The Baran Employment Law Bulletin - Fall 2010 - Volume 1, No. 2
September 22, 2010The Baran Employment Law Bulletin - Fall 2010 - Volume 1, No. 2
I. Recent Legislative changes in the law affecting employers
a. American Recovery and Reinvestment Act - (ARRA)
ARRA created new COBRA rights for employees or their dependants who lose group health coverage due to involuntary termination. Such individuals are now eligible for a premium subsidy for COBRA coverage, with eligible former employees required to pay only 35% of the COBRA premium for up to 9 months, with employers required to pay the remaining 65%, reimbursed through a payroll tax credit.
b. Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act
Education Affordability Reconciliation Act
(eff. 3/23/10)
Employers with 25 or less employees offering health coverage are eligible to receive tax credits of up to 35% (up to 50% after 2014) of their premiums. Employers offering health insurance plans with 200 employees are required to have automatic enrollment, although employees may opt out.
c. Fair Labor Standards Act (as amended)
The Act now requires employers to provide reasonable unpaid breaks for nursing mothers "each time the employee has a need to express milk," for up to (1) year after a child's birth.
d. Ledbetter Fair Pay Act (LFPA)
The LFPA overturned U.S. Supreme Court precedent thereby resetting the Statute of Limitations with every new paycheck, rather than beginning when an employee discovered the pay inequity. This will increase the number of claims filed previously time-barred.
e. Support Military Families Act (eff. 10/28/09)
Employees are entitled to military caregiver leave to care for family members who were injured on active duty in the military for up to (5) years after their separation from military service.
II. Recent Case Law Decisions Affecting Employers
(or simply interesting reading)
a) Disability Discrimination
Rongers v. University Hospitals of Cleveland, Inc.,
2009-Ohio-21 91669 (Cuyahoga County 2009)
A night security guard took medication that made it difficult for him to sleep during the day and to stay awake at night. He did not request a transfer to the day shift. He was found sleeping on the job three times and then terminated. He claimed that his termination constituted disability discrimination and his employer had failed to accommodate him by allowing him to rest on the job. The trial court directed a verdict against the employee, and the court of appeals affirmed. It held that the employee had failed to show that he was disabled, since "drowsiness often accompanies the taking of medication and it should not be viewed as disabling unless the record references serious functional limitations."
b) Non-Competition Agreements
Mitchells Salon & Day Spa, Inc., v. Bustle,
(2010-Ohio) 1880 (Hamilton County 2010)
A hairdresser, signed an employment agreement with a non-compete clause. After 12 years, he resigned and opened his own hairstyling business. His former employer sued to enforce the non-compete. The trial court issued a temporary restraining order prohibiting the hairdresser from providing beauty services to any of Mitchell's clients. The parties negotiated a settlement under which Bustle agreed not to provide hair care services to any prior customers.
Mitchells hired a PI firm to conduct surveillance and found the hairdresser again competing. Based on the results of the investigation, Mitchells filed a motion for contempt. Bustle admitted that he had violated the non-compete agreement, the TRO, and the agreed judgement entry. The court awarded Mitchells $52,620.67 in compensatory damages, lost profits of $72,101.15, and legal fees of $15,801.04.
c) Worker's Compensation
Phelps v. Dispatch Print Company,
2010-Ohio-2423 (Franklin County, 2010)
The plaintiff-employee was on company premises to collect his paycheck when he slipped and fell, suffering injuries. The Industrial Commission approved workers' compensation benefits. The Court of Appeals agreed. The injury occurred on the defendant's premises and the defendant exercised complete control over the scene of his accident. The company also permitted its employees to pick up their paychecks rather than having the checks mailed or directly deposited into a bank account, thus, the injury arose out of his employment.
For further information concerning these topics and others, call the law firm of BARAN, PIPER, TARKOWSKY, FITZGERALD & THEIS, CO., L.P.A. a Martindale-Hubbell
AV rated law firm, serving Ohio's employer's throught its offices in Mansfield, Lima Toledo and Cleveland, attention John Tarkowsky, OSBA Board Certified Specialist in Workers' Compensation predominantly practicing employment law.
« Back to Articles