Former Philadelphia Phillies Pitcher Mitch Williams Wins $1.5 Million Lawsuit
Mitch Williams has been awarded $1.5 million in a wrong termination lawsuit after being fired by MLB Network for his alleged conduct at his 10-year-old son’s Little League game.
According to ESPN, Williams sued the network after it fired him from his analyst job in 2014, claiming he violated a morals clause. MLB Network said it respects the jury’s Tuesday decision but disagrees with its conclusions and is reviewing its legal options.
The website Deadspin reported Williams was kicked out of one game while coaching his 10-year-old son’s team after cursing and ordered a boy to hit an opposing player with a “beanball” in another game.
Travis Kalanick Resigns as Uber CEO
Travis Kalanick, Uber cofounder and CEO stepped down Tuesday has stepped down as the ride-hailing company’s top executive. Kalanick’s exit came under pressure after hours of drama involving Uber’s investors, according to two people with knowledge of the situation, who asked to remain anonymous because the details were confidential.
As mentioned by NY Times, five of Uber’s major investors demanded that the chief executive resign immediately. The investors included one of Uber’s biggest shareholders, the venture capital firm Benchmark, which has one of its partners, Bill Gurley, on Uber’s board. The investors made their demand for Mr. Kalanick to step down in a letter delivered to the chief executive while he was in Chicago, said the people with knowledge of the situation.
“I love Uber more than anything in the world and at this difficult moment in my personal life I have accepted the investors request to step aside so that Uber can go back to building rather than be distracted with another fight,” Mr. Kalanick said in a statement.
Wells Fargo’s Wrongful Termination Lawsuits
The banking giant Wells Fargo was slapped in December with a proposed multibillion-dollar class action in federal court in California brought by current and former employees of the bank who alleged retaliation for refusing to participate in the alleged scam.
Two wrongful termination lawsuits allege similar retaliation to that alleged by the California plaintiffs. According to Law360, Gayle Piper and Darlene Day each claimed that they reported the “troubling practices” to at least one supervisor and to the company’s ethics hotline, but that Wells Fargo failed to put an end to the alleged misconduct at their respective branches.
In September, Wells Fargo agreed to a $185 million settlement with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Los Angeles City Attorney’s office.
Wells Fargo agreed to pay $142 million to resolve 12 other putative class actions from customers alleging bank workers opened unauthorized accounts in their names or enrolled them in the bank’s services without their consent.
Uber Rape Victim Suing for Mishandling of Her Medical Records
The woman who was raped by an Uber driver in India in 2014 has filed a a second lawsuit against the company.
According to CNN tech, the woman — who goes by Jane Doe is suing Uber as well as cofounder Travis Kalanick and former executives Emil Michael and Eric Alexander for invading her privacy and defaming her by illegally obtaining and circulating her medical records within the company following the incident.
Alexander was terminated from Uber last week after allegations that he had obtained and shared the woman’s medical records with Kalanick and Michael. Recode reported that the executives doubted the woman’s report and suspected that the incident was a sabotage attempt orchestrated by Indian competitor, Ola.
Doe’s lawyers, Douglas H. Wigdor and Jeanne Christensen from Wigdor LLP, called it “shocking” that Uber would purport to support Doe and her family in her recovery while “engaging in offensive and spurious conspiracy theories about the brutal rape.”
Google Claims It’s Too Costly To Compile A Historic Pay Data
The federal Department of Labor (DOL) has accused Google of having “systemic compensation disparities” and has requested employee salary and contact information as part of the government audit, but Google has failed to fully comply, sparking a lawsuit.
As explained by Think Progress, because Google is a federal contractor, it is subject to periodic audits by the DOL’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) to make sure that it meets existing fair pay standards.
Google is still fighting the DOL’s efforts to get a full dataset of compensation information and contact information for employees so that it can conduct interviews. On Friday, Google officials testified in federal court that it would require 500 hours of work and $100,000 to comply with the demands, on top of claiming that it has already expended 2,300 hours and almost $500,000.
“This is obviously a very time-consuming and burdensome project,” said Lisa Barnett Sween, an attorney for the company.
East Bay Firm Sued for Racial Discrimination and Harassment
Southland Construction Management Inc. is being sued by their former project manager for racial discrimination and harassment. The lawsuit by Tishay Wright claims the CEO of the company, Kenneth Hayden, and his wife, Anita Hayden, its CFO, made unwanted racist comments and decorated the office with photographs of Trump and Confederate flags stating “The Southland shall rise again.”
