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Revenge in the Workplace, a.k.a. Retaliation
Workplaces can get mighty ugly if someone is retaliating against a company or person for a perceived injustice.
Things don’t get much worse than a toxic workplace where someone is deliberately withholding necessary information on a project, spreading vile rumors about a co-worker, destroying or stealing company equipment or handing classified information over to the competition. “Why would they be doing these things in the first place? Usually as retaliation against a real or perceived injustice,” explained Ty Gomez, an experienced Dallas employment and business lawyer with the Gomez Law Group.
Most often when retaliation is the flavor of the month, it is because someone is responding to a violation of trust or violations of interpersonal justice. “Let me explain. When it comes to breach of trust, that happens when expectations about another’s behavior aren’t met or when that person doesn’t act consistently with their values. In dealing with violations of interpersonal justice, the retaliation comes because someone was not treated in a manner that they expected to be treated – this may provoke real outrage,” observed Gomez.
Interestingly enough, when someone gets fired, it isn’t the fact that they got fired that usually is the flash point. It’s the fact that they may have been humiliated if the firing was done in a thoughtless and insensitive manner. Anger plays a very large part in retaliation if the firing or other disciplinary action was not done with respect or fairness. “In fact, over 80% of homicides that take place at work are the result of people who want to get even for treatment they consider unfair or unjust,” added Gomez, a seasoned Dallas employment and business lawyer.
A wise manager will also realize they need to treat their workers with respect, provide recognition, opportunities to grow, freedom from harassment, and other intangible feedback; the silent and unspoken things that workers and their employer follow without really thinking about it. Those are often the expectations in a workplace. If the reality is different and the manager is abusive, unrealistic, sarcastic and unresponsive to concerns, retaliation becomes a distinct possibility.
“If you’re faced with this nasty situation brewing in your workplace, it’s time to figure out what to do. It may also be time to talk to an experienced Dallas employment and business lawyer about what can alleviate the situation, etc.,” suggested Gomez.
Gomez Law Group is a Dallas employment lawyer and Dallas business lawyer. To learn more, visit http://www.gomezlawyers.com.
Catastrophic Injury Damages Are Hard to Calculate
Some feel putting a dollar figure on injuries is demeaning to the victim. Compensation is the only method the law provides to a victim of negligence.
“Some people feel that trying to figure out a dollar amount for someone’s injuries, their pain and suffering and other economic losses is insulting; insulting because it reduces something so very personal and painful to cash. Others feel the victims likely played a part in their own accident and they should just take responsibility and get on with their lives. Granted that translating pain into an economic value may be controversial, but is the only way a victim can be compensated,” remarked Ty Gomez, who writes for the Dallas based Gomez Law Group.
Frankly, without the recourse of going to the courts for financial compensation for the negligent acts of others, where would society be today? The legal system that translates pain into money is the only system we have that works, and it’s going to be with us for many more years to come. Having said that, the next question we need to ask is how much is an injury case worth? “That is the million dollar question and one that a client would have no way of answering, but an attorney with experience handling catastrophic personal injury cases would. They would have information about how juries in the area in which they live have looked at these questions in the past,” suggested Gomez.
Most lawyers are able to evaluate injuries in a variety of ways. Let’s take an example of a simple case that may involve back and neck strain – otherwise referred to as soft tissue injuries – that will take time to heal. “So in cases like that, they factor in the length of treatment and the amount of medical bills. How they arrive at a final figure is dependent on other factors such as age of the person, lost wages, time off work and other considerations,” outlined Gomez.
Other injuries that are far more serious, such as bone fractures and ruptured discs or injuries that produce scars usually merit more compensation because the insurance company knows these can’t be faked. Soft tissue injuries are often regarded with a jaundiced eye for that reason.
Generally speaking, the severity of the injury affects or influences the settlement offer, as does the characteristics of the plaintiff – meaning a serious scar on the face of a younger, attractive woman may be worth more in the eyes of a jury than a scar on the hand of an elderly male, etc. “Each case is different and all the factors that make up each case are different as well. However, in order to get an idea of what your case is worth, you would ideally need to speak to an experienced personal injury lawyer,” Gomez advised.
Gomez Law Group is a Dallas employment lawyer and Dallas business lawyer. To learn more, visit http://www.gomezlawyers.com.
