Greensboro man who left work to serve in reserves can’t sue to keep his job under USERRA
A man who left his city job to serve his country is not entitled to sue under the Uniform Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994, according to a ruling by the United States 4thCircuit Court of Appeals. Oakley Dean Baldwin, a municipal waste manager who served as a chief warrant officer in the U.S. Coast Guard Reserves, lost his appeal in his lawsuit against the City of Greensboro, his former employer who he accuses of discriminating against him when he left his position to enter active duty. The USERRA Act is intended to prevent discrimination against people who are currently...
Read MoreFourth Circuit Court of Appeals turns away claim of employee who claimed a sexually hostile work environment
This week the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, based in Richmond, Virginia, rejected the appeal of a former employee who claimed that she had been the victim of constant discrimination, harassment, assault, and subjection to a sexually hostile work environment. For the three-judge panel in the case of Balas v. Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc., more important than the woman’s claim of sex discrimination was her falsified time card concealing an hour in which she did not work. The plaintiff had asked for leave to amend her complaint but leave was denied....
Read MoreFourth Circuit Rules USERRA Retaliation Claim Can Go To Trial
In a recent unpublished opinion, Bunting v. Town of Ocean City, the Fourth Circuit partially overturned a grant of summary judgment and allowed the plaintiff to proceed to trial on his USERRA retaliation claim. USERRA is a federal statute that protects armed service members from being discriminated in employment because of their service. Like other anti-discrimination laws, USERRA also protects against employer retaliation because of filing a USERRA complaint. In this case, a police sergeant filed a USERRA complaint about service-based discrimination and was subsequently denied...
Read MoreAnn Groninger Wins in Fourth Circuit for Underpaid Workers
In Simmons v. United Mortgage and Loan Investment, LLC, the Fourth Circuit ruled for plaintiffs and reversed the district court in this wage and hour case. The plaintiffs are Charlotte-based Junior Asset Managers for a mortgage company who were not paid overtime even though they worked more than 40 hours per week. They brought claims under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and North Carolina Wage and Hour Act (NCWHA) based on the failure to pay overtime. The primary issue is whether the plaintiffs will be able to pursue their case as a collective and class action on behalf the other...
Read MoreRecent Fourth Circuit Employment Decisions
The Fourth Circuit has published a couple of opinions on employment law cases in recent weeks. The first case, Bonds v. Leavitt, concerned a federal employee’s suit against the Department of Health and Human Services, which alleged Title VII claims, retaliation claims under the Whistleblower Protection Act (WPA), and unlawful termination in violation of the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978 (CSRA). The plaintiff is a research doctor who claims she was retaliated against for opposing discrimination against African-American donors of blood lines. The Court held that, because...
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