In a post from earlier this week , I indicated that a new Appellate Court decision had some interesting points on wrongful discharge claim that were worth exploring. At the same time, the U.S. Supreme Court released a FMLA decision that made a few headlines. But what I didn’t mention was this: the takeaways from these cases are… Continue Reading
Tag Archives: wrongful discharge
Court: Employee’s Complaint Trumps Performance Issues
Posted in LitigationIt will come as no surprise to employers that summary judgment (essentially, throwing out a case before trial) in employment cases in state court is hard to get. State judges are typically reluctant to grant such a motion, which means cases get scheduled for trial — an expensive and uncertain proposition at best for employers. … Continue Reading
Even Wrongful Discharge Claims Have Limits, Says Appellate Court
Posted in Highlight, LitigationThe Connecticut Appellate court, in a decision that will be officially released next week, affirmed a dismissal an employee’s wrongful discharge claim in violation of “public policy” where the employee did not tie it to an explicit statutory or constitutional provision. The case, Armshaw v. Greenwich Hospital, can be downloaded here. Here’s what you need to know… Continue Reading
What Do Bahrain & Japan Have in Common with Connecticut? Reviewing the Wrongful Discharge Claim
Posted in Human Resources (HR) Compliance, Litigation"The United States is recommending U.S. citizens defer all non-essential travel to Bahrain." Have you seen this headline? It’s from 20 years ago. But strangely, that same headline made a reappearance this week. Don’t remember the last time it happened? Well, you should because a major Connecticut Supreme Court case arose out of it. And that… Continue Reading
Appellate Court: Trial Court Was Wrong To Deny Summary Judgment Without Oral Argument on Res Judicata Issue
Posted in LitigationThere is an unspoken truth about the Superior Courts in Connecticut: Summary judgment for employers in employment-related claims is typically a long shot. Of course, there are exceptions to the rule. A case to be released by the Connecticut Appellate Court next week shows the difficulty but also shows that at least with regard to… Continue Reading
What Ever Happened To…The Lawsuit by the Hartford Courant’s Consumer “Watchdog”
Posted in LitigationTime once again to bring back an occasional feature that takes a look at stories that have now fallen from the local newspapers’ headlines. After all, have you ever noticed that it is somehow "big news" that a lawsuit is filed but you rarely hear about a lawsuit’s dismissal? This installment updates the lawsuit that… Continue Reading
Your EPLI Policy May Not Cover What You Think It Covers; Prior Claim for Unemployment Benefits Justifies Exclusion of Wrongful Discharge Claim
Posted in LitigationEmployment Practices Liability Insurance (EPLI) is, at times, viewed by some employers as a way to control costs. (For a primer on EPLI, check out my prior posts here and here.) Why? Because employers believe that these policies will cover all of their wrongful discharge claims and the insurer will not read its policy narrowly to… Continue Reading
Court Dismisses Employment Claim After Concluding Employee Committed Perjury During Trial
Posted in Discrimination & Harassment, LitigationIt’s the stuff of television shows. In the middle of trial, a plaintiff (who is claiming his employment was terminated, among other reasons, in retaliation of his exercise of FMLA rights) drops a bombshell: [In the prior October], I learned that I had — have stage III prostate cancer with a metastatic brain lesion." While… Continue Reading
Corrective Action Memorandum Not a Contract, Says District Court
Posted in Litigation, Wage & HourUPDATED 2/10/09 Sometimes, by coincidence, two unrelated decision get released in close proximity to one another that they bring some greater clarity to the law. Yesterday, I discussed a Connecticut Superior Court case that found that certain discussions did not create an employment contract and that the employee was properly classified as "at-will". Earlier this… Continue Reading
Conn. Appellate Court: Employer Was Justified in Firing Employee Who Refused a Return to Work Medical Examination
Posted in Discrimination & Harassment, Human Resources (HR) Compliance, Laws and Regulations, LitigationThe Connecticut Appellate Court today ruled that an employer did not wrongfully discharge an employee who refused to participate in a return to work medical examination. The Court held that the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) allows for medical examinations in certain situations and that the employer was justified in asking for one in this case. In Joyner v. Simkins… Continue Reading
ESPN Settles Lawsuit with Former Baseball Analyst Harold Reynolds
Posted in LitigationA contentious litigation between Bristol, Connecticut based-ESPN and its former baseball analyst, Harold Reynolds, was settled on Tuesday, according to a report by the Associated Press. The lawsuit, filed in Hartford Superior Court in the fall of 2006, stemmed from Reynolds termination in the summer of 2006. Reynolds sued claiming "he was wrongly fired after… Continue Reading
Wrongful Discharge Claim For Reporting Bar Manager Rejected by Jury
Posted in LitigationA recent article by the Connecticut Law Tribune reported on the trial of two bar workers who claimed that they were terminated in retaliation for reporting a supervisor’s alleged sexual harassment of a waitress. According to court records In the trial of Daniel Van Kruiningen and Kimberly Chatterton v. Plan B, LLC d/b/a Mohegan After… 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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