Is due process what looks bad?

Those of you who are following news of judicial elections in other states may be interested to know that the U.S. Supreme Court last Friday accepted certiorari in the case of Caperton v. A.T. Massey Coal Company, which I discussed here. The plaintiffs, who argue that campaign donations to the justices created the appearance of impropriety amounting to a due process violation, are represented by former Solicitor General Theodore Olson. According to the New York Times, Olson said in his pleadings, �The issue raised by massive campaign contributions to judges from litigants and their attorneys go to the very heart of what it means to be given a fair trial.� The defendants argued that �looks bad� is not a test of due process.

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[Source: Minnesota Lawyer Blog]

Fifth Circuit Abandons Manifest Disregard of the Law as a Ground for Overturning an Arbitration Decision

Citigroup v. Bacon is not an employment case but it is a very important case for employment lawyers nonetheless, as we all do a fair amount of arbitration work these days. 

Following an arbitration panel's order that Citigroup Global Markets pay Debra M. Bacon $256,000 in damages and attorney's fees, Citigroup sought to overturn that award in the District Court. Finding that the arbitrators had "manifestly disregarded the law," the District Court vacated the award. Bacon then...

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[Source: HR Lawyer's Blog]

Is due process what looks bad?

Those of you who are following news of judicial elections in other states may be interested to know that the U.S. Supreme Court last Friday accepted certiorari in the case of Caperton v. A.T. Massey Coal Company, which I discussed here. The plaintiffs, who argue that campaign donations to the justices created the appearance of impropriety amounting to a due process violation, are represented by former Solicitor General Theodore Olson. According to the New York Times, Olson said in his pleadings, �The issue raised by massive campaign contributions to judges from litigants and their attorneys go to the very heart of what it means to be given a fair trial.� The defendants argued that �looks bad� is not a test of due process.

Read More...

[Source: Minnesota Lawyer Blog]

One in Six Employers Looking At Your Credit Report

TrueCredit.com, whose parent company is credit reporting agency TransUnion, reports that 16% of employers surveyed use a credit report as part of their regular screening process. That’s one in six companies. (The survey polled 214 people working in human resources. The margin of error is +/- 6.8 percentage points.)

This is especially damaging news as more Americans are looking for work and their credit scores may be taking a beating.

 

Read the story at the Wall Street Journal.

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[Source: HR Lawyer's Blog]

Fifth Circuit: Getting Groped by a Supervisor Isn't Harassment If it Only Happens Once

In Paul v. Northrop Grumman Ship Systems, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals decides that a jury need not be bothered with a sexual harassment case because, after all, the supervisor only groped the the plaintiff once. 

Here is the Court's description of the relevant facts of the case (which for the purposes of this summary judgment motion must be accepted as true): 


Paul [the plaintiff] alleges that, on that day, Barattini walked up to her until his chest

was touching hers, thus...

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[Source: HR Lawyer's Blog]

Is Your Daughter Safe at Work?

A story on PBS' news magazine "Now" really gripped me last week.   A shocking statistic—teenagers are in more danger from sexual predators at their part time jobs than through the Internet.  According to one estimate, 200,000 teenagers are assaulted at the workplace each year. It's a vastly underreported phenomenon, but some brave young women are stepping up publicly to tell their stories.

As an employment lawyer that deals with sexual harassment issues every day and...

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[Source: HR Lawyer's Blog]

Texas must ease rules on unemployment benefits to get stimulus money

The Austin American Statesman is reporting today that the lure of $555 million in federal stimulus money for additional unemployment insurance has Texas legislators mulling whether to expand unemployment benefits to more workers.

To get the stimulus money, Texas would have to implement some key changes to state law — including modifying some eligibility requirements to include tens of thousands of low-wage workers. Such changes have been considered but not enacted in previous...

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[Source: HR Lawyer's Blog]