During spring training last year, this column detailed a class-action suit filed by three ex-minor leaguers alleging Major League Baseball paid them less than fast-food workers. Unrepresented by a labor union, minor leaguers toil 50 to 70 hours per week through a five-month season for subminimum wage with no overtime and no compensation during spring training, instructional leagues or winter leagues.
Some legal defenses are rarely invoked. Others are rarely applied correctly. And a select few are so special that they get italicized. The equitable doctrine of laches is all three.
Object to the form of the question. While it’s a technically permissible and proper deposition objection, it generally proves of limited utility beyond venting.
John Kao, a Princeton-educated mathematics Ph.D., took workplace diversity seriously. He was the type who not only raised the issue of a lack of diversity with his employer, the University of San Francisco, he submitted a written complaint alleging racial discrimination and harassment. A 485-page complaint.
This fall, Kate Walsh, formerly of “Grey’s Anatomy” and “Private Practice,” premieres as the Honorable Rebecca Wright in the NBC sitcom, “Bad Judge.” Like Walsh’s previous characters, Judge Wright looks to be a somewhat salacious and bawdy professional, this time dispensing criminal justice rather than medical care.
Two new employment statutes recently passed by the Illinois state legislature will substantially change how when and how employers conduct criminal background checks of job applicants and address the needs of pregnant employees. As the January 1, 2015 effective date of these statutes approaches, Illinois employers should ensure that their policies and practices are in compliance with each law.
Army Cpl. Robert Hellin served tours in Iraq, Afghanistan and Korea. He also happens to be a Juggalo, or follower of the hardcore hip‐hop band Insane Clown Posse. Hellin, who sports several visible Posse tattoos, worries the FBI’s characterization of Juggalos as a “hybrid gang” subjects him to military discipline, including involuntary discharge.
Dennis Nebus wants his son circumcised. When Chase was born on Halloween 2010, his mother did, too. Now, however, the unmarried Florida parents find themselves in court over this decision and, as to be expected in a circumcision dispute, the case has several wrinkles.
Like peppering a taut direct examination with a few leading questions or throwing some argument into a dramatic opening statement, an attorney vouching for a client or witness before the jury is improper, but rarely does it lead to much trouble.
“True friends stab you in the front,” noted Oscar Wilde, and a recent Illinois decision vividly illustrates the famed playwright’s point. Plaintiffs Brian and Nicole Kelly were not only friends with defendants Larry Orrico and Renae Yockey, they lived two doors down from them in suburban Itasca.