Retaliation Archives | Page 7 of 9

January 17, 2017

Halunen Law - Reanimating Dead Law Article by Halunen Attorney Stephen Premo published in Bench & Bar Text: New whistleblower protections were added to the Minnesota Whistleblower Act in 2013. Halunen Law Employment Attorney Stephen Premo analyzes efforts to gut the effectiveness of the new law and upcoming review of those efforts by the Minnesota Supreme Court.

Source: http://mnbenchbar.com/2017/01/reanimating-dead-law/

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Stephen Premo

Halunen Law attorney Stephen Premo represents employees who have been treated unfairly by their employer, focusing on matters involving discrimination and retaliation. He understands that besides being an effective advocate, a great litigator must also be a good counselor. Most clients have never been involved in any sort of legal process, which can be confusing, intimidating, and emotionally draining. Taking the time to demystify each stage of the litigation, Stephen helps clients feel informed, empowered, and at ease.
Learn more about Stephen

December 16, 2016

Halunen Law - Sick Leave Info

In the United States, paid sick leave is offered to only half of the full-time workforce. Unfortunately, access to paid sick leave is greatly diminished if you are a low-wage earner. A recent study shows that seven out of ten low-wage workers do not have paid sick time available. For many low-to-medium wage workers, the decision to take time off work to recover from an illness or to take care of a family member is a choice between their health and financial security.

November 16, 2016

Halunen Law - Whistleblower Physician Collects $4.5 Million Honesty is the best policy. It’s one of the first lessons we learn, and yet it seems there is an epidemic of selective memory loss among providers who choose to defraud Medicare. Our journey begins in South Carolina where another medical provider is paying out millions in an effort to put the allegations of wrongdoing behind them.

This past summer, the Justice Department announced that Lexington County Health Services District Inc. d/b/a Lexington Medical Center located in West Columbia, South Carolina, had agreed to a $17 Million settlement. (1) The settlement resolved allegations that the Center had maintained improper financial relationships with physicians they employed and submitted fraudulent claims to Medicare. This is extremely troubling considering a large percentage of their income is from Government funded programs.

People who rely on Medicare are among our nation’s most vulnerable citizens, including the elderly, disabled and terminally ill. In many cases, this is truly their only hope for receiving the medical care they so desperately need, but many could not otherwise afford. Subsequently an extensive body of law protects the rights of these recipients and safeguards the tax payer dollars funding these services with severe penalties for those who choose to ignore them.

October 19, 2016

Halunen Law - Sexual Harassment Employer Liability If you’ve reported your co-worker’s unwanted advances to your employer and been ignored, or worse yet, terminated from your position, there is good news for you out of New York. The federal Second Circuit Court of Appeals adopted an expansive standard for employer liability that could make it easier for employees to prove discrimination or retaliation when they’re fired because of a co-worker’s conduct. Historically, courts have been reluctant to hold companies accountable for the conduct of their lower-level workers. But in a recent decision (Vasquez v. Empress Ambulance Service, Inc.), the Second Circuit Court of Appeals held that the company may face liability if its negligence played a role in the firing.

Inappropriate conduct, ignored complaints, and wrongful termination, create the case for change:

The Plaintiff, Andrea Vasquez, worked for Empress Ambulance Service, Inc. as an emergency medical technician. In one twenty-four hour period, Vasquez faced unwelcome sexual advances from a co-worker, complained about that conduct to her supervisor, and was terminated.

September 7, 2016

Halunen Law - Employment Attorneys Answering Why & When Every one of us would love to find that dream job with the perfect boss and supportive co-workers, a sort of “Occupational Utopia”, but not all employment relationships have a happily ever after. Unfortunately, there are times when honest, hardworking employees get caught up in workplace issues that are confusing and by their very nature, highly sensitive.

Without realizing it, you can find yourself at the critical point where you have suffered from or witnessed illegal workplace issues, and now you are forced to decide between revealing the truth and protecting your job. The good news is that you can do both, but… it requires you to take action and initiate the process.

July 2, 2016

Halunen partner and whistleblower/False Claims Act attorney Susan Coler recently spoke at the National Employment Lawyers Association 2016 Annual Conference in Los Angeles. Her topic was proving discrimination and retaliation when there is no “smoking gun” — that is, when there is no direct evidence of illegal conduct.

She noted that the law allows juries to infer retaliation and discrimination from many different kinds of conduct. This includes, for example, evidence that an employer engaged in a sham investigation, did not follow its policies, fabricated or exaggerated the reasons given for termination, or treated the plaintiff differently than other employees. The panel on which she spoke included Professor Michael Foreman from Penn State Law and New Jersey attorney Patricia Barasch.

Discover more about Susan Coler.

June 7, 2016

Halunen Law - False Claims Act Serves Citizens Blowing Whistle

Forged Under Civil War Fire, The False Claims Act Continues To Serve As Basis For Private Citizens To Blow The Whistle On Would-Be Fraudsters Of The Government Trust

Under a little-known law, private citizens with knowledge of fraud against the government can bring a lawsuit against the offending organization. Called the False Claims Act, the law—often called the original Whistleblower Law — originated in the Civil War era, when rampant fraud against the U.S. government threatened the very existence of the country.

Sickened by the spectacle of contractors supplying the army with broken guns and sand-packed bullets, lame pack mules and cardboard boots, President Lincoln pressed Congress for a law setting severe financial penalties for fraud against the government. The law also included a provision to empower private citizens to sue fraud perpetrators on behalf of the government. Known by its Latin name as “qui tam,” this provision allows the courts to award whistleblowers, called “relators” under this law, a share of the monies recovered by the government in fraud cases. In Lincoln’s time, the law brought corrupt defense contractors to heel. Today it serves to protect taxpayers against fraud from contractors in any number of industries. Equally important, the law protects individuals, like the Civil War soldiers fighting with inferior equipment, who suffered injury as a result of the fraud. Many states, including Minnesota, have adopted whistleblower laws to protect against fraud against state agencies.

July 31, 2015

Halunen Law was recently featured in an article, publish in Bloomberg Businessweek, Fortune, and Money that recognizes them for some of their outstanding work concerning different whistleblower retaliation and government fraud cases. Read the full article: Righting Corporate Wrongs: One Law Firm’s Fight for Justice

April 23, 2014

Man Discriminated Against for Race Association

Did you know that Minnesota law protects employees from discrimination because of the race of their family and friends? For example, if your boss tells you that you can’t have photos of your bi-racial child in your cube or office, but allows white employees to leave up photos of their white children, you may be experiencing discrimination based on race. Or if your significant other is a person of a different race and people at work make negative remarks about that, you may be experiencing discrimination based on race. If you find yourself in a situation where your boss makes offensive remarks or treats you differently because of the race of your family members or friends, this may well be discrimination because of race association.

March 13, 2014

Life can change in a flash. Things are moving along and suddenly your child is in a serious accident, or you are diagnosed with an illness that requires extensive treatment. What do you do about your job? If you have worked for your employer longer than a year, you may have the right to take unpaid, job-protected leave when something like this happens. The federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and the Minnesota Parental Leave Act (MPLA) both require employers to provide leaves of absence to their employees if certain conditions are met. Better yet, the laws guarantee that when employees return to work they are guaranteed their previous job or an equivalent position that is comparable with respect to job duties, pay, and benefits. The provisions of the FMLA and MPLA are different, so it is important to know some key distinctions.