Real Life Employment Law
Nearly every day, executives and managers, and the in-house counsel and Human Resources professionals who work with them, are confronted with unanticipated questions regarding the workforce. Just when they think they have "seen it all," along comes a new and often stranger scenario involving an odd twist to an area they thought they fully understood. These individuals often find themselves back at square one when trying to construct an appropriate response and devise a creative solution to the problem presented. Sometimes these "Quirky Questions" can be resolved easily; other times, they implicate practical and legal issues that are not immediately apparent.
This Quirky Employment Questions Blog addresses unanticipated questions regarding the workforce.
We encourage you to submit your thoughts and reactions to the questions presented. We also encourage you to submit questions that you would like to see addressed, subject to these guidelines.
Stephen D. Bell
Michael Droke
Joseph W. Hammell
Sarah Andrews Herman
Ryan E. Mick
William J. Miller
Melissa Raphan
Gregory M. Saylin
Gabrielle Wirth
David C. SingerBLOG CONTACT INFO
E: Wirth.Gabrielle@dorsey.com
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Quirky Question # 143: I read with interest your analysis of QQ # 140, dealing with closely held corporations. We are in a similar situation, though we have the sticky additional issue you referenced of the matter involving a family member. This person claims she is entitled to “lifetime” employment. Given that she’s only in her late 40s, that’s a...
Quirky Question # 140: We have a small closely held company. Our owners are family members and a few close friends. Happily, our company has been increasingly successful. Unhappily, one of our executives does not seem capable of growing with the company. We have made a difficult decision to get rid of this at will employee. When we advised him...
Quirky Question # 111: We fired one of our in-house counsel. He now has sued us for a variety of claims, all of which we think are bogus. At the time his employment ended, we required him to turn in his company-owned computer. We are reviewing it and finding that it contains a treasure trove of information useful to our...
Quirky Question # 109: We recently discovered that one of our company’s computers was used to access pornographic websites. Many different employees had access to this computer, but we believe we know who is responsible. In part, our conclusion is based on the fact that he is the only male employee who has access to that computer. We’re thinking about...
Quirky Question # 94: I own a company that manufactures boats. We fabricate fiberglass hulls in one facility and install motors, carpet, seats, steering, etc. in another facility a few miles away. I employ about 200 employees between the two sites. Three weeks ago, one of my major customers cancelled a large order. I haven’t told my employees yet, but...
Quirky Question # 93: I am the Chief Financial Officer of a public company. I recently learned that the Controller of our company has filed for personal bankruptcy. I don’t think that we should have someone in that position who has obviously been unable to handle her own finances – not only because she has access to the company’s finances,...
Quirky Question # 79: Like many companies, we periodically have situations where two of our employees get romantically involved. (We don’t have a non-fraternization policy and don’t attempt to limit these relationships in any other way.) Sometimes, the two involved employees have a great relationship and ultimately get married. Some times, the relationship ends, but the employees seem to work...
Quirky Question # 76: I read with interest your analysis of alternatives to layoffs [Quirky Question # 71]. We have a slightly different issue. Like many companies, we are facing the difficult prospect of downsizing staff. We are a small technology company with operations in the US and an office abroad. Among our professional staff are a number of foreign...
Quirky Question # 71: The country is in a recession. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that U.S. employers reduced the size of their workforces by more than 500,000 employees in November alone, with an eleven-month total of more than 1.5 million. Like every company, we’re considering whether to reduce the size of our workforce sometime during 2009, assuming the...
Erica ChenErica is an associate in the Costa Mesa office of Dorsey & Whitney and a member of the firm’s Labor and Employ...
Jennifer ServiceJen has experience providing advice on the full range of employment law issues to large, multi-state employers....
Jack SullivanJack is a Partner in Dorsey’s Labor & Employment group, where he focuses his practice on employment adv...
Ieva AubinAs an employment and business immigration attorney, ...
Michael DrokeMike started his career as a client, not a lawyer...
Matt DurhamMatt defends employers in Utah and throughout the ...
Aaron GoldsteinAaron is a Partner in Dorsey’s Labor & Employ...
Josh HughesJosh’s experience spans trial and appellate advoc...
Jillian KornblattJillian is a Partner in Dorsey’s Labor & Employ...
Laura LestradeLaura began practicing at Dorsey in 1992 and has s...
Ryan MickFor more than a decade, Ryan has counseled corpo...
Nick PappasNick litigates and counsels with respect to com...
Melissa RaphanMelissa is a Partner in Dorsey’s Labor and Employ...
Gabrielle WirthEmployers turn to Gabrielle for guidance on how they...
