A federal jury recently awarded a former Seagate Technology engineer $1.9 million on his claim that he
was wrongfully “hired” by the company.
The case, Vaidyanathan v. Seagate U.S. LLC, No. CV-09-1212 (D. Minn. Nov. 19, 2010), highlights two
valuable considerations for employers:
It's not just London that is suffering from unrest these days -- there is reason to believe that American workplaces are far from heaven, too, even for those who are still fortunate enough to be employed.
The Wall Street Journal recently reported that approximately 75 percent of departing employees would not recommend their former employers to others looking for a job, almost a 100 percent increase over the "disgruntlement index" from 2008.
Read more: To guarantee an employment lawsuit, just follow these five "worst practices"
Just as road rage afflicts our nation’s highways, rudeness and bullying are now taking their toll on our nation’s workplace. A variety of factors may be causing the increase of workplace bullying.
Some companies face tightening budgets, layoffs and competition between full-time employees and nearly permanent part-time and contract workers, creating tension in the workplace.
Non-compete and trade secret litigation inherently involves disclosure of confidential information. Plaintiffs argue that defendants took or used the plaintiff’s confidential information, and they often want the defendants to turn over their files for review. Defendants often complain that the plaintiffs are engaged in a fishing expedition or that they are entitled to review the plaintiff’s files in order to pressure test the trade secret claims.
My internet friend and worthy adversary Donna Ballman, an employment lawyer who represents plaintiffs, had a good and sad post this week on AOL this week entitled "Nine Signs of Age Discrimination." The comments were especially depressing, from a number of people who said that they'd experienced age discrimination either in losing their jobs, or in their attempts to find jobs.
Read more: 9 signs that you'll lose your age discrimination case
