Suits by Suits’ Greatest Hits of 2014

Who doesn’t love the year-end countdown?  We’re here to offer you one of our own – our most-read posts in 2014 about executive disputes.  The posts run the gamut from A (Alex Rodriguez) to Z, or at least to W (Walgreen).  They cover subjects from sanctified (Buddhists and the Bible) to sultry (pornographic materials found in an executive’s email).  Later this week, we’ll bring you a look at what to expect in 2015.

Without further ado, let the countdown begin!

8.            The Basics: Dodd-Frank v. Sarbanes-Oxley

This post is an oldie but a goodie.  It includes a handy PDF chart that breaks down the differences in the Dodd-Frank and Sarbanes-Oxley whistleblower laws.  Each of these laws continues to be a hot-button issue for plaintiffs and employers.

7.            When Employment Relationships Break Bad

America may have bidden adieu to Walter White and his pals on Breaking Bad, but employment relationships continue to spin off in some very unpleasant ways.  Such was the case with Stephen Marty Ward, who ended up in federal prison after he threatened his employer with disclosure of its trade secrets, as we covered in this post.

6.            The Buddhist, The Bible, And Morning Coffee

In this post, we perused religious disputes involving companies and employees, including the case of an employee who was fired for refusing to put Bible quotations into his daily emails to the company’s other workers. 

5.            Alex Rodrigez Teaches Us How to Read a Complaint

The case of Yankee slugger Alex Rodriguez was full of lessons for disputes involving executives.  In this post, we took a swing at A-Rod’s attempt to vacate the arbitration award that suspended him for the entire 2014 season. 

4.            The Inbox: There Will Be Damages

This fun feature of our blog accumulates news about executive disputes into a handy digest.  This particular edition featured the story of an expensive energy dispute, questions about trade secrets on social media, and FBI tactics in dealing with whistleblowers.

3.            Wade Miquelon’s defamation dispute with Walgreen (multiple posts)

Walgreen’s controversial termination of its CFO, Wade Miquelon, and his resulting lawsuit for defamation were fertile ground for our blog.  We introduced Miquelon’s suit here, and took a further look at the details of his complaint in this post.

2.            Do “Pornographic Materials” That Were Discovered In Senior VP’s E-mails After He Was Fired Let Company Off the Hook for Severance?

We don’t want to speculate as to why this post was so popular, so we will just leave the link here for those of you who may still be interested.

1.            The continuing saga of noncompetes (multiple posts)

Of the topics that drew the most attention this year, the enforcement of noncompete agreements topped the list.  In this post, we covered how Alabama courts won’t enforce noncompete clauses signed before an employee joins a company.  Here, we covered how a subsequent agreement can wipe out an earlier noncompete when it includes an “integration” or “merger” clause.  And here, we followed a prominent noncompete dispute between American Realty Capital Properties and the Carlyle Group.

We hope you’ve enjoyed and learned from all of these stories from 2014, and we look forward to a bigger and better 2015 here at Suits by Suits.

• Breach of Contract
• Defamation
• Dodd-Frank Act
• Noncompete Agreements ‎
• Religious Discrimination‎
• Sarbanes-Oxley Act
• Severance Agreements
• Social Media
• The Inbox
• Trade Secrets
• Whistleblowers
• White Collar Crime