Labor & Employment Law, Commercial Law & Contracts, Communications & Media Law

Busy at Work: California Legislature Addressing Data Privacy Concerns with Data Privacy Law

by Lisa Kim, Joshua Marker, Sarah Woo | Reed Smith on 5/15/2013

The California legislature is busily at work, staying at the forefront with the development of data privacy laws. More than 15 bills related to data privacy concerns are currently making their way through the legislature, and...more

Under The Dome: Inside The Maine State House 4-26-13

by Avery T. Day, John D. Delahanty, Andrea Cianchette Maker | Pierce Atwood LLP on 4/26/2013

Major Tax Reform Proposal Starts to Take Shape - This week, the Maine media reported that Senator Woodbury is leading a bipartisan effort to draft a major tax reform proposal. This proposal will likely propose changes...more

Facebook Posts Breached Confidentiality Agreement

by Jennifer Barlow | Lerners LLP on 4/12/2013

The decision of the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario (“HRTO”) in Tremblay v. 1168531 Ontario Inc. serves as yet another reminder that Facebook postings can have significant consequences. It is also the first decision before...more

Who Owns Your Online Persona?

by Wayne Chang, Paul Cowie | Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP on 3/27/2013

Originally published in The Recorder on March 22nd, 2013. Eagle v. Morgan, 2013-11-4303 (E.D. Pa. 2013), represents one of the first trials on the issue of who owns social media accounts: the individual employee who...more

Can Touting Your New Job on Social Media Sites Violate a Non-Solicitation Agreement?

by William Goodwin, J. Alexander Lawrence | Morrison Foerster - Social Media on 3/19/2013

According to a federal judge in Oklahoma in Pre-Paid Legal Services, Inc. v. Cahill, simply sharing information about a new job over social media does not mean that you are inviting former co-workers to come join you in...more

McAfee & Taft tIPsheet - March 2013: Keys to ensuring the secrecy of trade secrets

by Zach Oubre | McAfee & Taft on 3/5/2013

“Three can keep a secret if two are dead.” — Benjamin Franklin. In the shrinking world of social media, privacy seems to be an all but forgotten concept. But in the world of business, trade secrets are critical to...more

Social Media Policies And The NLRB: What Employers Need To Know

by Sheeva J. Ghassemi-Vanni, Saundra Riley, Michael A. Sands | Fenwick & West LLP on 3/4/2013

Social media policies. Chances are your company has one, is in the process of drafting one, or is worried about not having one. Employees continue to gripe about their jobs and their bosses on Facebook, as states like...more

NLRB Holds That Dues Checkoff Obligations Continue After Contract Expiration

by John T. Merrell | Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart,... on 3/4/2013

In a reversal of 50 years of precedent, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB or Board) held recently that an employer’s obligation to check off union dues from employees’ paychecks should continue even after the...more

Cautionary Tale For The Helpful Employee

by Tim Banks | Dentons on 2/26/2013

On February 22, 2013, the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (OPC) released a report of findings in connection with a complaint that an employee at a mobile phone company improperly altered a phone contract of a...more

NLRB Gets Busy – Part 2 NLRB Incursion Into Non-Unionized Workplace

by Michelle Bush, Charles Einsiedler, Jr. | Pierce Atwood LLP on 2/12/2013

In January, we told you about recent activity by the National Labor Relations Board that overturned or departed from settled precedent. As promised, in Part 2 of this Alert series we summarize recent decisions where the...more

Levick Weekly - February 8, 2013: Spotlight On OutSourcing Boeing Scrambles As Toyota Triumphs

by Gene Grabowski, Richard S. Levick, Dan Rene | LEVICK on 2/11/2013

In This Issue: - Spotlight On Outsourcing Boeing Scrambles As Toyota Triumphs - Labor Unions Seek To Stop The Bleeding - Threat Management - Handicapping The Tech Brand Wars - Sequestration - Athlete Endorsers...more

Employers Must Examine Their Employee Agreements For Compliance With The National Labor Relations Act

by Scott T. Silverman | Akerman Senterfitt on 2/5/2013

Recently, an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) for the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) issued a decision in Quicken Loans, Inc., which found confidentiality and non-disparagement provisions to be unlawful under the...more

