Distracted driving as a result of cell phones has become an epidemic problem in this country. 39 of our 50 states have laws limiting the use of cell phones while driving. Now after some record civil judgments the business world is attempting to curb the use of cell phones of…
In Tennessee and all over the country, when employees injury themselves on the job or while performing job related tasks, they can file a workers’ compensation claim and have their medical expenses covered by their employer. In some cases however, it is difficult to determine whether or not certain injuries…
The Higgins firm represents people in Tennessee who have been discriminated against by their employers for protected reasons. Recently, we are seeing many more age discrimination claims. The Age Discrimination in Employment Act, 29 U.S.C. §621 et seq. (ADEA) was enacted to protect people from being discriminated against in the…
Pzifer’s off-label marketing of their anti-inflammatory drug Bextra will cost the pharmaceutical company a record-breaking $2.3 billion, $102 million of which will be split by five qui tam relators (whistleblowers). This most recent whistleblower lawsuit is the fourth illegal marketing lawsuit Pzifer’s settled since 2002. Of the $2.3B, $1B is…
Over a dozen East Coast Hooters Girls have filed a wage and hour lawsuit suing their employer for violating minimum wage laws. The recognizable orange running shorts and tank top uniforms are part of a wage and hour lawsuit filed by 13 Hooters waitresses (“Hooters Girls,” per company literature). At…
Tip pooling is the cause of a wage lawsuit between Wynn Las Vegas and its dealers. Disputed is the casino’s policy of sharing dealers tips with their floor supervisors, a pay practice instituted in 2006. According to dealers, the payouts from the tip pool were a way for the casino…
Or, to borrow the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC)’s less modest description from the title of its press release: RAMPANT SEX HARASSMENT COSTS LOWE’S $1.7 MILLION IN SETTLEMENT OF EEOC LAWSUIT Lowe’s, the nation’s second-largest home improvement retailer, has agreed to pay $1.72 million in settlement to three Washington State…
The City of Franklin, Tennessee has settled a wrongful termination lawsuit filed against it by Joe Williams, a former City Solid Waste Director, according to an article in the Tennessean. The settlement amount included a payment of $2,000,000.00 and a formal apology to Mr. Williams from the Mayor of Franklin.…
Tennessee wage workers’ received what will likely be their final minimum wage increase for a while when the federal minimum wage (including tipped employees’) increased last month to $7.25. Tennessee, having no minimum wage statutes of its own, followed this last of three annual minimum wage increases begun in 2006.…
Federal minimum wage (and Tennessee minimum wage) rose today from $7.25 from $6.55 an hour. This affects 30 states, including Tennessee, who either have minimum wage below the federal rate or, like Tennessee, have no minimum wage provisions of their own. Congress during the Bush Administration set a three-stage, annual…