It is routine for companies to hire contractors to perform janitorial work. Those companies, or the companies they in turn subcontract to, are frequently the sort of "fly by night" firms that may disappear quickly without paying all wages owed. Workers often have no...
Good Judgment. Wise Counsel. Aggressive Representation.
Year: 2018
Supreme Court Ruling – Police Need Warrants for Driveway Searches
Legal precedent is reasoning by analogy. Step by step the law develops. In the 1950s-70s, the Supreme Court expanded the Fourth Amendment to limit police power and preserve freedom. In the 1980s until about six years ago, the Court ruled often in favor of the police...
Is Michigan State’s Nassar Settlement Fake News for Some Survivors?
On May 16, 2018, Michigan State University announced that after several rounds of mediation, they had reached a "$500 million global settlement" on behalf of survivors of disgraced former MSU doctor Larry Nassar. The terms stated that $425 million would be paid to the...
Fairness to women in the workplace
We have been representing moms for more than twenty years. The human lifecycle is multifaceted. We have periods when we are more focused on our health and loved ones and periods when we are more focused on our jobs. Under the law, to keep our jobs, we always need...
Job Applications and your Criminal Past
The Detroit Lions recently found themselves in the midst of a firestorm when it was discovered that their new football coach, Matt Patricia, had been arrested in 1996 for a felony sexual assault. All charges were dropped before trial, and the case was dismissed....
Why are the number of employee retaliation claims increasing?
The urge to retaliate is a common human reaction after a perceived offense. Employers may also be failing to provide adequate training and tools so that managers can identify and address these initial reactions. Federal law prohibits employment discrimination and...
Stop Violence Against Women
I confess that I have not learned enough about the community of violent women-haters, outside the context of domestic violence and rape. This article about the recent Toronto terrorist attack contends the attacker's focus had been on hating women who were denying him...
Metro Detroit Frozen in Old Racist Attitudes
Brennan Walker, 14, got lost on his way to his high school. He knocked on a stranger's door for help. The homeowner picked up his shotgun. Thank goodness he missed. This should sound familiar. Something similar happened in Dearborn a few years ago. As long as metro...
Ageism at work: Less feedback and skewed evaluation metrics
Age discrimination in the workplace is common. Most people have a sense of this, but the tactics used by employers are rarely direct or systematic. One exception might be IBM, which was more systematic than most with its "resource actions" designed to terminate older,...
Let us teach our children to be curious and independent
Here's a story from The New York Times that I thought you'd find interesting: A new law in Utah is the first in the nation written to protect parents who allow children to walk to school alone or play unsupervised. Yeah for Utah! We have become a country of terrified...