Pilot commercial courts to become permanent
Indiana’s pilot commercial courts will become a permanent part of the Hoosier judiciary next month. The six specialized dockets around the state will remain where they are, with some rule amendments.
labor and employment
Articles
Fired whistleblower’s case against IDEM reinstated, remanded
A long-running dispute between the Indiana Department of Environmental Management and a terminated employee has been partially revived after a panel of appellate judges agreed the former worker could have been held personally liable for misuse of state funds.
AG Hill defends pay hikes for top aides
Some top aides to Indiana Attorney General Curtis Hill have seen recent pay hikes of $9,000 or more, but Hill contends they are not rewards for sticking with him as he faces allegations of drunkenly groping four women during a party last year.
AG Hill using tax dollars for groping legal woes?
The Office of the Indiana Attorney General has paid more than $29,000 for outside legal ethics counsel, and public records indicate thousands of dollars in tax money may have paid for legal services related to the fallout from the sexual misconduct accusations against Attorney General Curtis Hill.
Supreme Court backs businesses, curbs class arbitration
An ideologically divided U.S. Supreme Court gave businesses more power to channel disputes into individual arbitration proceedings, siding with a lighting retailer trying to prevent its employees from pressing group claims stemming from a phishing attack.
Carmel official says Brainard created ‘toxic environment’; mayor calls relationship consensual
Carmel Clerk-Treasurer Christine Pauley has accused Mayor Jim Brainard of creating a toxic environment at City Hall after she said she turned down at least two invitations to accompany him on personal trips.
COA rejects ex-teacher’s defamation claims against Elkhart Truth
A former Elkhart teacher who alleged a newspaper defamed him by writing an article about his federal lawsuit against the school that fired him failed to convince an appellate panel that the issue was not of public interest, or that the article was not written in good faith.
Supreme Court to take up LGBT job discrimination cases
The Supreme Court is taking on a major test of LGBT rights in cases that look at whether federal civil rights law bans job discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.
Third-party ex-employer not exempt from negligence suit, COA says
The Indiana Court of Appeals has reinstated a woman’s negligence claim against her former employer, concluding he was considered a third party in the suit and could therefore not be shielded.
COA upholds judgment for university against former employees
The Indiana Court of Appeals affirmed the denial of two former Oakland City University employees’ claims against the school and its president, concluding they were not fraudulently induced into their employment or fired in retaliation for uncovering misuse of public funds.
Wilson & Oxyer: With CBD legal, is THC in the workplace A-OK?
As the legality of hemp, CBD oil, marijuana and other substances containing THC continues to change, questions arise relating to an employer’s options when THC is detected on a drug screen and whether an employer must accommodate the use of legal THC-containing substances.
‘Overbroad’ injunction against sales rep’s soliciting remanded
The Indiana Court of Appeals partially agreed with a medical components company and one of its employees after it concluded a trial court’s order restricting the vice president of sales from contacting clients from his previous employer was overbroad.
Tax Court rules for gamblers in interpretation of federal modification
The Indiana Tax Court granted partial summary judgment to two professional gamblers who received unwanted adjustments to their adjusted gross income tax liabilities after the court concluded the Indiana Department of State Revenue’s interpretation of federal modification was unreasonable.
Despite ‘not good law’ dissent, COA affirms ruling against fired worker
A former hospital police officer who wrongly believed he had been subpoenaed to testify at an unemployment hearing and was subsequently fired has lost his appeal of a judgment in favor of his former boss, with a majority of the Indiana Court of Appeals finding the officer could not overcome the at-will employment doctrine. But a dissenting judge said the majority’s ruling is “not good law.”
Monroe County official accused of sex harassment to resign
A southern Indiana county commissioner and Bloomington mayoral candidate is stepping down from her post after being accused of sexual harassment by a former county contractor.
Emmert: Court ruling reinforces NCAA athletes not employees
Indianapolis-based NCAA President Mark Emmert says a judge’s recent ruling in a federal antitrust lawsuit again reinforced that college athletes should be treated as students not employees.
Web Exclusive: Federal judiciary tightens sex harassment rules
The way the federal court system addresses sexual harassment complaints should be clearer and fairer moving forward now that the federal judiciary has made clarifying amendments to its workplace conduct rules.
Second Roncalli counselor loses job over same-sex marriage
A second guidance counselor at an Indianapolis Catholic high school will lose her job because she’s in a same-sex marriage.
Reversal: Former St. Mary’s employee loses claims against her termination
The Indiana Court of Appeals reversed and remanded the denial of a hospital’s motion for judgment against a former employee terminated for unethical behavior when it found the hospital was entitled to judgement due to the lack of genuine issues of material fact.
Austin: Employer handbook guidance after Boeing decision
For most of the 2000s, the National Labor Relations Board(NLRB) reviewed facially neutral work rules under an employee-friendly standard, leaving companies worried that employees could construe neutral rules to interfere with protected activities under Section 7 of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). However, in December 2017, the NLRB overruled the employee-friendly standard and established a new balancing test in The Boeing Company, 365 NLRB No. 154 (Dec. 14, 2017), and created three categories of work rules.