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BACK
WAGES SECURED FOR WORKER FIRED FOR RAISING HEALTH AND SAFETY
ISSUES
A
former dispatcher for Student Bus Service Inc., of Brooklyn,
New York, who was fired for complaining about working in cold
temperatures inside an office trailer during 20 degree
weather, has been paid $7,000 in back wages as the result of a
consent judgment secured by the Department of Labor
(DOL).
The
employee was discharged in December 2003, shortly after
complaining to management about the lack of heat in the
workplace. The worker then filed a complaint with OSHA,
alleging that the termination violated the whistleblower
provisions of the Occupational Safety and Health Act. When an
investigation upheld the complaint, OSHA ordered the company
to reinstate the worker and pay back wages. The company
refused and DOL attorneys filed a complaint in federal
district court. That complaint resulted in a consent judgment
signed on May 11.
"Employees have a
right to raise legitimate health and safety issues with their
employer and to do so without fear of retaliation or
termination," said Patricia K. Clark, OSHA regional
administrator in New
York. "This case shows we will pursue
all necessary and appropriate legal remedies on behalf of
employees who exercise their rights to a safe and healthful
workplace." June 12, 2006
EXPERTS
FORECAST BRIGHT OUTLOOK FOR
401(K)S
401(k)s are on
track to keeping growing and look increasingly like pensions,
according to experts who spoke yesterday at a conference for
the Society of Professional Asset Managers and Record-keepers
(SPARK).
The number of 401(k) plans has reached
456,000, with 56 million participants and $2.3 trillion in
assets. Roughly 36,000 plans will change providers this year,
according to SPARK founder Robert Wuelfing.
CitiStreet
CEO Phil Lussier predicted, "There will be bigger matches and
[more] auto-enrollment. We may see fund lineups shrink,"
because having too many choices "overwhelms people." However,
there still is some resistance from employers who worry that
auto-enrollment will cost them too much money, noted Joe
Ready, Wachovia's senior vice president.
More
employers are using a bundled benefits model and adding
lifestyle or target date funds to their plans, observed Ron
Bush, a principal at Brightwork Partners.
Not
surprisingly, employers continue to drop or freeze their
pensions in favor of 401(k)s. "We don't see a lot of
defined-benefit plan formations here," Wuelfing said, "[but]
we're starting to see a whole lot of activity with new
requests for proposals at the municipal level. The expense of
defined-benefit plan sponsorship has become too high, even for
the healthy plans out there." Meanwhile, he added, "We are
expecting to see a major push for new annuities over the next
five years." June 13, 2006
JEWELER
TO PAY WORKERS $1.3 MILLION IN OVERTIME
The operator of
Kay Jewelers, Jared Jewelers and other jewelry stores in 41
states has agreed to pay nearly $1.3 million in back overtime
wages to 16,820 current and former employees.
Sterling Jewelers
Inc. will make payments that average $77 per employee to
resolve overtime violations of the Fair Labor Standard Act.
The violations date from Nov. 2, 2003, to Feb. 25, 2006.
Sterling voluntarily
disclosed the violations to the Labor Department. A complaint
and consent judgment was filed Monday with the U.S. District
Court for the Northern District of Ohio.
U.S. Secretary of
Labor Elaine L. Chao said Tuesday that the agreement also
makes certain that Sterling
employees are paid properly in the future.
Sterling, a subsidiary of
London-based Signet Group plc, became aware of pay issues
through an internal review and then contacted the department,
Sterling spokesman David Bouffard said.
Bouffard said the
company inaccurately credited workers for what it considers
premium overtime, which is more than regular overtime and is
paid to employees who achieve certain sales incentives.
The other issue
involves time records kept electronically in which some
employees were not credited for all their working time.
"In addition to
making sure all Sterling team
members are credited and compensated for time worked, we are
openly communicating with our associates so that they are
fully aware of the issues and our actions," he said. June 14,
2006 Associated Press Cleveland Plain
Dealer
U.S.