The Common Law Release Rule Meets Its Demise In California

by Peter Bauman - Senior Associate at Tharpe &... on 1/15/2013

California Code of Civil Procedure Section 877 (CCP 877) modified what is commonly referred to as the common law release rule. Prior to 1957, that rule held that the release of one tortfeasor given by a plaintiff had the...more

Case Highlights Need for Waiver of Subrogation Between Additional Insureds

by Robert Freedman - Partner at Tharpe & Howell,... on 1/11/2013

Does a party named as an additional insured under an insurance policy also qualify as an ”insured” under the policy for purposes of the interinsured exclusion? That was the question in a recent property damage case decided by...more

2012 Workplace Issues in Review – What H.R. needs to know

by Robert Freedman - Partner at Tharpe & Howell,... on 1/10/2013

Employers have a lot on their plates for 2013 based on employment law developments during 2012. Here’s a short list of some issues that need to be addressed. It is not a comprehensive listing but offers highlights in certain...more

Contract Disputes and Prevailing Party Attorneys Fees in California

by Peter Bauman - Senior Associate at Tharpe &... on 1/9/2013

Under California law, the recovery of attorneys’ fees are authorized by statute in a variety of situations. Among these are contract disputes. The “prevailing party” in a contract dispute is entitled to recover their...more

E-Discovery Guidelines Coming To A Court Near You

by Robert Freedman - Partner at Tharpe & Howell,... on 1/8/2013

New E-Discovery Guidelines related to the discovery of electronically stored information (“ESI”) have been approved by the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. Find the Guidelines and related documents...more

Minnesota House Commerce Committee Chair Announces 2013 Priorities

by John Knapp | Winthrop & Weinstine, P.A. on 1/3/2013

House Commerce Committee Chair Designate Joe Atkins has announced his top ten committee topics for the 2013 legislative session. Leading the list, not surprisingly, is health insurance exchange legislation. Passage of HIE...more

Employee Burnout

by Robert Freedman - Partner at Tharpe & Howell,... on 1/1/2013

Sometimes employers can’t see the forest from the trees. This is often the case when it comes to the work environment, including workplace policies, and their impact on employee productivity and retention. In the rush to...more

Mobile App Privacy Developments In California

by Robert Freedman - Partner at Tharpe & Howell,... on 12/31/2012

The Attorney General of California has begun sending non-compliance letters to mobile app developers who are not complying with the State’s privacy laws because their apps do not have a privacy policy. The apps targeted are...more

Business Judgment Rule & Employment Discrimination Veronese v. Lucasfilm

by Peter Bauman - Senior Associate at Tharpe &... on 12/31/2012

In most situations, an employer in California can terminate an employee for almost any reason, so long as it is not discriminatory, assuming the employee is at-will. In Veronese v. Lucasfilm LTD (12/10/2012) a job...more

Employer Liability for Unreported Time

by Robert Freedman - Partner at Tharpe & Howell,... on 12/28/2012

A recent decision by the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals held that a nurse’s claim for unpaid wages attributed to working during unpaid meal breaks, did not violate the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”). White v. Baptist...more

Holiday Season Extravaganza: NLRB Issues Flurry Of Law Changing Decisions

by Mark Theodore | Proskauer - Labor Relations on 12/28/2012

Last week the NLRB issued several significant decisions. In the press release announcing the decisions, the agency noted that most were actually issued “the week of December 10, but were issued this week following editing and...more

Increase In Wage and Hour Lawsuits

by Robert Freedman - Partner at Tharpe & Howell,... on 12/26/2012

According to statistics from various sources, including the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, employment related claims and lawsuits, especially those related to unpaid...more

Legal Project Management Can Reduce Cost and Future Expense

by Peter Bauman - Senior Associate at Tharpe &... on 12/26/2012

Companies can employ process management techniques to run more efficiently and reduce future legal costs. Among the many steps a company can take in this regard with respect to legal services are the following: 1. When...more

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Labor & Employment Law › Commercial Law & Contracts › Communications & Media Law