Fired employment plaintiffs fueling rise in whistleblower claims

By Sylvia Hsieh
POSTED: February 3, 2012

With more attention being given to corporate rule-breaking and stronger laws supporting those who report it, employment lawyers are seeing more workers claiming that they lost their jobs because they complained about wrongdoing in the workplace.

Foreign manufacturer subject to lawsuit

Website a basis for personal jurisdiction

By ERIC T. BERKMAN
POSTED: January 24, 2012
Tags: Jan. 30 2012 issue

A Massachusetts resident who was injured when his ski binding broke on a mountain in Utah could bring a products-liability suit in the commonwealth against the French company that made the binding, a Superior Court judge has ruled.

U.S. Supreme Court takes up HIV privacy case

By KIMBERLY ATKINS
POSTED: January 24, 2012
Tags: Jan. 30 2012 issue

At recent oral arguments, the justices of the U.S. Supreme Court tried to determine whether emotional distress constitutes “actual damages” under the federal Privacy Act. Their decision on the issue will determine whether a pilot can sue government agencies for disclosing his HIV status.

Verdict reflects trend in employment disputes

Bar: retaliation claims easier to win than bias

By Kimberly Thorpe and David E. Frank
POSTED: January 24, 2012
Tags: Jan. 30 2012 issue

Although an accusation of workplace discrimination can do serious damage to a company’s reputation, the claim that an employer illegally retaliated against a former employee can really cost it in the courtroom.

Benefit denial not warranted by video

Showed employee flying kite, jogging

By DAVID E. FRANK
POSTED: January 24, 2012
Tags: Jan. 30 2012 issue

A plan administrator could not terminate an employee’s long-term disability benefits despite covert surveillance video showing the employee driving, walking, jogging, bending over, flying a kite and lifting her 3-year-old child, the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled.

Incorporation site doesn’t control litigation

By CORREY E. STEPHENSON
POSTED: January 24, 2012
Tags: Jan. 30 2012 issue

A recent decision from the Federal Circuit may make it easier for suits against companies incorporated in Delaware to be transferred outside the state.

$5M malpractice suit vs. Choate Hall heads to BLS

By New England In-House Staff
POSTED: January 24, 2012
Tags: Jan. 30 2012 issue

The law firm of Choate, Hall & Stewart is accustomed to putting up a good fight from the counsel table in Boston’s Business Litigation Session.

DLA Piper asks judge to dismiss secretary’s lawsuit

By admin
POSTED: January 24, 2012
Tags: Jan. 30 2012 issue

Things are starting to get interesting in a long-running lawsuit between DLA Piper and a former secretary who says the firm failed to properly investigate her sexual harassment accusations against a real estate partner in 2008.

More NLRB uncertainty created for labor lawyers

By KIMBERLY ATKINS
POSTED: January 24, 2012
Tags: Jan. 30 2012 issue

One of the most contentious years in the National Labor Relations Board’s history ended amid controversy, and now the New Year has begun with a brand new political hailstorm that could spell more confusion and uncertainty for labor attorneys.