Utah Employment Cases for the week of August 11

The following cases affecting Utah employment law were released during the week of August 11th:Utah Court of Appeals: Prows v. Labor Commission (Utah Ct. App., August 14, 2014) (declining, on the bases of what the definition of “is” is, to disturb refusal to find gainfully employed petitioner permanently and totally disabled)Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals: […]

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Tenth Circuit: “Wear Away Period” Does Not Discriminate on Age

On August 11, 2011, the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that a district court had properly dismissed an Age Discrimination in Employment Act and ERISA claim against an employer.  In Tomlinson v. El Paso Corporation, the court stated that it would determine whether an ERISA plan was discriminatory on the basis of age by […]

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Utah Court of Appeals: When a Utah Public Employee Retires Twice, His Retirement is Calculated on Two Different Service Periods

In McLeod v. Retirement Board, the Utah Court of Appeals refused to reverse the Utah State Retirement Board’s decision that a Davis County sheriff deputy’s “retirement benefits from two periods of public employment must be calculated separately.”  The Court disagreed that the plain language of the statute required the Board to treat the two separate periods as […]

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Work Thanksgiving Parties: Hopefully There is more Thanks and Less “Giving”

Now that we are entering the holiday season, it is important to remember that even though an employer may host an off-site holiday party, there is a potential for employer liability for improper employee activity.  Activities at employer-sponsored Thanksgiving parties have been at the center of at least two reported court cases.  In Jordan v. Alternative Resources Corporation, 458 […]

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Employees Who Received Payments Pursuant to an Equity Participation Program Must Pay Them Back to Bankruptcy Trustee

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 […]

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Are You Ready for May 11, 2010? New Laws Affecting Utah Employers.

The 2010 legislative sessions saw a lot of activity affecting employers and employees. Approximately fifty newly enacted laws will have some affect on employers and employees.  With only two or three exceptions, all of these laws become effective May 11, 2010.  (For a complete list of all the bills passed and their effective dates click here.) […]

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Bills to Be Considered by the Utah Legislature

The Utah legislature will be in general session beginning January 25, 2010. It will be considering several bills that may have an impact on employers and employees throughout the state. To date the following bills have been introduced in the House: House Bills: H.B. 11, Licensing of Elevator Contractors and Elevator Mechanics. The bill provides […]

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COBRA Subsidy Extended

On December 19, 2009, President Obama signed the Fiscal Year 2010 Department of Defenses Appropriates Act . Although a defense appropriation bill, the legislation included provisions that extended and expanded the COBRA subsidy program that was enacted under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Among other things, the bill provides that the COBRA premium subsidy […]

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