When a Life Is Devastated Forever
Life altering injuries are referred to as catastrophic. It means a person’s whole life has been turned upside down.
Most injuries happen out of the blue; the result of a car accident, a slip and fall, a sports injury or being involved in an 18-wheeler accident. “The injuries sustained in instances like those may, in some cases, be classified as catastrophic or life altering when they totally disrupt an individual’s ability to earn a living or shake up their life in a horrendously painful and injurious manner. Injuries like these are the kind that need exquisitely balanced management in order for the victim and/or patient to be able to get home,” detailed Seth Wilburn, who writes for the Gomez Law Group in Dallas.
These types of injuries are often highly complex and involve one or more of a person’s body systems. It takes many people and many hundreds of hours to assist a person this badly hurt. Most often their goal is to go home and be as independent as possible; sometimes that just isn’t possible.
The other catastrophic consequence of an accident so bad that it debilitates the victim is the loss of earning power, and quite often, the loss of a job. The victim is suddenly left in the awkward position of having nothing to live on, nothing to pay bills with and no hope of being able to secure financial resources to allow them to live and get treatment.
In instances like this, you will need the services of a highly skilled Dallas personal injury attorney; an attorney with a track record in handling cases like this – one who is ready and willing to work with vocational and economic specialists, life care planning specialists and experts in rehabilitative medicine.
“Claims like this are complex and complicated and require special knowledge on how to economically evaluate the injuries. The economics of catastrophic injuries are such that the client or plaintiff needs to secure enough money to live and pay medical bills for the rest of their life,” Wilburn explained. The goal? The goal is to get the client the best possible future out of the ashes of what was once a normal, happy and active life.
There are so many types of catastrophic injuries that a book could be written about them, but suffice it to say that the most common ones tend to be paralysis, amputation and burns. “If you have been in an accident and your whole life just went down the tubes, you need to seek legal help to secure your future. There are no ifs, ands or buts about that,” suggested Wilburn.
Gomez Law Group is a Dallas employment lawyer and Dallas business lawyer. To learn more, visit http://www.gomezlawyers.com.
Protecting Company Secrets
Protecting company secrets is a big business these days. Those who sell secrets may be in hot water legally.
“There likely isn’t one business or industry that doesn’t have secrets about how they do business and about their products that they don’t want spread all over the place. After all if you are in business and want to stay a leader, you want to protect your products, methods, techniques and inventions from your competition and the public at large,” outlined Seth Wilburn, of the Gomez Law Group, a Dallas employment lawyer and Dallas business lawyer.
The fact is that many companies go through unbelievable contortions to protect their trade secrets and have been known to take legal action against people who have sold those secrets (on purpose) or accidently gave away critical information about how business is conducted. Stealing trade secrets is definitely classified as unfair competition; a slap in the face of the ‘usual’ way business is to be done in the marketplace.
“It’s generally accepted in the marketplace that businesses competing for the same customers are expected to use fair assessment of the market, their product, and assess the buying trends of customers; not lie, cheat, steal, manipulate and resort to spying to get what they want,” added Wilburn. “In fact, the Uniform Trade Secrets Act was created to offer protection against getting ahold of formulas, devices, methods, product secrets and techniques, and other business assets by improper methods – meaning stealing,” he explained.
The Act outlines several things that are considered to be “improper” and they include, electronic spying, or spying by any other means, breach of duty, misrepresentation, bribery, theft and inducement of a breach of duty. Those definitions are intentionally broad, as stealing company secrets can take place in many, sometimes bizarre ways.
It goes without saying that if the person who sells the “secrets” they stole and makes money from that transaction, then it is definitely unfair competition. Under the Act there is a section on punishment if the benefit the thief derived was actual cash or the potential to make money.
Here is another thing that not too many people realize: infringing on a secret may also have punitive damages assigned, including financial damages, royalties and shared profits. The court may also grant an injunction forcing a firm to stop selling anything they got or created as the result of stolen trade secrets,” Wilburn explained. Additionally, recoverable damages may also include loss of revenue as a result of the theft of secrets and come with penalties for the person being unjustly enriched because they stole something.
“This is an interesting area of the law, and if you have had trade secrets purloined from your company, you may want to find out what your rights are and what can be done to protect your company from the resulting loss,” added Seth Wilburn, of the Gomez Law Group, a Dallas employment lawyer and Dallas business lawyer.
