Florida Employment Lawyer Blog

Sarelson Law Firm is currently representing several employees at OshKosh B'gosh retail outlets who appear to have been subjected to a hostile working environment premised on racial and ethnic grounds. We would be interested in interviewing any witnesses who saw or heard inappropriate workplace conduct or commentary.

A recently filed class action alleges that Baker Landscaping Corporation of Palm Beach County, Florida failed to properly compensate its employees. The Complaint is here:

Abrego v. Baker Landscaping Corporation

The blog normally does not cover matters where the Firm loses, but this appeal is worth discussing. On the eve of a civil rights trial brought by an inmate against three police officers under 42 U.S.C. s. 1983, Sarelson Law Firm was appointed pro bono counsel to represent the indigent inmate via the Volunteer Lawyers' Project. The Firm was very successful in its last VLP assignment and won compensatory and punitive damages in a bench trial.

Unbeknownst to the Firm, one of the police officers filed an interlocutory appeal on qualified immunity grounds and the Firm was required to handle the appeal as well. It was fully briefed during the summer of 2009 and oral argument was held in May 2010. Last week, the Eleventh Circuit issued a lengthy but unpublished opinion reversing the district court and dismissing the supervisory police officer from the lawsuit.

The crux of the opinion - and the crux of the appeal as agreed by all parties - was whether the inmate's medical condition was a "serious medical need" as that term is used in Fourteenth Amendment violations. The inmate was repeatedly kicked in the face and was bleeding profusely from the nose and mouth. The blood eventually clotted and resulted in difficulty breathing. Both the magistrate judge and the district judge rejected the officer's argument and allowed the case to proceed to trial. The Eleventh Circuit reversed as a matter of law and decided that the inmate merely had a nose bleed that was not sufficiently serious to warrant a constitutional violation.

The full opinion is here:

Fernandez v. Miami Dade

Although the blog is disappointed in the loss, we take great pride in representing the poor in pro bono civil rights cases.

According to a recent lawsuit filed by Sarelson Law Firm on behalf of a terminated employee of MedVance Institute, the private, for-profit career college has been violating the False Claims Act. When the employee complained about irregularities in the school's enrollment policy - specifically why students were being kept on the rolls despite not meeting eligibility requirements - he was terminated. MedVance, like several other private career colleges, benefits enormously from student loans that are insured by the federal government. These private schools make more money when more students are enrolled, and more students can enroll when they have access to affordable, government-backed loans. If a student drops out for personal reasons or fails out for whatever reason, the student's tuition payments stop. Since the school is for-profit, it will do what is necessary to maintain the student's enrollment - even if means changing grades or attendance records.

In recent years, several other private colleges have faced similar False Claims Act cases. Kaplan University has been for years defending a case assigned to the Southern District of Florida in Miami pursuant to a multi-district litigation order, and Texas-based Alta College settled a similar case in 2009 for $7 million.

In addition to recovering the value of the false claims, the False Claims Act has a specific anti-retaliation provision that entitles terminated employees to double back pay, as well as attorneys' fees and costs.

A copy of the pending lawsuit is here:

MedVance Institute False Claims

If you are familiar with MedVance's enrollment or business practices, Sarelson Law Firm would like to speak with you.

The blog has previously covered employment lawsuits against Walmart, especially the massive Title VII case out of San Francisco and several Age Discrimination in Employment Act actions pending throughout the nation. Sarelson Law Firm actually is involved in some of the ADEA cases against Walmart.

The San Francisco-based Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, sitting en banc with 11 judges participating, upheld the district court's certification of a class of nearly 1.5 million female employees of Walmart. The decision was 6-5 in favor of class certification, and two judges wrote blistering dissents. In light of the potentially billion dollar exposure for Walmart, you can bet a petition for certiorari with the Supreme Court is being briefed as I write this.

Here's a link to the Ninth Circuit's opinion -- it is too large to post here. Questions about Title VII, class-actions, or age discrimination lawsuits? Contact Sarelson Law Firm today.

Sarelson Law Firm has filed a putative class action lawsuit against Miami, Florida-based International Shipping Partners, Inc. for not paying employees proper wages and overtime. The lawsuit seeks class action status for all on-board employees who are not exempt seamen under the Fair Labor Standards Act. The word "seamen" has a very narrow and precise meaning in the law, so many employees who work on a ship, and even some who are called "seamen," are still entitled to overtime pay. ISP owns and manages ocean going vessels.

The lawsuit currently has four named plaintiffs and can be found here:

Moreno v. International Shipping Partners Class Action

If you have any questions about this lawsuit, please feel free to contact the Firm today.

Washington Inventory Service, Inc., the nation's largest inventory control out-sourcing company, and its parent company, WIS Holdings Corporation, was sued for violating the Fair Labor Standards Act's minimum wage and overtime provisions. According to the Complaint, a WIS employee was "paid" via a Visa Debt Card but the Visa Debt Card had been activated by a different WIS employee. The Complaint also alleges that a class of employees were not paid properly because the company failed to maintain proper recordkeeping of all hours worked. The Class-Action Complaint is here:

Contact Sarelson Law Firm, P.A. if you would like more information about the lawsuit.

According to a recently filed lawsuit in New Jersey, a Sikh-American who wears a Turban was denied employment as a sales representative with Tri-County Lexus in northern New Jersey. This blog has written repeatedly about companies with grooming or dress codes that prevent religious Sikhs, Jews and Muslims (and some Christians) from gaining employment. The lawsuit, filed in cooperation with the Washington, D.C.-based Sikh Coalition, was filed last week in the New Jersey Superior Court and was brought under state law only. The complaint is here:
Kherha v. Tri-County Lexus Lawsuit

Sarelson Law Firm is not involved in this matter but has represented three Sikhs denied similar employment.

This blog's author is the plaintiff/appellant's attorney in Josephine Mora v. Jackson Memorial Foundation, Inc. The district court granted the employer's motion for summary judgment on the employer's "same decision" affirmative defense. But today, the Eleventh Circuit reversed and allowed the case to proceed to trial. Aside from being a great personal victory for the plaintiff, the case is important because it is the first appellate decision to analyze the Supreme Court's 2009 decision in Gross v. FBL Financial, 129 S.Ct. 2343 (2009). In Gross, the Supreme Court rejected an employer's mixed-motive/same decision affirmative defense in claims brought pursuant to the Age Discrimination in Employment Act.

The Eleventh CIrcuit today clarified Gross and held that ordinary summary judgment principles apply in age discrimination cases. Either the plaintiff was terminated because of her age, or she was not. What the employer hypothetically might have done is not relevant to the claim. The opinion is here:
Mora v. Jackson Memorial Foundation

Questions about age discrimination or retaliation? Contact an experienced age discrimination employment lawyer today.