Smooth Transitions

Addressing the Legal issues arising from the departure of employees & Business breakups

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By: Weinstein Radcliff Pipkin

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Rob Radcliff

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  Following a number of other cities in Texas including Austin and San Antonio, the Dallas City Council approved an ordinance requiring paid sick leave for Dallas employees.  The highlights of the ordinance: In effect August 1, 2019 for employers with 15 or more employees and August 1, 2021 for smaller businesses; All for-profit and non-profit businesses required to provide paid sick-leave; An employee is entitled to one hour of leave for every 30 hours…
  In  Texas, cities are attempting to enact legislation that mandates paid time off/sick leave.  In February, the City of Austin passed a paid-time-off ordinance.  It does not go into effect until October.  In the meantime lawsuits have been filed to stop the ordinance and there are efforts in the Texas legislature to prevent such ordinances.  Today, I read in the Dallas Morning News that the City of DeSoto has become the first North Texas…
Towards the end of the Obama administration, the Department of Labor announced standards that would expand overtime coverage.  Here is a run down from what was proposed from a post way back in 2016: The new “Whit Collar Rule” for exempt/non-exempt from the Department of Labor kicks in on December 1, 2016.  In short, employers will no longer be able to treat “white collar” employees that make more than $47,476 per year as exempt and…
At the outset of most employment relationships, the employer will have an employee sign a litany of documents ranging from a IRS form W4 to a non-compete agreement.  Buried within those documents is usually some form of a confidentiality agreement.  Within the agreement the employee agrees not to share any of the employer’s confidential information while an employee and after they depart.  Sometimes the agreement is referred to as a non-disclosure agreement or NDA.  Here…
I recently finished a hard fought non-compete case that settled the day before trial.  Unlike most non-compete cases that resolve themselves early on during the temporary injunction fight, this non-compete contained a liquidated damages provision that specified the damage number in the event of a non-compete breach.  The terms of the non-compete prevented the employer from seeking injunctive relief – the only remedy was the liquidated damages clause. The trial court ruled the non-compete was…
As the New Year begins a couple of things to consider:   Is the company employee manual up to date – any changes necessary? – The beginning of the year is always a good time to review those policies and procedures and see how they worked in 2018.  Often the year will show some deficiencies or problems with policies as they are applied. Are employee files up to date?  Make sure all employees have acknowledged…
I remember when I was a younger lawyer the difficulty I had with clients settling lawsuits that factually and legally had little merit.  I remember the partner I worked for telling me that was the cost of doing business.  While I knew he was right that comment still bothers me to this day.  But the reality is lawyers cost money and the time and expense defending lawsuits can be distracting, especially when a company doesn’t…
For some time Texas has been a hot market for lawyers.  Big firms from other parts of the country who want to shop here not surprisingly will hire lawyers from other big firms that are already here.  Many of the partners in these firms have notice provisions in their partnership agreements that require them to provide notice to their firm of their departure.  A recent Texas Lawyer article highlighted the issue:…
Non-compete cases that are well lawyered should be resolved early in the litigation process.  Why do I say that?  If the plaintiff is an aggressive former employer it will in most instances move for a temporary restraining order followed by an application for a temporary injunction in Texas state court.  In that process a lot of things can happen.  First, the parties will have appeared before a judge and gotten a flavor for how the…
Tomorrow, I have the privilege of speaking to the Executive Search Owners Association. Over the years I have had the privilege of representing placement professionals in a number of circumstances. Some tips: Make sure your engagement agreements/contracts make sense and are enforceable; Remember that non-competes and non-solicitation agreements in Texas can be enforceable; Screen your candidates to determine if they have entered into a non-compete or non-solicit; Remember that if someone you placed is…