Social media issues in 2014 certainly had a significant impact when it came to employment law issues. And these issues will continue into 2015. But social media issues are not limited to front line employees. Instead, they need to be addressed at every level of the organization – including owners.
Take for example a Metro
Michigan’s Senate Judiciary committee is scheduled to consider a bill tomorrow that would make it easier for individuals previously convicted of certain crimes to have their records expunged.
Specifically, Michigan House Bill 4186 would allow individuals convicted of a single felony or a couple of misdemeanors to apply to have them removed from their record.
Companies will need to revise their employee email policies following a ruling from the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) (Purple Communications on December 11, 2014).
Specifically, in a 3-2 decision (three Democrats, two Republicans) held that Section 7 of the National Labor Relations Act allows,
… employee use of e-mail for statutorily protected
For many employers, investigating and documenting poor employee performance issues is about as fun as going to the dentist. But a recent Michigan Court of Appeals decision illustrates the importance of both because it often becomes a critical defense against claims that the employee was disciplined or terminated for unlawful or discriminatory reasons.
Uber and Lyft are both internet and mobile application based technology companies offering a peer-to-peer ridesharing platform. Or for less tech-speak, they are involved in what is generally described as the “sharing economy.” However, a recent lawsuit makes clear that sharing has its limits.
Specifically, Lyft is suing a former executive (Lyft v Uber (PDF)), Travis VanderZanden, for breaching his confidentiality agreement and fiduciary duty and after he jumped ship to join Lyft’s chief rival, Uber. According to the complaint filed in the lawsuit, the former executive copied vast amounts of confidential information on his way out the door. Uber has denied that Mr. VanderZanden has “shared” any of this information with Uber.
These claims and allegations are by no means extraordinary. But they do provide a perfect roadmap for both employers and employees to follow when it comes ending one employment relationship in order to join a competitor. But instead of taking an all-out road trip to address all of those issues, two points stand-out.
As to the firs issue, a little background for what not to do if you are an employee about to join a competitor: Lyft’s lawsuit alleges that VanderZanden informed the company’s founders of his plans to resign on August 12 and agreed to meet with the founders on August 15. But VanderZanden cancelled that meeting and suggested they speak after the weekend.
According to the complaint, it was a busy weekend for Mr. VanderZanden. Lyft alleges that he backed up a number of emails and confidential documents to his personal home computer and mobile phone before handing his company computer back. These actions were discovered after Lyft conducted a forensics analysis of VanderZanden’s company-issued laptop. The analysis further revealed that months prior to the departure, Mr. VanderZanden synchronized his personal Dropbox account with his Lyft laptop, copying a “significant number of Lyft’s most sensitive documents” in the process.
So the first issue for both employers and employees is really two sides of the same coin. From an employee’s perspective, assume your digital fingerprints will point to every piece of digital information you touched, e.g., every file, every email, every document, etc. And if those fingerprints suggest you took you former employer’s information to your new employer, be prepared to be sued.
And because these digital fingerprints provide valuable insight, employers need to have a plan in place to preserve this likely treasure trove of digital evidence. This is because the absence of such evidence may eliminate an expensive Don Quixote-like endeavor against the former employee. There is nothing worse than spending A+ resources on a C- employee or situation.
Conversely, the presence of such evidence will be needed to convince a judge that injunctive relief is appropriate and to otherwise support claims against the former employee. As part of your company’s plan, you’ll need to address how to preserve, analyze, and use the digital evidence.
Last year, some Michigan politicians introduced proposed legislation to amend Michigan’s main employment civil rights statute, the Elliot-Larsen Civil Rights Act (ELCRA), to protect employees who are gay from discrimination. That legislation, however, didn’t go anywhere. And going into the elections this November the future of that legislation is, at best, uncertain and, more likely,
A common question that business owners raise involves the use of employees versus independent contractors. The use and classification of an individual as an employee or independent contractor is one of the more complicated employment law issues that business owners will deal with and resolving such issues will depend upon circumstances.
Consider one test, the
Abraham Lincoln once noted that if he had six hours to chop down a tree, he would spend the first four sharpening the axe. For employers, that sort of up-front attention to details is especially important when it comes to non-compete agreements. Otherwise, as a recent Michigan Court of Appeals illustrates, the only thing likely
A frequent question that employers have when it comes to employment contracts and policies is whether the company should use an arbitration procedure for resolving disputes.
While there is not a “right or wrong” answer to this question, I tend to recommend employers reconsider using arbitration for resolving employment disputes. Two important factors for recommending
When it comes to establishing basic terms and conditions of employment, such as hiring someone as an independent contractor or as a W-2 employee, business owners generally enjoy significant leeway. But this could change for certain Michigan businesses providing home help care services under proposed changes by the Michigan Department of Community Health (MDCH). This