Will the Economy Turn Juries Against Employers?

A recent article from the National Law Journal says ... maybe.

Some attorneys believe that increased lay-offs will bring more sympathy for employees who have been terminated or suffered discrimination or harassment, and that corporate mis-management scandals have eroded the public trust in corporate America. Others believe that jurors will take into account how badly companies are doing, and that all the news about lay-offs will lead jurors to believe that terminations are justified.

I believe that the cases that are most likely to increase in value are whistle-blower cases in which an employee raises concerns about an employer's management and suffers retaliation or termination as a result. These cases will raise juries' sympathy for the terminated employee and their anger at corporate mismanagement.

You can find the article here.

Layoffs Trigger More Employment Lawsuits

We've seen a number of articles recently talking about how the economic down-turn is increasing the amount of employment-related litigation. This makes sense and follows a pattern that we've seen for years.

People don't like to sue their employers. Even if things are bad at a job -- even if the employer doesn't pay for all overtime or there's discrimination -- most people don't like to complain and don't want to risk losing their job. Most people only step forward after there's been some kind of break in the employment relationship -- either the boss or supervisor does something that the employee just can't take any more, or the job ends. With all the lay-offs, it's no surprise that more people are filing law suits.

Here's an article from today's New York Times on this issue.

Post-Judgment Costs of Collection and Bankruptcy

I find this decision interesting, given the current economic climate and the number of employers who threaten to file bankruptcy when their employees ask to be paid lawful wages. On December 30, 2008, the California Court of Appeal held that Code of Civil Procedure Section 685.040, which allows a judgment creditor to recover reasonable and necessary attorney fees incurred in "enforcing" a judgment, applies to those attorney fees that creditor incurrs in a debtor’s post-judgment bankruptcy proceeding. Chinese Yellow Pages Company v. Chinese Overseas Marketing Service Corporation (December 30, 2008, Second District, Division Five).