The Supreme Court this morning handed down its decision in Genesis Health Care Corp v. Symczyk, which I’ve written about in the past. Sadly, I’m in the midst of deposition madness right now and don’t have time to write a proper analysis.
Instead, I’m just going to post the entirety of Justice Elena Kagan’s dissent below, in all its snarky brilliant glory. Enjoy! Continue reading
Gawker
Gawker runs a weekly series of letters from readers called Unemployment Stories. The stories are touching and informative. Some themes have been discussed elsewhere ad nauseum–the longer one is unemployed, the less likely one is to get a job; student loans and health care debt are crippling; unemployment breeds severe depression and often substance abuse; race and sex discrimination happen.
But the Gawker stories also reveal some less obvious ways our employment laws are either failing us or simply being ignored. Let us count the ways: Continue reading
There’s a great article in Salon today which argues that budget cuts in many states have left victims of wage theft without any real options.
Many states have been slashing the budgets of minimum wage enforcement agencies (or doing away with them altogether). Many state wage laws also lack any attorneys fees provisions, which means that many low wage workers can’t get public or private representation. In such states, employers can essentially underpay workers with impunity. And again, the poorest get screwed the most.
Last week you may have received an email (and you may have thought it was spam) titled “Legal Notice of Settlement of Class Action.” It warns you in incomprehensible jargon that you have a bunch of “legal rights and options.”
So what, exactly, are you supposed to do with this, and what does it mean?
Let’s say I offer $100 to anyone who finds my lost dog. Let’s say you’ve already started looking for that dog, at night in the freezing cold, because you want that $100. Let’s say you’ve found the dog and are on your way back to my apartment. But, then I change my mind — I don’t want the dog and I don’t want to give you money. Can I say too bad?
What if it wasn’t me who was offering the money, but Congress? Continue reading