DEPARTMENT OF LABOR LAUNCHES NEW ONLINE BACK WAGE EMPLOYEE
LOCATOR
The
U.S. Department of Labor's (DOL) Wage and Hour Division (WHD)
launched a new Web-based back wage employee locator to provide
easy and secure access for employees to find and collect back
wages due to them. The new back wage employee locator guides
employees through an online series of questions that helps
them determine if they are owed back wages as a result of a
WHD investigation. The new system queries a database that
contains information about people who are due back wages and
their employment history. Employees should be ready to enter
information about their past or present employment, such as
the name and location of their employer. Those due back wages
will be provided restitution upon verification of their
identity. June 12, 2006
BACK
WAGES SECURED FOR WORKER FIRED FOR RAISING HEALTH AND SAFETY
ISSUES
A
former dispatcher for Student Bus Service Inc., of Brooklyn,
New York, who was fired for complaining about working in cold
temperatures inside an office trailer during 20 degree
weather, has been paid $7,000 in back wages as the result of a
consent judgment secured by the Department of Labor
(DOL).
The
employee was discharged in December 2003, shortly after
complaining to management about the lack of heat in the
workplace. The worker then filed a complaint with OSHA,
alleging that the termination violated the whistleblower
provisions of the Occupational Safety and Health Act. When an
investigation upheld the complaint, OSHA ordered the company
to reinstate the worker and pay back wages. The company
refused and DOL attorneys filed a complaint in federal
district court. That complaint resulted in a consent judgment
signed on May 11.
"Employees have a
right to raise legitimate health and safety issues with their
employer and to do so without fear of retaliation or
termination," said Patricia K. Clark, OSHA regional
administrator in New
York. "This case shows we will pursue
all necessary and appropriate legal remedies on behalf of
employees who exercise their rights to a safe and healthful
workplace." June 12, 2006
SANDUSKY,
OHIO, EXCAVATION CONTRACTOR
FINED $251,250 FOR UNPROTECTED TRENCH WORK AT FREMONT
WATER MAIN PROJECT
Following
inspections at excavation worksites in Fremont, Ohio, the U.S. Labor Department's
Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has
proposed $251,250 in fines against Speer Bros. Inc.,
Sandusky,
Ohio, for alleged
willful and serious violations of safety
standards.
OSHA opened an inspection in December 2005
following receipt of information that employees were working
in unprotected trenches, some as deep as 13 feet, during
construction of the City of Fremont Water Main Improvement
Project.
The investigation
resulted in citations for five willful violations of federal
workplace safety regulations, including the failure to provide
access and egress from deep trenches, failing to protect
workers from cave-ins while inside those trenches, failing to
protect against water accumulation inside the trenches and
failing to remove employees from hazardous areas after having
been advised of hazardous conditions that could result in
cave-ins.
"Any one of these
violations has the potential to kill the workers inside those
trenches," said OSHA Area Director Jule Hovi, Toledo.
"Trenching remains one of the most hazardous jobs in
construction if proper safety procedures are not followed.
When employers shirk their responsibility to keep the
workplace safe, the results can be tragic for workers and
their families." June 6, 2006 www.osha.gov
EEOC
RACE BIAS SUIT AGAINST COCA-COLA BOTTLING TO MOVE TOWARD
TRIAL, APPEALS
COURT
RULES
Case
Centers on Racist Supervisor Involved in Firing Black
Employee, Agency Says
In a significant
legal victory for the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity
Commission (EEOC), the Denver-based U.S. Court of Appeals for
the 10th Circuit has reversed a New Mexico lower court’s
dismissal of a race discrimination lawsuit brought by the EEOC
against BCI Coca-Cola Bottling Company of Los Angeles (BCI) –
which owns Phoenix Coca-Cola Bottling Company and Coca-Cola
Bottling Company of Albuquerque.
In its litigation,
the EEOC charges BCI with committing race discrimination
against Stephen Peters, an African American employee of the
Albuquerque facility, when it fired him for not working his
scheduled day off, even though he had called in sick and
provided medical documentation. The federal district court in
Albuquerque had previously
dismissed the case on a summary judgment
ruling.
In its decision,
the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that EEOC may proceed
to trial on the race discrimination claim, filed under Title
VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. The court found that a jury
might reasonably conclude that Peters’ termination was based
on his race because there was evidence that one of his
supervisors, Cesar Grado, treated African Americans more
harshly than other employees. EEOC asserts that Grado made
such racial remarks as: “Black guys don’t look good in trucks,
they should drive Cadillacs” and “Brothers don’t like the
cold.”
