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Professor’s Misuse of Grant Funds Justified His Termination

Kollman & Saucier
Kollman & Saucier
07/16/2019
Employment Contracts
Most employers have internal policies and procedures that govern the workplace.  In the university setting, faculty discipline issues typically are addressed through fairly robust processes that may include a hearing before a faculty member’s peers.  Employers are wise to adhere to their internal policies and to make those policies clear to avoid having a decision overturned for a procedural technicality.  Fortunately for the University of Notre...
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Compensation Agreement Did Not Modify At-Will Status, Eighth Circuit Holds

Kollman & Saucier
Kollman & Saucier
06/29/2018
Employee Benefits, Employment Contracts
As any regular reader of this blog knows, at-will employment – under which an employee may be terminated for almost any reason, or no reason at all – is the “default” relationship in most jobs.  There is also no requirement in most industries that parties utilize an employment contract. Parties who choose to form an employment contract, however, may (but are not required to) modify this at-will employment in a variety of ways.  Most...
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A Potentially Epic Alternative To Class-Action Waiver Arbitration Clauses

Kollman & Saucier
Kollman & Saucier
05/25/2018
Arbitration, Employment Contracts, Legal Developments
In the aftermath of Monday’s Supreme Court decision in Epic Systems Corp. v. Lewis, as discussed on this blog, employers are free to include class-action waivers as part of their arbitration clauses in employment agreements. There is, however, a difference between whether employers can include such clauses and whether all employers should include them.  Some of the assumed benefits of arbitration are that it is less formal, less expensive, and...
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Supreme Court Upholds Individual Arbitration Clauses In Employment Contracts

Kollman & Saucier
Kollman & Saucier
05/22/2018
Arbitration, Class Actions, Employment Contracts, Labor Law, Legal Developments
Mandatory arbitration clauses in employment contracts are increasingly a fact of workplace life.  What happens, though, when an employee signs an employment agreement requiring that any job-related disputes be submitted to individual arbitration, rather than class- or collective-action lawsuits?  Do longstanding federal labor laws protecting workers’ right to engage in “concerted activities for the purpose of . . . mutual aid or protection”...
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Non-Renewal of Contract or Termination?

Kollman & Saucier
Kollman & Saucier
02/24/2017
Age Discrimination, Employment Contracts, Employment Discrimination
Employers often think that not renewing an employee’s contract is somehow qualitatively different from a termination of employment.  In some cases, and in certain limited circumstances, that may be true.  It is not true, however, with regard to statutory retaliation claims (e.g., my contract was not renewed because I engaged in activity protected by Title VII, the ADA, the FLSA, or some other statute containing anti-retaliation provisions).  In...
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Proposed Maryland Legislation Would Eliminate Non-Compete Obligations For The Unemployed!

Kollman & Saucier
Kollman & Saucier
12/31/2012
Employment Contracts, Legislative Developments, State Law, Unemployment Insurance
It may not be as ominous as the Fiscal Cliff, but Maryland employers should take heed: there is legislation proposed for the upcoming General Assembly session that would render inapplicable a valid non-competition agreement between an individual and his or her prior employer under certain circumstances.  Senate Bill 51, which would amend the Labor and Employment Article of the Maryland Annotated Code, provides that if any individual applies for and...
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Employer Does Not “Like” Court Decision: Facebook Postings About New Job Not A Breach of Non-Solicitation Clause

Kollman & Saucier
Kollman & Saucier
11/29/2012
Employment Contracts, Social Media
Bristled that its clients interacted with a former employee on Facebook, a Massachusetts hair salon sought a preliminary injunction to cut short the stylist’s attempts to work at a competing salon and to force her to surrender the salon’s confidential information.  All puns aside, the Superior Court of Massachusetts recently ruled that certain Facebook postings were not a violation of the non-competition clauses in place.  Invidia, LLC v....
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