you and your employees, if you’re the owner of the business)?
Before you root, root, root for the Ravens in Superbowl XLVII; before you go pick up with that 100-piece platter of buffalo wings; before you even crack open a single cold one, you owe it to yourself to read this week's super-sized Inbox:
Since Lance Armstrong confessed to Oprah last week that he used performance enhancing drugs, speculation about the legal consequences came faster than Dave Stoller drafting the 18-wheeler in Breaking Away. Some of the speculation is about SCA Promotions’ demand that Armstrong return the $7.5 million that it paid him to settle a lawsuit. Armstrong brought the lawsuit after SCA (an insurer of a sponsor) refused to pay him bonuses for his Tour de France victories, citing doping allegations. Armstrong’s lawyer has said that SCA is out of luck: “When SCA decided to settle the case, it settled the entire matter forever. No backs. No re-dos. No do-overs. SCA knowingly and independently waived any right to make further claims to any of the money it paid.”
As the regulatory and business environments in which our clients operate grow increasingly complex, we identify and offer perspectives on significant legal developments affecting businesses, organizations, and individuals. Each post aims to address timely issues and trends by evaluating impactful decisions, sharing observations of key enforcement changes, or distilling best practices drawn from experience. InsightZS also features personal interest pieces about the impact of our legal work in our communities and about associate life at Zuckerman Spaeder.
Information provided on InsightZS should not be considered legal advice and expressed views are those of the authors alone. Readers should seek specific legal guidance before acting in any particular circumstance.
John J. Connolly
Partner
Email | +1 410.949.1149
Andrew N. Goldfarb
Partner
Email | +1 202.778.1822
Sara Alpert Lawson
Partner
Email | +1 410.949.1181
Nicholas M. DiCarlo
Associate
Email | +1 202.778.1835