My friend and employee/plaintiff's lawyer, Lee Smith of Atlanta (who does not have a web page, and who neither blogs nor tweets!), has been corresponding with me about the words that no employee's lawyer ever wants to hear from a client. I thought it would make a great blog post, and I'll follow with five from the employer's side.

Here are Lee's top (or should I say, "bottom"?) five from the plaintiff's perspective, with his commentary:

5. (A call from out of town) "I'm calling you because all the lawyers here are in my employer's pocket." I usually translate this as, "I have shopped this case all over, and nobody thinks I can win."

4. "My supervisor hates me and is nasty to me. I am miserable at work." I can sympathize with those afflicted with abusive bosses, but personal animus is not actionable under the law, although I once had a case where the supervisor, motivated by dislike for the employee, harassed her into multiple epileptic seizures, and we did get paid on that.