The Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in In re Dittmer that employees who received $34,556 each in payment for their stock appreciation rights (SARs) must return to their employer’s bankruptcy trustee all of the money they received because the SARs were payments from the bankruptcy estate. The employees had argued that the payments were not property of the […]
The Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals—the federal appellate court having jurisdiction over Utah—reversed a district court decision that allowed a former instructor at Utah Valley State College (UVSC) to remove his Age Discrimination in Employment Act and civil rights complaints to state court. In Helmick v. UVSC, the Tenth Circuit ruled that once the trial court […]
In Flood v. ClearOne Communications, Inc., the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals—the appellate court having jurisdiction over Utah—-overruled a Utah district court judges decision that an employer was required to continue to pay its former CEO’s criminal defense costs. The district court had concluded that the agreement that the former CEO and ClearOne had reached […]
In Jones v. Oklahoma City Public Schools, the Tenth Circuit—the federal appellate court having jurisdiction over Utah— overruled the decision of the trial court dismissing the claims of a school administrator for having too weak of a case of discrimination. Although the trial court ruled that the administrator had presented evidence of discrimination, it ruled that the evidence […]
On August 24, 2010, the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals—the federal court having jurisdiction over Utah—ruled in Deutsch v. Jordan that a sheriff could continue in his claims against a city manager for firing him for what she claimed was his false testimony in a private law suit he brought against a citizen. The private citizen had […]
On August 19, 2010, the Utah Court of Appeals upheld the Utah Labor Commission Appeals Board’s order affirming a decision permitting a surgery that was required after an employee suffered an industrial injury. In Resort Retainers v. Labor Commission, the Court of Appeals ruled that Labor Commission Appeals Board had not erred when it affirmed the […]
In Williams v. Solvay Chemicals Inc., the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals, the federal court having jurisdiction over Utah, ruled that an employee who was terminated for sleeping on the job did not have a claim against his employer even thought he had an employment contract that only allowed for termination for good cause. The court, […]
The Tenth Circuit ruled in an unpublished decision today that a union member did not have a claim against his union for violating the duty of fair representation. In Menges v. ABF Freight System, Inc., the court ruled that, although the union agent representing an employee in a grievance hearing after the employee was terminated may […]
As of July 1st, all employers who employ more than fifteen employees are required to register with a “status verification system,” or an E-Verify system operated by the federal government to verify the federal legal working status of any individual who is a newly hired employee. The requirement is a provision found in Senate Bill […]
In Turner v. Lone Peak Public Safety District, the Utah Court of Appeals upheld the rather uncontroversial determination of a local government entity appeals board that an employee’s threat to kill his boss, the police chief, justified his termination. The fact that the employee was under the influence did not excuse the threat nor did […]