Gomez Law Group is a Dallas employment lawyer and Dallas business lawyer. To learn more, visit http://www.gomezlawyers.com.
Broad Non-Competition Agreements a Problem
The broader a non-competition agreement is, the more problems there are enforcing it.
“Typically speaking, if you have a really broad non-competition clause in your employment contract with a worker, the less enforceable it is. If however an employee has access to trade secrets, highly confidential company information and gets paid extra money for the non-compete clause, you have a better chance enforcing it in court,” said Seth Wilburn, of the Gomez Law Group, a Dallas employment lawyer and Dallas business lawyer.
In order to be able to actually enforce a non-compete agreement, the employer/company must have a legitimate business interest that needs protecting. This interest needs to be more than just the threat of competition. “It should include proprietary information about the company and/or products, the protection of company trade secrets and insider information on competitive positioning. This insider information may give an employee an unfair advantage,” commented Wilburn.
Having an unfair advantage is about more than just competition and the non-competition agreement. The agreement may come under attack if the worker does not use the actual trade secrets he knows, but just admits to having general knowledge of things he has learned.
The other issue in many non-competition contracts is soliciting customers. Some companies write in a clause in the contract that bans a worker from offering services or contacting customers that are currently with the company. “It’s interesting to note that the courts are more likely to enforce a non-solicitation clause than they are to uphold a no contact or no service clause. The reason for this is that the court regards those two clauses are being anti-trust violations and therefore anti-competitive because it doesn’t give the customer a choice,” Seth Wilburn of the Gomez Law Group, a Dallas employment lawyer and Dallas business lawyer added.
When it comes right down to it, distinguishing between non-solicitation and solicitation is somewhat difficult largely because it is subjective. In some cases it would be obvious if there was solicitation particularly if a phone call or letter were involved. However, advertising in the paper isn’t considered to be solicitation – because it gives consumers a choice.
“If you have questions about a non-competition agreement you signed, specifically if it’s enforceable, talk to a skilled business lawyer to get honest answers,” said Wilburn.
Gomez Law Group is a Dallas employment lawyer and Dallas business lawyer. To learn more, visit http://www.gomezlawyers.com.
Severe Life-Altering Injuries Pursue Young Children of Parents Working with Chemicals
Ethylene Glycol Ether may be causing severe birth defects. This may result in lifelong care being needed for the children.
“This is an interesting case that we heard about just recently, and it involves employees at a chip manufacturer working with a toxic chemical called ethylene glycol ether. This case actually represents a fairly wide cross section of employees who worked at the same plant in an area called the ‘clean room,’ where chips were processed,” explained Seth Wilburn of the Gomez Law Group in Dallas.
The employees who worked in these rooms did so for about 20 years, until the late 1990s. The chemical they were working with was used regularly in the chip making process until it was revealed that several other lawsuits indicated that the chip maker was well aware there was a likely connection between ethylene glycol either and birth defects.
One company employee had two daughters born with severe birth defects that included cerebral palsy. Another worker’s son was born with debilitating vision and speech problems as well as epilepsy. “It was really too much of a “coincidence” that the workers in this clean room were experiencing such severe birth defects, in such large numbers,” added Wilburn.
It turned out that the company that made ethylene glycol ether had put out a warning in 1981 about the possibility of birth defects and miscarriages happening when working with this chemical. A subsequent hazard alert also went out a year later indicating that tests had indeed shown the chemical caused birth defects.
Despite the other numerous warning posted, this chemical was used well into the 1990s. Many workers at the company where they held jobs said they had never seen a warning about the toxicity of the chemical they worked with every day.
The facts are that raising a child with severe birth defects into adulthood is an enormous financial burden than may cost hundreds of thousands of dollars every year. “Those workers who did give birth to children with severe defects have a good case to sue their employer for negligence – negligence in not informing them of the risks of working with this chemical,” Wilburn commented.
Anyone in a similar situation and who has suffered life-altering personal injuries should immediately speak to a qualified and experienced personal injury attorney. Those who caused harm to happen to others need to be held accountable. A seasoned attorney will be able to make that happen and work to get a settlement that will cover the expenses of raising a child with birth defects,” stated Seth Wilburn of the Gomez Law Group in Dallas.
Gomez Law Group is a Dallas employment lawyer and Dallas business lawyer. To learn more, visit http://www.gomezlawyers.com.
