November 2011

Eliminating IndividualsThe Detroit Free Press (by Tresa Baldas) reported that a former McDonald’s employee was recently caught stealing customers’ credit card information while working the drive through.

According to the criminal complaint filed in the Michigan Eastern District Court (PDF) the former employee, Teresa Pulliam, is charged with access device fraud after she was caught on video

Shredding Evidence

U.S. federal and state civil laws frequently overlap with criminal laws. This creates the opportunity for what is often referred to as parallel proceedings, e.g., simultaneous or successive civil and criminal proceedings.

As explained below, companies are often in a legal bear trap when caught in parallel proceedings because of the assertion of Fifth Amendment rights

The preliminary results of the U.S. Department of Labor’s National Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries for 2010 showed mixed results as to workplace violence.

Specifically, workplace homicides declined 7% in 2010 to the lowest total ever recorded by the fatality census. But workplace homicides involving women increased by 13%. 

Historically, 11,613 workplace homicide victims were

Dilbert.com

Certainly social networking sites like Facebook, LinkedIn, blogs, and Twitter provide employers with opportunities to obtain useful, legitimate, and relevant information about a job applicant. But the above Dilbert comic by Scott Adams underscores that there are also risks in using such social media outlets to screen job applicants.  

Specifically, if employers use social media

Contract Documents.jpg

Under Michigan law, noncompetition agreements (sometimes referred to as covenants not to compete or restrictive covenants) are generally enforceable as long as the restriction is reasonable as to subject matter, geographical scope, and duration.

But recently proposed legislation would significantly limit Michigan’s noncompete law, which is found in Michigan’s Antitrust Reform Act (MARA), MCL 445.771