Tag Archives: Employee Rights Philosophy

July 13, 2008 · 1:44 pm

Corporate Rhetoric, the Decline of Individual Rights, and What You Can Do About It

If you listened only to corporate-based rhetoric, you would get the following impressions about individuals who sue organizations:

  • Frivolous lawsuits are out of control, and too many huge verdicts are being awarded to individuals who spill coffee on themselves and the like.
  • There are too many individuals- including employees, consumers, injured persons and attorneys- who are “extortionists,” and are filing frivolous lawsuits to look for a quick (and large) buck.
  • “Tort reform,” and restricting individuals’ access to the legal system, is needed, or else businesses may not financially survive.

As someone who works with individuals bringing legal claims, I see many problems with these concepts, which mischaracterize the state of the world as I experience it.

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June 30, 2008 · 11:27 am

Employer Anger = College Money for Lawyers’ Kids

Employers who are angry wind up paying more in legal fees.  A lot more.  This is old news to employment attorneys, but perhaps not to the angry employers themselves.  Sidetracked by anger and the idea of chasing “principle,” they may not be listening to what their own attorneys are saying.  (I should mention that many employees I’ve run into are angry as well, and I warn them of their own risks).

On several occasions, during seminars and personal discussions, I’ve heard employer-side attorneys acknowledge that angry, “principle”-chasing employers are making financially-unwise decisions, but the attorneys claim (which is true) that it isn’t the attorneys’ fault.  On three different occasions, when I heard such an attorney acknowledge that angry employer clients tend to pay large legal fees, the attorney followed up with a statement to this effect: “but hey, I’ve got kids to put through college.”

Why do employer defense attorneys bring up their kids’ college funds when talking about employers who are angry or chasing “principle”?  Because angry employers are a treasure-trove for legal fees, that’s why.  Angry employers usually extend litigation a lot longer, and pay a lot more legal fees, than do employers who are more objective and rational about the risks they face.

Are you an angry employer?  Do you think of your anger as a source of college funds for attorneys’ kids?

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April 19, 2008 · 5:57 am

Dark Side, Schmark Side

I disagree with the many employee-side attorneys (most of whom are great folks) who I’ve heard refer to employers and their attorneys as the “Dark Side.” I know why this is said. Employee-side attorneys get frustrated with bad tactics we sometimes (albeit repeatedly) observe from some opponents: the hiding of information, the game-playing (e.g. musical-chairs with decision-makers and reasons for termination), the deponents’ “I-can’t-recalls” and the periodic bald-faced lie. I see these things too.

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