TOV.WrongfulTermination&Discrimination

Employee who loses arbitration had only 21 days to file lawsuit

Firefighter-EMT Kevin Leverett sued his former employer, Delta Township in Clinton County, alleging that his employer violated their severance agreement by disparaging his abilities to prospective employers.  The agreement clearly prohibited either party from making disparaging statements about the other, and when Leverett was being evaluated for employment by the East Lansing Fire Department, an interview with his former employer resulted in the ELFD deciding not to hire him. 

The ELFD Chief explained that the Township Fire Chief attributed Leverett's termination to an inability to separate his personal life from his work duties, and characterized this as a "large deterrent" from hiring Leverett.  The ELFD's chief twice referred to Leverett's "dismissal."  Despite this disparaging characterization of the severance and the ELFD's characterization of the report received from the Township, an arbitrator ruled that the Township had not violated the severance agreement.

Truckdriver fired after suffering possible stroke cannot sue for wrongful termination

Keith Montgomery sued his employer, the Larry Ross Garage in Wayne County, after his employment was terminated.  He had complained of chest pain and numbness on the left side of his body, admitted himself to the Emergency Room, and his physician deemed it necessary to confirm that he had not suffered a stroke.  After concluding that Montgomery had not suffered a stroke, the doctor wrote a letter to his employer confirming that Montgomery could return to work "without restrictions."   Nevertheless, his employment was immediately terminated, and various conflicting explanations for the termination were offered.

Court sends contract interpretation back to the Circuit Court for factual analysis

David Sutherland sued his prior employer, Powersports of Monroe, doing business under several other names, alleging that his five-year employment contract was illegally terminated without payment of full compensation.  The Defendants argued that Sutherland had earned more compensation than the five-year contract provided, and sought summary disposition. 

The Monroe Circuit judge dismissed Sutherland's claim but the Court of Appeals reversed and sent the case back to the trial judge.  The appellate court held that Sutherland had raised material questions of fact regarding his claim of a companion contract for the payment of commissions and regarding his entitlement to a $50,000.00 "termination payment" for discharge "without cause."

Whistleblower claim dismissed; employer successfully disputes cause of termination

Carlos Prieskorn sued the University of Michigan Health System, arguing that it violated the Whistleblower Protection Act (WPA) when it fired him during his probationary period.  Prieskorn, a phlebotomist, alleged that the University fired him for reporting patient-safety violations and time-card fraud, but the courts didn't buy his claim.  The University alleged that it terminated Prieskorn for secretly taping a conversation with another staff member and for misleading another employee into giving up hours, falsely claiming that he was acting on a supervisor's order.

The court concluded that there was no question of fact regarding the reason for Prieskorn's firing, even though the supervisor admitted that Prieskorn had reported safety violations and that he was simply tired of Prieskorn's complaining.

 

Employee demoted after reporting suspicions about Kwame Kilpatrick can sue under WPA

Ira Lee Todd sued the City of Detroit and its mayor, Kwame Kilpatrick, after he was demoted from his former position in the Violent Crime Task Force.  He alleged that he was demoted for reporting that a Kentucky resident under criminal investigation was bragging about his relationship with the mayor. For whatever reason, the trial judge had originally concluded that Todd's report of the potential criminal ties between the investigation subject and Kilpatrick did not consitute "protected behavior" under the Whistleblower's Protection Act.    The Court of Appeals rejected the Circuit judge's analysis and reinstated the case.

Two small court victories for employees

This week, employees won two relatively small battles in the current "culture war" between employers who will take money anywhere they can snitch it and employees who can be powerless to defend their interests.  On the same day that big shot chef Mario Batali paid $5.5 million dollars to settle a claim by employees of his eight restaurants that he was stealing their tip money on a systematic basis, Wal-Mart approved a $13.5 million dollar settlement in a suit claiming that it was over-charging employees for 401(k) fees.  K-Mart's "fiduciary" Merrill Lynch (now a part of Bank of America) was the Plan Trustee, if you can imagine, and will pay 10 million dollars of the latter settlement. 

It isn't enough that employers no longer substantially contribute to employees' retirement:  now, we have to fight to assure that they don't steal the money that the employees contribute.  In a footnote, apparently Wal-Mart still uses Bank of America to administer the plan.  And by the way, legislators in Florida have introduced a bill to reduce the minimum wage for tipped employees to less than three bucks per hour. 

Whistleblower fired after unnecessary physical confrontation loses WPA protection

William Wielen was a refuse collection worker for the City of Bay City and apparently he made too many complaints about perceived equipment and safety violations.  The City held a meeting with Wielen and a co-worker who was at fault in a truck collision with Wielen's truck.  Records reflect that the co-worker was critical of Wielen, and that the supervisor informed both men that their continuing conflict was damaging morale and endangering their employment. The Co-worker was told to stop claiming Wielen was a "snitch" and told Wielen that he needed to do a better job of getting along with co-workers. 

Court dismisses doctor's claims under FMLA and PWDCRA

Pathologist Diana Dimitrov sued her employer, Quest Diagnostics, after she was terminated from employment.  Dimitrov argued that she was dismissed in violation of the Family Medical Leave Act and Michigan's disability discrimination act (the PWDCRA). Dimitrov endured a torn rotator cuff for a number of months before attempting to schedule surgery in December of 2007.  She sought permission to schedule the surgery with a couple weeks' notice, and her supervisor told her to wait until after the holidays as the firm was unable to timely process work if she took leave at the same time that another pathologist was retiring.  She complained about her supervisor's treatment of her claim and argued that because of that  complaint, she was hounded into dismissal a year later, in retaliation.

Worker fired after police report cannot pursue Whistleblower claim.

Christopher Stay worked for Connections Employment Resource in the laundry facility at the Veterans Administration facility in Calhoun County.  In his two years with the company, he accumulated 13 disciplinary actions including a suspension.  In December of 2009, he reached into a laundry bag to "touch" an unfamiliar item identified by another employee, and a supervisory employee apparently slapped his hand back.  The employees sorting laundry were required to wear a double protective layer because of biohazards routinely discarded in the VA laundry, and Stay was unprotected when he reached to touch the unfamiliar object.

Sixth Circuit dismisses racial discrimination claim brought by 11 black workers

Eleven black employees sued SuperValu Holdings and several individuals, arguing that the defendants maintained an employment environment that is hostile to African-Americans. They provided a "detailed list" of racially-hostile behavior, including vulgar graffiti, overtly racist comments and racially motivated pranks occurring over their 25 years of employment.  The lower court deemed the incidents so isolated and sporadic that they did not constitute a hostile work environment, and the workers appealed.