Show posts for: The Inbox

  • The Inbox, Only Ten Shopping Days Left Edition

    | Zuckerman Spaeder Team

    Sometimes—but only sometimes, and certainly not all the time – we lawyers can be just a little uptight and get into nasty disputes with each other.  Not that we at S-by-S have any firsthand knowledge of that.  But we are intrigued by this mushrooming case filed in Pennsylvania by Jeffrey First, a former contract attorney with the legal staffing firm of Special Counsel.  First started off by suing two colleagues who he claimed had hacked into his bank account and email.  Then, he says, the staffing company retaliated against him and “constructively discharged” him – so he’s suing it in a separate action.  He’s also suing a partner in the firm, Pepper Hamilton, that had hired him as part of a Special Counsel team. 

    Speaking of lawyers, here’s a hint for any in-house counsel out there: it’s not a good idea to steal $9 million from your employer, like this in-house lawyer did by using phony invoices from phony law firms that he set up with his wife.  Come to think of it, that’s good advice for any executive. 

    Naughty, and not nice: Fry’s Electronics, a West Coast chain, is to pay the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission $2.3 million to settle a case stemming from a male manager’s sexually inappropriate texts to a female subordinate, and repeated requests that she join him for a drink.  Elevating the amount of the settlement, according to this report, is Fry’s scorched-earth litigation tactics.     EEOC settlements seem to make a frequent appearance in The Inbox; prior ones are here, here and here.   

    And from the “Uh, Thanks, I Guess” Department, defense contractor Lockheed Martin says it “won’t ask the Pentagon to reimburse part of the $3.5 million it is paying the chief operating officer who left last month after it was disclosed he had an extramarital affair with a subordinate.”  Diligent colleague Andrew Torrez wrote about the case of Lockheed COO Christopher Kubasik here.  Presumably, Andrew will not be asking the Pentagon to reimburse him for his time to write about the Lockheed Martin COO leaving Lockheed Martin, either.  But, we’ll see.          

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  • The Inbox

    | Jason M. Knott

    With only two weeks to go until the Mayans’ end of days, what better way to spend your time than reading this week’s latest in Suits by Suits:

    • A store manager for American Apparel has sued Dov Charney, the company’s CEO, accusing him of assault.  UPI reports that the manager alleges that Charney called him nasty names and tried to rub dirt on his face at an industry convention.  Lawyers can get a bad rap, but I doubt anything like that has ever happened at the ABA’s annual meeting.
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  • The Inbox, Pre-Turkey Week Edition

    | Zuckerman Spaeder Team

    Sex – or allegations of sex – and breakfast food seemed to dominate the world of employment disputes involving executives this week. There’s more than one joke there, but at Suits-by-Suits we’re lawyers and not comedians, so we’ll let the news speak for itself: 

    • Waffles:  The CEO of southern food chain Waffle House denied allegations that he forced a former employee to have sex with him, contending instead that her allegations were an attempt at extortion:  “I am a victim of my own stupidity, but I am not going to be a victim of a crime,” Joe W. Rogers Jr. said, according to this article in Salon.  Almost sounds like a tale that could wind up in a twangy song on one of the chain’s signature jukeboxes. 
    • Pancakes:  Twenty-two women who were allegedly sexually harassed by an IHOP manager will divide up $1 million – the amount paid to settle an EEOC case against one of the chain’s franchisees.  The franchising company will also provide better training.   

    All we need is some toast and bacon.  But instead we have these two notes, both relating to Morgan Stanley:

    • The Phone Is Not For You: The investment bank is not entitled to a former employee’s iPhone, according to a New York State appellate court.  A lower court ordered William Atha to turn his iPhone over to Morgan Stanley, which sued financial adviser Atha after he left for AllianceBernstein.  But the appellate court agreed with Atha that turning over his phone might violate his privacy rights; it also held the trial court should have given Atha a hearing on the issue. 
    • Reimbursement Please: Morgan Stanley is also in the news for filing suit against Joseph Skowron, a former managing director of FrontPoint (which the bank acquired in 2006).  Morgan wants Skowron to pay it the $33 million that it had to pay the SEC to settle claims Skowron used non-public information to trade stock.  “Doctor-turned-stock-picker Skowron” has already been sentenced to five years in prison and order to pay $5 million.  

