In the five plus years of this blog, it’s rare to find topics that I haven’t covered, at least minimally. One such topic, though, is the notion of “mitigation of damages”. It is a concept found in lots of cases, but it has particular importance in employment discrimination cases. An employee who claims he (or she)… Continue Reading
Tag Archives: damages
Court Bars Use of Fluctuating Work Week to Calculate Award in Overtime Case
Posted in Class Actions, Highlight, Human Resources (HR) Compliance, Litigation, Wage & HourIn prior posts, I’ve talked about the fluctuating work week and how it can be a useful tool for employers in limited circumstances. Yesterday, a federal court in Connecticut had a very interesting ruling that addressed whether an employer — when faced with a suit for overtime by a group of convenience store employees (“clerks”,… Continue Reading
Shelton Challenges CHRO’s Award of Emotional Distress Damages and Attorneys Fees
Posted in CHRO & EEOC, Highlight, LitigationOver the years, I’ve openly questioned whether the CHRO has been improperly awarding emotional distress damages and attorneys fees in employment discrimination claims. Indeed, back in February 2009, I noted “Nearly 15 years ago, the Connecticut Supreme Court came out with a pair of decisions that seemed to put to rest the question of whether the CHRO… Continue Reading
Court Rules Plaintiffs’ Attorneys Entitled to More Than Just Contingency Fee After Jury Awards Nominal Damages
Posted in Discrimination & Harassment, LitigationSuppose you just defended against a discrimination and harassment lawsuit by two former female employees. The jury found that discrimination and harassment had occurred. But the jury awarded one employee only $1600 in economic damages and nothing for emotional distress. For the other employee, the jury did not award any damages. Most employers would take… Continue Reading
Wal-Mart v. Dukes: What The Class-Action Decision Really Means for Employers
Posted in Class Actions, Discrimination & Harassment, Featured, Highlight, LitigationOver the last 24 hours, there’s been a lot written about the Supreme Court’s decision yesterday in Wal-Mart Stores v. Dukes. Frankly, all of them are starting to say the same thing: The decision is going to hamper all class-action discrimination cases going forward. But that statement tends to simplify the decision a bit too… Continue Reading
New CHRO Agency Head: Changes are Coming
Posted in CHRO & EEOCThe Connecticut Law Tribune snagged an in-depth interview with new CHRO Executive Director Robert Brothers this week. in it, Brothers shares his views that the CHRO has made missteps in the past and that he is going to try to turn that around. Among the changes that he is considering are an revamp of the agency’s… Continue Reading
QUICK UPDATES: WWE Lawsuit, Transgender Litigation, Verdicts on the Rise, Religious Discrimination, and a Special Thanks
Posted in Discrimination & Harassment, LitigationThe Jewish holidays starting tonight encourage reflection. So, it seems particularly appropriate to do some quick updates on earlier posts: The lawsuit against WWE by three wrestlers continues to move very slowly. Early press reports by another source suggested that WWE would be moving quickly to respond to the claims; they aren’t. WWE asked for an extension of time… Continue Reading
Jury Awards $4M+ to Employee in Retaliation Case
Posted in Human Resources (HR) Compliance, Laws and Regulations, LitigationLate last week (when, of course, I was out of the office), word came down about another large verdict in an employment law case in Connecticut. The verdict, composed of $1M in compensatory damages and $3M in punitive damages in Tucker v. Journal Register Co. was first reported by the Connecticut Post last Friday here. (H/T Jottings… Continue Reading
Followup on Amara v. CIGNA – Court Proposes Broad Relief, then Stays Judgment Noting Uncertainty in the ERSIA Law
Posted in LitigationA few months ago, I reported on the District Court’s decision in Amara v. CIGNA, an important class-action case on ERISA retirement benefits and on alleged misrepresentations made by the Company about retirement benefits. Over the last few months, then, the court was asked to consider the issue of what is appropriate relief from the decision. … Continue Reading
About Daniel Schwartz
Trusted advisor. Experienced employment law attorney. Bar leader. Award-winning author. Noted Speaker. "Legal Rebel". All can be said to be apt descriptions of Daniel Schwartz, a member of Pullman & Comley. More +
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