Are we there yet?
Many of us have heard that voice from the rear seat of the car, “Are we there yet?” There is a decent chance that we might hear those very words spoken in the coming days...
Kentucky Supreme Court vacates $2.5 million punitive damages verdict
On September 24, 2015, the Kentucky Supreme Court vacated a $2.5 million punitive damage verdict in an automotive product liability case, Nissan Motors v. Maddox. The Court held plaintiff produced insufficient evidence of reckless or...
Discharge of debts: The potential unintended consequences of issuing a Form 1099-C
In the typical bad debt situation, a financial institution will issue a Form 1099-C to the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) and the borrower when a loan is written off. That administrative act is proving to...
Passing Constitutional Muster after Strickland v. Alexander
In a forty-eight page decision released on September 9, 2015, the Court in Strickland v. Alexander, (U.S. D. Ct. N. D. Ga. Case Number 1:12-CV-02735-MHS) struck down portions of Georgia’s garnishment statute, O.C.G.A. §18-4-60 et...
The NLRB’s Browning-Ferris Industries Joint Employer Ruling – Should Franchisors Read the Fine Print
In a 3-2 recently rendered decision, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) ruled (with a lengthy dissent) that Browning-Ferris Industries of California, Inc. (BFI) and a third-party staffing agency, Leadpoint Business Services, were “joint employers”...
Supreme Court Ruling and Your Pregnant Employees
Does your business have a pregnant employee? Has that pregnant employee ever had a work restriction? If you answered “yes” to either question, this article is for you. In March 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court...
GAO Report is a Good Reminder to Bidders on Federal Procurements: Agencies Don’t Always Follow the Rules!
The United States government has awarded more than $280 billion in contracts so far this fiscal year—FY2015 ends September 30. Last year, that number was just over $445 billion on September 30. (Data available online at https://www.usaspending.gov).