Employers who Solicit Facebook Friend "Snooping" Could Face Liability Under Federal Stored Communication Act 

By Mark Fijman, Esq. of Phelps Dunbar, LLP

Facebook postings by employees have increasingly become a factor in employment discrimination lawsuits.  In some of my recent cases, employers were made aware of an employee's threats of violence, workplace misconduct or other inappropriate actions when a co-worker, who also was a Facebook "friend", brought the Facebook post to the employer's attention.  Such posts can be powerful evidence in defending against a discrimination lawsuit and proving that any adverse employment action was for a legitimate non-discriminatory reason.

Employee Engagement Made Easy: 5 Tips to Increase Employee Engagement

By Michael Mercer, Ph.D. of Mercer Systems, Inc. 

Employee engagement is a big topic in management periodicals. Strongly engaged employees are said to prove more productive and loyal than low engagement employees. Plus, surveys claim a bigger percentage of employees feel low engagement with their jobs and employers. 

A recent California Supreme Court decision holds that a violation of the Unfair Insurance Practices Act (UIPA; Ins. Code, §790 et seq.) may provide a claim under the Unfair Competition Law (UCL; Bus. & Prof. Code, §17200 e seq.) in certain circumstances. The case, Yanting Zhang v. Superior Court was decided August 1, 2013. 

South Carolina Supreme Court Introduces "Continuum" Approach for "Occurrence"

By Sina Bahadoran, Esq. and Todd M. Davis, Esq. of Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP

Business Associate Definition Expanded and HHS Empowered to Impose New Civil Fines

By Frank Fanshawe, Esq. and Jason LaFlam, Esq. of Wilson Elser Moskowitz Edelman & Dicker LLP   

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