In its opinion,
the court observed that, “In making the decision to
terminate...the human resources official relied exclusively on
information provided by Mr. Peters’ immediate supervisor, who
not only knew Mr. Peters’ race but allegedly had a history of
treating black employees unfavorably and making disparaging
racial remarks in the workplace.” June 16, 2006
HOSTILE
WORK ENVIRONMENT COMPLAINT LODGED AGAINST DLA PIPER PARTNER
Six DLA Piper
support staffers have lodged a formal grievance with the
firm's D.C. managing partner, citing "erratic, unpredictable
and turbulent behavior" by white-collar practice co-chair
Nancy Luque as making them uncomfortable and creating "a
hostile work environment," according to a copy of a letter
obtained by Legal Times. The letter claims "secretaries along
the hallway are unwillingly subjected to daily barrages of
telephonic obscenity-laden screaming matches" coming from
Luque's office. Legal Times Law.com June 14, 2006
SIDLEY
SEEKS SEPARATE COUNSEL FOR EX-ADMINISTRATOR IN EEOC
SUIT
Sidley Austin
Brown & Wood, now fighting a suit by the Equal Employment
Opportunity Commission over the Chicago firm's alleged age
discrimination against partners, said it is seeking separate
counsel for a former firm administrator who described a
mandatory partner retirement policy in a 1999 letter to the
Social Security Administration. Sidley said it disagreed with
the EEOC about whether its lawyers were conflicted but was
acting to "avoid injecting extraneous issues into the
litigation." New York Law Journal Law.com
June 13, 2006
EXECUTIVE
PAY LEVELS DRIVEN HIGHER LARGELY ON SALARY AND BONUS
INCREASES
A Towers Perrin
analysis of 2006 proxy statements confirms that executive
compensation levels moved up again last year, but the increase
came mostly on higher salary and bonus payments and was the
smallest in some time.
The analysis,
which looked at how much top executives were paid as well as
the mix of pay, is based on an examination of 1,046 companies
that issued proxy statements for fiscal years ending between
March 1, 2005 and February 28, 2006. Median revenue of the
companies was $1 billion, and 223 were Fortune 500 companies.
Results of the analysis were released to companies
participating in a Towers Perrin Webcast on April
4.
Average salaries
for all proxy executives rose by approximately 5%, and average
bonuses rose by about 5%, with wide variations by industry.
The expected values of long-term incentive (LTI) pay, which
typically includes stock options, restricted stock grants and
other multiyear performance plans, rose only
1%.
As a result, total
cash compensation (base salary plus bonus) for CEOs and other
top executives rose by approximately 6%. Total direct
compensation (TDC), which is the broadest measure of pay and
includes cash plus the expected value of LTIs at grant,
increased by about 3%. These are the smallest overall
increases in recent years. BenefitsLink.com June 16, 2006
PHILLIPS
V. QUEBECOR WORLD RAI INC. (06/12/06 - NO.
05-3744)
Summary judgment
for defendant-employer in a suit over alleged violations of
the Family and Medical Leave Act is affirmed where plaintiff
did not provide adequate notice of a serious health condition.
June 16, 2006 FindLaw.com
GAFFNEY
V. RIVERBOAT SERVS. OF INDIANA (06/16/06 - NO.
04-3829)
District court's
judgment in an employment retaliation suit is affirmed in part
where: 1) plaintiffs were discharged in retaliation for
correspondence protected under 46 U.S.C. 2114; 2) calculation
of plaintiffs' remedies was correct; and 3) one defendant did
not have an obligation to indemnify another. Judgment is
reversed in part where: 1) one defendant did not engage in
retaliation; and 2) two additional plaintiffs were entitled to
protection under the statute. June 16, 2006
FindLaw.com
BERKLEY
V. DILLARD'S INC. (06/14/06 - NO.
05-3523)
Dismissal with
prejudice of plaintiff's racial harassment, retaliation, and
related claims against her former employer following compelled
arbitration of the claims is affirmed where there was no error
in compelling the arbitration since plaintiff had accepted the
terms of defendant's arbitration plan by continuing her
employment, and her claims fell within the scope of the
agreement. June 16, 2006
FindLaw.com
CARTER
V. ASHLAND, INC. (06/15/06 - NO.
04-1961)
An appeal is
dismissed for lack of jurisdiction where a challenged order,
dismissing a Title VII employment discrimination case as a
sanction for the filing of fraudulent documents and awarding
defendants costs and attorneys' fees as a further sanction,
was not a final appealable order because it reserved
determination of the amount of the sanctions. June 16,
2006 FindLaw.com
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