    And finally two news notes on employment issues that can affect executives and their companies, and that we cover regularly:

    • This Darned Social Media Business: Here’s a Law360 report on a social-media-at-work survey by the Proskauer Rose law firm.  Proskauer concludes “Having a social media policy that explains both acceptable and unacceptable usage puts employees on notice of what they can and can't do, potentially preventing missteps. And it also makes it easier for the employer to show that any disciplinary actions are taken lawfully.”  We would agree – we’ve covered the difficult issues raised by social media here, here, here and here. 
    • The Price Is…Um, $8 Million: Pregnancy as an employment issue, it seems, is all around – more than stinkbugs in Washington or love for Mary Tyler Moore a/k/a Mary RichardsLaw360 reports that on Wednesday, former “The Price is Right” model Brandi Cochran asked a jury for more than $8 million, claiming the game show’s producers had “a ‘dirty little secret’ of hostility toward pregnant models.” We’ve never seen an amount that high on the great game show’s famous dollar wheel We have, however, written about the issues that pregnancy can raise for executives and companies – and offered some views on how to avoid those issues – here, here, here, and here. 
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  • The Inbox

    | Zuckerman Spaeder Team

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  • The Inbox

    | Jason M. Knott

    Our hurricane-proof edition of the latest in Suits by Suits news:

    • The last time you flew, was the toilet paper in the loo “exposed,” with an unfolded end square?  Then you weren’t on the jet of Abercrombie & Fitch boss Michael Jeffries.  The Associated Press writes that an age discrimination lawsuit by a former pilot has uncovered an exhaustive flight manual for members of the crew of Jeffries’ jet.  Among the requirements: current issues of magazines must always be on the right side of the credenza.  No hats if it’s over 40 degrees.  And the toilet paper folding, of course.
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  • The Inbox

    | Zuckerman Spaeder Team

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  • The Inbox: October 12, 2012

    | Zuckerman Spaeder Team

    It's been a busy week in suits by suits:

    • Good news, everyone!  With the NFL season in full swing -- and with an estimated 25-30 million of us playing fantasy football -- you can breathe a sigh of relief knowing that the New Hampshire Attorney General has declined to prosecute a former deputy county attorney who used his work email to talk about fantasy football.  A member of Americans for Progress had alleged that the emails constituted illegal gambling.  Now, who wants to trade me for a starting running back?
    • Multiple sources have discussed the potential conflicts of interest alleged against David Kotz, the former Inspector General of the SEC who, among other things, investigated Bernie Madoff's Ponzi scheme.  The highest profile allegation is that Kotz had an "inappropriate relationship" -- the Huffington Post calls the e-mail exchange "flirtatious" -- with an SEC employee while Kotz's office was conducting oversight on a program on which that employee worked.
    • In continuing developments regarding the intersection of social media and employment law, the National Labor Relations Board ruled on Tuesday that work-related Facebook updates are not protected speech under federal labor law.  The NLRB upheld a BMW dealership's decision to terminate a car salesman for posting a picture of a car accident (with the caption "Oops") to his Facebook account.  (The NLRB's press release can be found here.)
    • Relatedly, a Texas appeals court upheld the firing of a paramedic who had frustratedly posted to her personal Facebook page that she "wanted to slap" an uncooperative patient.  The paramedic had argued that her employer invaded her privacy and tortiously intruded upon her seclusion; the trial court granted summary judgment for lack of evidence and the appellate court affirmed.
    • Following a slightly more prudent course than the Republican Party of Florida, the Town Council for the city of Flower Mound, Texas voted to pay former Town Manager Harlan Jefferson the 22 months of severance pay -- approximately $350,000 -- called for in his contract after voting to dismiss Jefferson as Town Manager.
    • Suits by (fake) suits?  Sony sued its former pitchman, actor Jerry Lambert, who appeared in a series of commercials on behalf of Sony's Playstation 3 console as fake executive Kevin Butler (with titles such as "Vice President of Add More Awesome," "Vice President of Epic Gaming for All," "Vice President of Bringin' It in 3D," and nearly four dozen others).  Lambert later appeared in a Bridgestone tires ad playing a Nintendo Wii, prompting Sony to sue, alleging that Lambert was unfairly using its "Kevin Butler" intellectual property.  Those of us old enough to remember Larry "Bud" Melman's appearances on the old David Letterman show may recall that Letterman faced a similar issue when he tried to move that character (played by actor Calvert DeForest) to his new show on CBS.  (Letterman's workaround was to refer to DeForest as "That Guy" and "Kenny the Gardener.")
    • Oregon state labor officials have ordered Dr. Andrew W. Engel, D.D.S., to pay his dental assistant nearly $350,000 after threatening to fire her if she did not attend a Scientology-related training session.
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  • The Inbox

