“The best laid plans of mice and men go oft awry.”
One of the most Plaintiff-friendly areas of law is Employment Law. By “Plaintiff-friendly”, I mean, it’s the easiest area of law for a Plaintiff to force a settlement with just a few thread-thin facts. If a business gets sued for racial discrimination, age discrimination, or retaliation – whether or not the claim has any merit – the business or their insurance company will have to pay out at least $50,000 in attorney fees to litigate the matter. That’s why most insurance companies will settle early with the Plaintiff.
For a small business owner or human resource professional, knowing how to avoid landmines of Employment Law is absolutely necessary for survival.
For example, let’s say a small business, Acme, Corp., has 10 employees that are all under the age of 35. Acme also has 2 employees over the age of 60. One of the employees over the age of 60 consistently shows up late to work, shows lack of respect for authority, and does an overall shoddy job. Can the business owner simply fire this employee at will?
Of course, the answer is, “Yes,” the business owner can … but, he or she should take caution – a decision to fire this employee, if not done the right way, could result in a very costly lawsuit.
At the McLure Law Firm, we want to partner with you in preventative strategies to reduce the risk of employment related lawsuits, and be here to defend you when the inevitable happens anyway.
About the Author, Samuel J. McLure, Esq.
Sam graduated from Huntington College in 2006 with a degree in Business Administration. Before transferring to Huntington College, he attended Bethune-Cookman University as the first minority-white running back in the historically black conference.
He went on to Jones School of Law and graduated with honors, cum laude. During law school, Sam had the distinguished honor of serving with the Faulkner Law Review, clerking with Supreme Court Justice Patricia Smith, clerking with the Attorney General’s Office, and studying International Law with Cornell University in Paris, France.
However, Sam’s most memorable law school achievement was adopting his first child from the Hungarian foster-care system. It was through that process that he and his wife saw the great need to protect children in the foster care system and to encourage adoption.
Sam’s law practice has maintained an orbit around protecting vulnerable and at-risk children. He and his wife have four children and have been actively engaged in the foster care system. Sam is the author of The End of Orphan Care, and book devoted to unpacking the orthodoxy and orthopraxy of orphan care; and has founded or served with ministries and community outreach initiatives such as Kiwanis, Personhood Alabama, Proposal 16, and Sav-a-Life.