The False Claims Act Is Important
This particular Act helps the government sue people who are trying to rip them off. It’s one way to stop fraud in its tracks.
The False Claims Act (1863) (FCA) wasn’t really used all that extensively until the government caught on to its potential to combat fraud in their contracting processes. “Basically, the FCA says that a business is liable when it makes a false claim (called fraud) and it either knows the claim is false or is deliberately indifferent or reckless to that fact,” stated Seth Wilburn, of the Gomez Law Group, a Dallas employment lawyer and Dallas business lawyer.
The False Claims Act lets a private individual (whistleblower) with information of fraud against the federal government bring a lawsuit against the defendant on behalf of the government. Many people may recognize this as a qui tam lawsuit, and plaintiffs are rewarded quite well for bringing fraud suits on behalf of the government.
“Most often the reward is a percentage of the settlement, which may be quite substantial, given that the usual percentage figures run from 15% to 30%. This applies whether or not the case actually made it to court as well, as many of these cases don’t always go that far,” added Wilburn.
For those running a business, they need to be aware of the fact that anyone fired may decide to file a whistleblower lawsuit. “While this may sound frivolous, the law relating to the FCA has changed in recent years and the scope of the Act expanded. With the expansion of the scope of the FCA, came a much broader definition of fraud that means false claims dealing with government spending in any form. Recent statistics indicate the number of these types of lawsuits is rising,” explained Seth Wilburn, of the Gomez Law Group, a Dallas employment lawyer and Dallas business lawyer.
The FCA also features something referred to as reverse liability. What this means is that when a contractor knowingly uses a false statement to avoid, decrease or conceal any obligation to the US government, they may have a whistleblower lawsuit filed against them.
A False Claims Act case may be reviewed at several levels by the government and the Department of Justice. In many of the cases, government auditors are sent out to do a forensic audit and once that is completed, the process continues. “Even if the government doesn’t want to get involved in the case, the qui tam plaintiff may still pursue it,” said Wilburn.
The False Claims Act is something a company needs to know about if they are running a business in the US. Failure to understand it may result in tremendous financial loss to an organization in concert with other civil and criminal sanctions.
Gomez Law Group is a Dallas employment lawyer and Dallas business lawyer. To learn more, visit http://www.gomezlawyers.com.
He Who Sues the King as for Himself – Qui Tam
Private citizens who sue on behalf of the government are pursuing a Qui Tam case. These suits are aka whistleblower lawsuits.
Qui Tam is a rather unusual word and not many people hear about it during their daily lives. It is most frequently associated with whistleblower lawsuits, where a private individual is suing a business on behalf of the government, for defrauding the government. Of interest is the fact that some whistleblowers make some very good money doing this, not that it was their main motivation to file the suit in the first place though.
“Qui Tam is actually a provision of the Federal Civil False Claims Act (1863) and any claims filed here allege fraud by government contractors and/or other people who receive or abuse government funds,” explained Seth Wilburn, of the Gomez Law Group, a Dallas employment lawyer and Dallas business lawyer.
Whistleblower protection laws offer security for people who tell the government they think someone is ripping them off. The actual term is Latin and reads “qui tam pro domino rege quam pro se ipse,” which loosely translated means “He who sues the king as for himself.” The initial introduction of this law was to battle fraud during the Civil War and stop government suppliers from ripping them off. How ironic that this law, first enacted in 1863 and revised in 1986, is still in place to stop the same illegal actions. Obviously, some things never change.
Any benefits the government gets from a Qui Tam lawsuit brought by someone on their behalf, means the person who filed the claim may get a percentage of any money recovered or damages as a result of any fraud exposed. “In most instances, private individuals file Qui Tam suits and settle in for a long, contentious and complex trial,” said Wilburn.
“The person who brings the suit is often referred to as a ‘relator’ and in filing does not need to have been personally harmed by the defendant’s conduct. In addition, the False Claims Act lets the relator recover anywhere from 15% to 30% of any settlement and has their attorney’s fees paid. These cases must be handled by an attorney because they are filed on behalf of the government,” added Wilburn.
While Qui Tam cases are not frequent, they are definitely a part of the legal landscape and those with claims that the government is getting ripped off by a contractor or other person should speak to an experienced attorney.
Gomez Law Group is a Dallas employment lawyer and Dallas business lawyer. To learn more, visit http://www.gomezlawyers.com.
