Employment Law Tip:
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act (CADA) make it illegal for an employer to publish a job advertisement that shows a preference for or discourages someone from applying for a job because of his or her religion. The only exception is the religious organization exemption which applies to churches, synagogues, mosques, and the like, and organizations closely affiliated with those entities. The exemption however, does not apply to organizations whose purpose is primarily secular as opposed to religious.
For questions on how best to implement within your company's policies and procedures, please contact us here at Thomas Pollart & Miller LLC at
(720) 488-9586.
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Dumb Friends League
Good works. Supporting non-profit organizations is one way that the employees of TPM fulfill their wish to do good for the community. At the beginning of 2016 our employees nominated their favorite charities and 12 were selected. In the month of January TPM will donate to the Dumb Friends League. When the organization was founded in 1910, it was named after a London, England animal welfare group called "Our Dumb Friends League." Today their organization, headquartered in Denver, is the largest community based welfare organization in the Rocky Mountain region - providing a strong and steadfast voice for those who cannot speak for themselves.
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Cumulative Trauma Cases - Don't be Too Quick to Admit
TPM attorney
Emily F. Ahnell successfully defended a bilateral carpal tunnel claim using Rule 17 of the Medical Treatment Guidelines. Claimant claimed that her various job duties caused bilateral carpal tunnel syndrome. A jobsite analysis was performed. The jobsite analysis found that claimant did not meet the various requirements of requisite force, awkward postures and positions, and time limits under Rule 17. Claimant also underwent a Respondents' IME to support the findings in the jobsite analysis. The IME physician performed a causation analysis as required under Rule 17. The IME physician determined that claimant's bilateral carpal tunnel syndrome was not causally related to claimant's job duties pursuant to Rule 17. The Judge found the jobsite analysis and IME credible and persuasive and ruled that claimant did not have a compensable occupational injury. It is important to remember in cumulative trauma cases to obtain a jobsite analysis before determining whether to admit on a claim.
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Workers' Comp Claims as a Contractor
In a recent win by TPM attorney
Maggie Keck, the trickiness surrounding contractors and how workers' compensation covers these types of workers reared its head. According to the law, if an employee is injured while working for an uninsured employer, but that uninsured employer was a subcontractor to another company who was insured for workers' compensation, that company would be the injured worker's statutory employer and liable for the workers' compensation benefits. In Maggie's case, a janitor sustained an injury while cleaning a grocery store. Due to communication issues, it wasn't immediately evident who was responsible for her workers' compensation benefits.
As it turned out, the grocery store had hired a janitorial service to clean their stores. This janitorial service then went on to hire another janitorial service for whom the claimant worked. Since the janitorial service she worked for was not insured, but the service originally hired by the grocery store was, that initial service became the claimant's statutory employer. Once this was established it was obvious that the claimant's attorney should drop the claim against the grocery store. However, claimant's attorney refused, so Ms. Keck had to move for dismissal of the grocery store, and the judge granted her motion.
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Be Careful Who You Go Into Business With
TPM attorney
Dara Keller recently won a Breach of Contract and Unjust Enrichment suit for her client, Learned Hand. Mr. Hand owns marijuana cultivation facilities around Colorado. Because of this, he was hired by defendants as CEO of their new cultivation business in Nevada where medical marijuana had just been legalized. He worked for them for about six months but after finding out that there was an important figure in the company who had a 130-million-dollar fraud judgment from the FTC, became nervous and brought it to the attention of the company. When nothing was done, their business relationship ended and he secured counsel in Boston, who in conjunction with Ms. Keller, filed suit in Colorado.
Defendants filed a complaint in Nevada weeks later. In Colorado, defendants were arguing they were not obligated to pay attorneys' fees in the case that they lose the suit. In the operating agreements that both parties had signed, it clearly states that attorneys' fees were applicable. Ms. Keller and her co-counsel were able to prevail in the Colorado suit which will likely have a prejudicial effect on the proceedings in Nevada.
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Thomas Pollart & Miller LLC is a civil litigation law firm that provides legal services to businesses throughout Colorado, Nebraska and Utah. The firm's more than 55 legal professionals are dedicated to serving the needs of our clients.
Our goal is simple
: to be the legal service provider and partner of choice for civil litigation. We accomplish this by providing superb client service, aggressive representation and sound advice to achieve our clients' business and litigation goals. We have the experience and resources of an established firm, with the personal attention and sensitivity to costs uniquely tailored for each client.
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