Earlier today, the General Assembly gave final approval to two significant workplace bills that employers now need to focus on.
In this post, I’ll cover
Maybe That Lawsuit Brought By Your Employee Isn’t So Frivolous
In yesterday’s post, I talked about some of the reasons why an employee’s lawsuit against his or her employer was destined for failure.
But employers, I’m afraid you’re not off the hook that easily. This post is for any employer that just got sued or threatened with suit.
Maybe that lawsuit isn’t so frivolous after all.
Wait a second! You said yesterday that ‘Odds are, you probably weren’t discriminated against’!”
Ah, but isn’t that rub? Odds. Statistics. Yes, some (many?) lawsuits brought by employees are losing propositions. But some are not.
Here are some things I tell clients or prospective clients when I see a lawsuit filed or threatened as to why they should take the lawsuit seriously.
1. That frivolous lawsuit is still going to cost you thousands (if not tens of thousands) to defend. But I thought you said this post was about non-frivolous lawsuits? True. But for my first point, that’s beside the point entirely. Whether a lawsuit is frivolous or not, the system of justice through our courts and administrative agencies moves slowly and with some cautiousness. Even the frivolous ones need to be defended. Court filings need to be, well, filed. And court conferences need to be attended. So your first point always is to recognize that all employment law cases have a cost associated with them.
And as such, all cases have what we call a “nuisance” value as well. That is — you are going to spend X amount of dollars defending the lawsuit. It may be cheaper to just pay a certain amount to avoid the cost of defense. Now, there are business reasons why you won’t want to do so in all or even many cases, but the employer who fails to recognize the nuisance value of the case is destined to be disappointed in the long run.
It’s a bit of hyperbole to say that any person can sue anyone at any time for any reason. But not that much. Lawsuits are a part of doing business. Frivolous or not, you will still have spend money to defend your decision. Be prepared for this eventuality when making your employment decisions and deciding whether or not to offer severance in exchange for a release.
2. “At Will” Employment Is a Misnomer. In Connecticut, the default employment relationship between an employer and employee is “at-will”. As many offer letters suggest, that means either the employer or employee can terminate the employment relationship at any time for any reason or no reason at all. And so, I sometimes hear employers exclaiming “Connecticut is at-will! We should be able to just fire them for any reason! How can they still sue?”Continue Reading Maybe That Lawsuit Brought By Your Employee Isn’t So Frivolous
Despite Ruling, Free Speech Statute Continues To Offers Some Defenses
In two prior posts this week here and here, I talked about the significance of a new Connecticut Supreme Court case that has expanded the free speech rights of employees in the workplace.
For more on the case itself, check out these articles from the Hartford Courant and the Connecticut Law Tribune
But do
What Changes for Employers in Connecticut After Supreme Court’s Ruling…And What Doesn’t
Yesterday, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a key provision of the Defense of Marriage Act. The SCOTUSBlog has done an admirable job with the recaps and if you want more information about that decision, you should really go there first.
But
U.S. Supreme Court Narrows Employer Liability in Harassment Cases
We’ve been waiting a while for a few U.S. Supreme Court cases to come down that have an impact on employment law. And the court didn’t disappoint. They are blockbuster cases when it comes to employment law.
In the first of two decisions this morning, the U.S. Supreme Court released Vance v. Ball State University
Court: Supervisor May Be Liable for Negligent Exposure of Subordinate to Discrimination Lawsuit; Do We Have a New Cause of Action?
You’ve heard of the negligent hiring case. 
Should we now get ready for "negligent exposure" cases?
A Connecticut Superior Court recently allowed a claim of negligence to proceed by a subordinate against a supervisor, on the grounds that the supervisor drew the subordinate into a dispute with another employee, exposing the subordinate to the
Appellate Court: Trial Court Was Wrong To Deny Summary Judgment Without Oral Argument on Res Judicata Issue
There 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