Avoiding Securities Fraud
For those just starting out in the world of securities investment, be wary of things that don’t seem quite right. It may be a scam.
First time investors are often not too sure just what securities are and how to invest wisely. In a nutshell, securities are investments that are regulated by the government and include mutual funds, bonds, stocks and government securities. Anytime a person invests money, they want to avoid scams that will take them for all they’ve got.
Some handy tips for the first time investor would make that initial toe in the water a little easier to handle. “The hardest part about investing is the person doesn’t get to see or hold what they’re writing a check for in the first place. It’s not like buying real estate. In cases where you don’t get to see what you’re paying for, do due diligence and check the whole thing over until you are sick of hearing about it, but sure you have a legitimate investment opportunity,” said Seth Wilburn, of the Gomez Law Group, a Dallas employment lawyer and Dallas business lawyer.
If someone is using hard sell tactics to push an investment opportunity and suggesting there will be high returns and very little risk, run in the opposite direction if the pressure is to buy immediately. This is one of the red flags investors may use to decide if they are comfortable with buying something. “Whatever you do, don’t buy any financial investment from anyone not licensed with the National Association of Securities Dealers,” added Wilburn. “The investments those individuals are hawking are not registered, they usually don’t have a license and they’re insisting no one else will get the same chance as you will to invest in this deal of a lifetime,” he emphasized.
There are definitely some very complicated and complex securities that may be bought, such as inverse and leveraged ETFs, stock options and futures contracts. The first time investor is best advised to steer clear of the complexities of these kinds of securities and stick with listed bonds and stocks that are traded publically on stock exchanges, or they could opt to go with money market or government securities. These are safe and relatively easy to understand and definitely on the up and up.
Of all the choices out there on the market, the safest are mutual funds because they are heavily regulated and anyone selling them requires a license. So for first time investors, go slowly, carefully and invest wisely in securities you know are secure investments. Leave the high flying, questionable and shaky deals alone and keep your money,” advised Seth Wilburn, of the Gomez Law Group, a Dallas employment lawyer and Dallas business lawyer.
Gomez Law Group is a Dallas employment lawyer and Dallas business lawyer. To learn more, visit http://www.gomezlawyers.com.
Life Altering Personal Injury Fall May Land in Court
Construction site are notorious places for personal injury accidents. This case was no exception.
“This particular accident that we heard about recently caused some very serious life altering injuries. In fact, one worker may have suffered a traumatic brain injury and be unable to work again. The other one sustained a broken hip and arm,” recounted Seth Wilburn, of the Gomez Law Group in Dallas.
The story behind these injuries took place when scaffolding two workers were perched on while performing their duties collapsed suddenly. The incident mobilized two air ambulances after the men fell to the sidewalk at a shopping center on which they were working. The job was refurbishing the front façade of the center when the 12 foot high scaffolding plummeted to the ground and threw the men up into the air.
From eyewitness reports obtained by the police, it appeared that the scaffolding in front of the mall didn’t look like it was installed in a safe manner. It was propped up on cinder blocks and bricks. “An arrangement like that would definitely not be in compliance with Occupational Health and Safety regulations,” added Wilburn. One worker appeared to have sustained a traumatic brain injury and the other a broken arm and hip. The men were airlifted to hospital where they were treated for their injuries.
Evidently neither of the men on the scaffold was wearing any type of safety equipment and that meant there were no hard hats and no safety harness to prevent falls. It’s certain that the Occupational Health and Safety Administration will be on site to conduct a full investigation.
In this case, both workers should be able to file personal injury lawsuits against their employer and recover damages for their injuries. “In the case of the worker with traumatic brain injury (TBI), this case may result in a significant award due to the nature of TBI and the fact that injuries of this nature tend to alter people’s lives completely,” explained Wilburn, of the Gomez Law Group in Dallas.
There is no doubt that both of these cases would be long and complex due to the number of issues involved, not the least of which is the workers were not wearing and safety gear. Whether this was because the employer did not provide it or they chose not to wear it, there is the question of negligence to be dealt with in instances like this.
For people who have been involved in an accident that has totally destroyed life as they once knew it, speak to a seasoned Dallas personal injury attorney and find out how to proceed to justice.
Gomez Law Group is a Dallas employment lawyer and Dallas business lawyer. To learn more, visit http://www.gomezlawyers.com.