According to East Bay Times, Kenneth Hayden dressed as President Donald Trump while Anita Hayden dressed as an apparent Trump supporter, with a Confederate flag-themed purse over her shoulder, and the two took pictures, the lawsuit states. The photos were provided to the media.
The purse was given to Wright, who is black, during the holidays as a Christmas gift during a company party, along with photos of the company owners in costume, according to Wright’s San Francisco attorney, Chris Dolan.
Employees Sue Chipotle for Unpaid Overtime
A lawsuit filed against Chipotle Mexican Grill claims the fast-food chain failed to adequately compensate some employees for overtime work under a federal rule that went into effect late last year.
According to USA Today, the lawsuit, filed this week in U.S. District Court in New Jersey, alleges the company failed to pay overtime to employees under the new overtime rule issued by the Labor Department last year — and that it’s not the only one. Joseph Sellers, a partner at Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll, who represents the plaintiffs, said the issue may apply to other companies as well.
At the core of the suit is the rule that made more employees eligible for overtime pay. It required employers to pay overtime to any worker who earned up to $47,476. Previously, the companies only had to pay overtime to workers making $23,660 or less.
However, in late November, shortly before the rule went into effect Dec. 1, a Texas court put enforcement of it on hold so employers didn’t have to pay overtime to workers who had the higher salary threshold. The lawsuit says Chipotle should be required to continue to pay overtime despite the injunction of enforcement of the rule by the Texas court. It contends the Texas injunction did not apply to private employers and the overtime rule would stay in effect until the court issues its final ruling.
Woman Wins $24K Settlement After Getting Paid Below Minimum Wage
Adriana Castellanos de Dios of Donna sued Universal Used Clothing for violation of minimum wage laws, according to a news release from Texas RioGrande Legal Aid. Universal Used Clothing paid $24,500 in the settlement for illegally paying her under the minimum wage.
According to The Monitor, Castellanos de Dios was paid an unspecified amount under the federal and state minimum wage of $7.25 an hour, despite working more than 40 hours a week without receiving overtime pay. In August 2016 she reached out to TRLA, a nonprofit organization providing free legal services to low-income people throughout Texas. That October, they filed a complaint on her behalf in federal court. The nearly $25,000 award compensates for Castellanos de Dios’ unpaid wages and additional damages, according to the news release.
“I’m very grateful for the settlement,” said Castellanos de Dios. “But I also want other employees like me to be aware that they can fight back against these unfair wages. I want them to realize that what they’re being paid is against the law.”
Taco Bell Worker Fired After Reporting Food Violations
Former Taco Bell manager, William Bisek is seeking $50,000 in damages against Border Foods, after he was wrongfully terminated from a Columbia Heights Taco Bell for raising concerns about food safety and health conditions in the restaurant.
As mentioned by ABC News, Bisek noticed food safety issues that violated federal, state and county regulations. The violations included mold growing in a water supply tank, mold growing in the spouts for beverage dispensing machines, serving expired food and keeping a toilet brush and plunger at the front counter.
Bisek states he reported his concerns to the store manager and later brought up the issues to the company’s regional manager during an unannounced store visit. When management seemed not to care, he began to document the violations in a store log mandated by Taco Bell corporate. Bisek was terminated the next day, according to court documents.
Rapper T.I. Faces a New Lawsuit in Restaurant Fiasco
Avery Lee was an employee at T.I.’s Atlanta-area restaurant Scales 925 and filed a lawsuit in November 2015. In the lawsuit he accused his former bosses of willfully and knowingly failing to fully compensate him for his wages and overtime hours. He was awarded a default judgment of $27,486, plus $7,000 in attorney fees, against the restaurant Scales 925.
However, according to Radar Online, Lee’s new complaint, explains he has not yet received the money and he is now suing T.I. for the $34,000 he is still owed.
“The extravagant expenditures by Hughes and Harris in up-fitting the premises for Scales, and upon information and belief, Hughes and Harris in paying for their own personal luxuries with corporate funds and continuing to pay themselves unreasonably high salary, while concealing the insolvency of Scales, drove Scales to financial ruin,” read Lee’s suit.
Lee alleges T.I. committed fraud and demands that the court hold him personally liable for the $34,000 judgment since the former employee can’t collect on the money from Scales 925 LLC due to the fact that the business was dissolved.