David Shulick : Employment Law Issues

As a civil ligitation attorney, David Shulick has handled numerous cases that deal with the varied issues that fall under the compass of employment law. Below, you will find a list of common employment law issues that are often debated in courtrooms, with the plaintiffs often being the employee and the defendants the employers.

Discrimination- Discrimination lawsuits are a big issue when it comes to employment law as they are often a result of systemic issues that need to be dug up in order to protect the future of the business as well as its employees. Laws such as the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Americans with Disabilities Act and many more are enacted to abolish discriminatory policies that allow companies to treat someone in a negative manner due to their age, race, color of skin, sex, religion and disability.

Retaliation- There are many instances in which a worker will speak up against a discriminatory policy or some other kind of illegal act performed by his or her employer; and in response, the employer will punish or even fire that employee. Furthermore, if the employer wants to fire the employee for the action but realizes how illegal it is, he or she may instead alter the workplace in a hostile or highly uncomfortable fashion that ultimately forces the employee to quit. This tactic is known as a “constructive termination” and can also be viewed as illegal. Any of the aforementioned types of retaliatory action are deemed illegal and can entitle the employee to damages if held up in court.

Misrepresentation- Misrepresentation is an issue that happens more commonly in larger companies that attempt to misrepresent their employees by giving them titles that go dramatically above or beyond that of their daily duties. This is often done in order to get fraudulent tax breaks or to simply enable the company to squeeze more out of the employee than the government believes it should. For example, calling a cashier a “manager” might allow the employer to exercise actions such as exempting the employee from overtime pay, leaving the entry-level worker to endure longer hours and tougher working conditions without enjoying the benefits of seniority, pay rate or leadership that would normally come with the “manager” title. The total opposite could happen too, where people fulfilling managerial duties are kept in a lesser title and lesser pay grade. Both scenarios as well as similar ones are applicable in employment law cases.