Injury Law Blog : Florida Injury Lawyer & Attorney : LaBovick Law Group : Serving West Palm, Boynton, North Palm, West Palm Beach, Jupiter

All employees have rights to a safe environment while working. This includes construction workers. A Florida construction worker from Brevard County, was awarded a $76 million judgment  this week, in a case involving an on the job fall back in 2003 at a construction site.

The construction worker is now a complete quadriplegic and is paralyzed as a result of the accident. Some may feel that the Jury's verdict is excessive; hence the Defense is appealing the verdict. 

The Jury sent a strong message to the Construction Industry that they must provide a safe environment for their workers, otherwise, they will be held accountable for On the Job injuries.

Click Here to read more on Workers Compensation and Rights of Employees.

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On Tuesday of this week, 1500 current and employees of the Los Angeles Airport Hilton filed a lawsuit against their employer for unpaid overtime, violation of labor laws and an excessive workload due to poor staffing.  

According to an article in the LA Times, the LAX Hilton Airport lawsuit is seeking class-action status for the Plaintiffs of current and former employees. The lawsuit wants to require that employees are given breaks, back wages and penalties for the employer. In addition, the suit alleges that employees did not receive the proper overtime for extended hours and long weekends.

The Los Angeles Business Journal reported on an earlier ruling by the National Labor Relations Board in favor of 77 workers. The Judge ruled that the workers were wrongfully suspended for engaging in a protected work stoppage related to organizing a campaign. 

Increasingly, employees are standing up for their rights at corporations.  Even in tough economic times, companies do not have the right to deny workers overtime and violate labor laws.  In light of the litigation against well known firms Wal-mart, Sprint,  EDS, Wellfargo, IBM, Price Waterhousecoopers (PwC)  and many others, companies should think twice about denying employee overtime wages.

Click here to read more on Overtime Wage and Hour Claims and Employee Rights,
Fair Pay Fact Sheet, Unpaid Overtime Claims, Unpaid Overtime - FAQs.

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As of July 1, the new Florida law on the Preservation and Protection of the Right to keep and Bear Arms in Motor Vehicles Act of 2008 is in effect. This new law gives employees with concealed handgun licenses the right to bring firearms to work, providing they keep them locked in their cars. 

This new law has several major opponents, one being Florida’s largest employer, Walt Disney World. According a recent article in the Orlando Sentinel by Scott Powers and Jason Garcia,  Disney is using a legal loophole in the new legislation to keep most of their property is exempt.  A few other heavy weights opposing this new firearms legislation, include the Florida Chamber of Commerce and the Florida Retail Federation.

The blog, HR Bartender, chimed in on this subject, with an intro from the movie Scarface “Say hello...to my little friend.”  Also opponents of the new legislation, they mention the injunction that is before the courts and cleverly end with “Let’s hope the courts listen. Otherwise employers will have a whole bunch of new “friends” hanging out in the parking lot.”

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Wal-mart just lost another case involving overtime wage and-hour class action case and must pay $6.5 million in compensatory damages to the class of about 56,000 Wal-mart employees in Minnesota. It may not seem like a lot, but it is a start, in this long battle involving rest breaks and Minnesota labor laws. According to Tuesday's ruling in the bench trial that lasted three months, Judge Robert King, ruled in favor of the employees.


This is the third verdict regarding overtime wage disputes against the big box retailer, since 2005.  In 2006, a Pennsylvania Jury  awarded a verdict of   $78 million against Walmart and in 2005 a California Jury awarded a verdict of $172 million against Wal-Mart. Of course, both cases are on appeal. The giant big box retailer, allegedly stated " they'll never settle in a million years. ... and that 'They will try the cases until the cows come home", according to the Plaintiff Attorney in these cases. 

It will be interesting to see how this all turns out.  I am certain that they will appeal the recent $6.5 million Judge verdict, in an effort to be consistent with their stance on not paying for these claims.

Click here to read more on this case in the article by Alison Frankel, "Wal-Mart Loses $6.5 Million Wage-and-Hour Class Action In Minnesota" in AM Law Daily.

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It is bitter sweet to write about the recent jury verdict of  New York Knicks coach Isiah Thomas and the sexual harassment case involving former top team executive, Browne Sanders. The jury agreed with Ms. Sanders that Isiah Thomas and Madison Square Garden were guilty of Sexual Harassment charges.  I grew up as an avid Basketball fan, enjoying watching the likes of Isiah Thomas, Larry Bird, Dennis Johnson, Magic Johnson and Kevin Mchale.  I remember watching these great guys on the television play the greatest basketball. I recall even meeting some of them when they were here in Miami to play the Miami Heat.  You place them on such a pedestal and are crushed when they are accused of such things as the sexual harassment as Isiah Thomas has been found guilty of today by the New York Jury. It makes you realize that even great people can make mistakes and do things that they will come to regret.

The jury will now determine the punitive damages for Madison Square Garden.  They will determine how much money to award the Plaintiff, Browne Sanders.  The Plaintiff requested $10 million in punitive damages, while at MSG she was paid $260,000. Her claims of sexism, nepotism and crass language as the norm at MSG is despicable if this actually happened. At no time and under no circumstances is sexual harassment acceptable, even among jocks.

I am saddened that someone like Isiah Thomas would  be accused of such a crime. But if he is guilty, he is not above the law and should be punished accordingly.  That goes for MSG also. I do not necessarily agree with the legal counsel for Isiah Thomas when he said: "Punishment for the sake of punishment is not what this is all about".  The punishment for this and every other crime is about sending a message to the guilty party that is reasonable and just for the crime at hand. 

All eyes are on the New York Jury to see what they come back with for punitive damages for MSG. Stay tuned...

To read more on the case, click here for ABC News, Fox Sports,

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Yesterday, Sprint-Nextel was able to breathe a sigh of relief, when U.S. District Judge John Lungstrum approved a $57 million settlement that resolved age discrimination claims against Sprint Nextel Corp. over the firing of nearly 1,700 former employees. 

The settlement ends a lawsuit that alleged Sprint had engaged in a pattern and practice of age discrimination by targeting for layoffs employees who were 40 years of age and older. The case was filed more than four years ago and attracted national attention because of its extensive computer-based document discovery. The AARP Foundation litigation group assisted the five law firms that represented the 1700 former employees.

According to Judge Lungstrum it was "remarkable” that in a case involving so many plaintiffs there were only two objections — both by former call center employees complaining not of the settlement but of the specific payments they are due to receive. And that no plaintiffs chose to opt out of the settlement.

The plaintiff settlements range from $4,226 for hourly call center employees to $35,738 for employees at the top of the settlement scale, according to court documents. The average settlement disbursement works out to about $20,330 per plaintiff who opted to be a part of the lawsuit.

The case focused on the Jack Welch “forced ranking,” employee-evaluation system. Other companies such as Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., Ford Motor Co. and Capital One have been sued in recent years over such rankings.

This case sends a message to large employers such as Sprint that Age discrimination and flawed ranking systems will not be tolerated, otherwise, there will be stiff penalties to pay.  It is such a shame that a company with such a stellar reputation would engage in a practice like this.

Click here to read more about this case from the Kansas City Star.

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