The Inbox – December Rain Edition

Weather gurus are predicting snow, sleet, and rain for our area over the weekend.  Although my kids are hoping for the white fluffy stuff, this amateur prognosticator is predicting a downpour.  In keeping with this theme, the week’s biggest employment news is Robinson Cano’s $240 million deal with the Seattle Mariners (who are well accustomed to rainy skies).  But our sights here at Suits by Suits are on matters a little less lucrative:

• You still have a chance to win free admission to our Dec. 10 webinar, “Whistleblower Watch: Big Issues in the Latest Whistleblower Cases Under Dodd-Frank, Sarbanes-Oxley, and the Internal Revenue Code.”  For more details on this prize, click here.
• The First Circuit affirmed a summary judgment ruling in favor of Strine Printing Company against a former sales representative who claimed that his firing resulted in an “oleaginous mass of perceived wrongs.”  The decision addresses a number of employment-related claims, including unjust enrichment, breach of an implied or express employment contract, and misrepresentation.
• We’ve previously covered the exploits of Larry Conners.  Despite his year-long non-compete agreement, the St. Louis newsman is headed back to TV – as a pitchman.  He’ll be a spokesman for John Beal Roofing.
• Jeff Green of Bloomberg Businessweek brought us the latest trend in executive hiring – the “golden hello.”  These are multi-million dollar signing bonuses designed to entice new candidates to join the team.  Among them: the $45 million that Zynga paid to entice an industry vet, Don Mattrick.  Some are skeptical of the arrangements, noting that they don’t correlate with successful performance.
• A Louisiana appellate court has affirmed the dismissal of a lawsuit by former professors at Louisiana College, writes Charles Huckabee of the Chronicle of Higher Education.  The professors claimed that they should have been able to use certain books in teaching classes on religion and values, which were prohibited by the college’s administration.  The court refused to intervene on the ground that it was a religious dispute not proper for court involvement.
• Dominic Patton of Deadline Hollywood covered Jeff Kwatinetz’s suit against Prospect Park.  The producer and talent manager wants a Los Angeles Superior Court judge to decide whether a noncompete provision in his agreement with Prospect Park can permissibly bar him from competing for five years.   

• Breach of Contract
• Civil Litigation
• Executive Compensation
• Noncompete Agreements ‎
• Summary Judgment