    | Zuckerman Spaeder Team

    • A former Playboy Controller has filed a lawsuit in California state court alleging that she was fired for exposing . . . possible corporate wrongdoing.  Catherine Zulfer claims that the company retaliated against her, in violation of the whistleblower provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and California law, when she revealed to the company’s general and outside counsel her suspicions that the CEO and CFO were attempting to pay themselves bonuses – by accruing for them on the company’s books – without the board’s approval.
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  • Via Law360 (subscription required), we learn of this interesting ruling from a California court, limiting Home Depot’s discovery requests seeking a former employee’s Facebook and LinkedIn posts. The court held Home Depot is only entitled to certain social media posts between the employee and other Home Depot employees, not posts with other people or that go to the former employee’s state of mind.   Social media raise many unique and interesting challenges for employment relationships -- we’ve dug deeper into these issues here, here, here, and here.

    Those of us who write for Suits-by-Suits have had some contentious depositions (where a witness is asked questions in a pre-trial proceeding) in our day, but nothing like this one reported in the American Lawyer.  Two Manhattan lawyers were arguing at a deposition when one allegedly “accidently” spit on the other, and the spittee-lawyer then slapped the alleged spitter-lawyer.  Of course, one of them sued the other for slander and assault, seeking $1 million. A New York judge has now dismissed the case.   

    Litigation as a way to settle disputes between companies and executives may at times get hot enough to boil away spit, but it sure beats at least one of the other alternatives. From our “How Not To Settle Executive Disputes” department, the lead sentence in this Courthouse News story says it all: “A disgruntled former partner in a law firm fire-bombed his former partners' house, the husband-and-wife legal managers claim in court.”  

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  • The Inbox - Sept. 14, 2012

    | Zuckerman Spaeder Team

    This week in suits by suits:

    • On Tuesday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit heard oral argument in the case brought by Starbucks baristas alleging that the company violated the Massachusetts Tip Law by requiring the baristas to share their tips with shift supervisors .  We reported on this case earlier and will be on the lookout for the First Circuit’s decision.  The key question in the case – whether or not Starbucks shift supervisors have “managerial responsibility” – was argued to the court early on Tuesday.
    • The IRS awarded a record $104 million to former UBS employee and whistleblower Bradley Birkenfeld, who had previously been convicted of tax fraud for advising UBS clients to avoid paying income taxes.  Birkenfeld's testimony disclosed how UBS was offshoring client assets to evade U.S. income tax; as a result, UBS agreed to pay $780 million in criminal fines and release data for nearly 5,000 accounts.
    • Author and playwright David Macaray has written a provocative article for the Huffington Post entitled "The Golden Parachute is Un-American" (and, he also argues, "curious," "bizarre," and "con jobs").
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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.

Contributing Editors
John J. Connolly

John J. Connolly
Partner
Email | +1 410.949.1149


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Andrew N. Goldfarb
Partner
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Sara Alpert Lawson_listing

Sara Alpert Lawson
Partner
Email | +1 410.949.1181


Nicholas DiCarlo

Nicholas M. DiCarlo
Associate
Email | +1 202.778.1835


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