June  2014 
Labor & Employment Law News
Official Publication of the Atlanta Bar Association
Labor & Employment Law Section
A Message From The Editor
By Ellen Malow, Malow Mediation & Arbitration

Summer is upon us. It is a time for vacation, Atlanta festivals, and warm weather. What better time for the Atlanta Bar Labor & Employment Law Section Summer Newsletter. I want to thank all of the contributors to the newsletter. A special thanks goes to Ericka Henderson with the Atlanta Bar Association for all of her assistance in putting the newsletter together.  
 
The newsletter contains articles on ever-changing areas of law and some great practice pointers. The first article is authored by Trishanda Treadwell and Tiffany Johnson and addresses the issue of employee leave under the ADA and the FMLA.   

 

Message from the Incoming Chair
By Benjamin I. Fink, Berman Fink Van Horn PC

It is hard to believe that the end of the bar and school year is upon us. When I was asked several years ago to become the Secretary/Treasurer of our section, I knew the day would come when I would take over as Chair. At the time, it seemed far off, but now it is here and I am excited to continue the great work of those who have come before me. We have a truly collegial board and I have enjoyed serving with the other members the last few years.
 
Rock, Meet Hard Place: Employee Leave Under the ADA and FMLA 
By Trishanda L. Treadwell and Tiffany R. Johnson, Parker Hudson Rainer & Dobbs LLP 
 
In olden times, having a job meant that one had to actually go to work. It was ludicrous to question whether attendance at work was an "essential function" of doing the job. Of course it was. 
Not so fast. The Family and Medical Leave Act ("FMLA") provides certain employees with up to twelve weeks of leave, which can be spread out and used intermittently at the employee's option. 
 
 
In This Issue
2014-2015 Section Board of Directors

Chair

Benjamin I. Fink

Vice Chair/Chair-Elect
A Craig Cleland

Secretary/Treasurer
Amanda Farahany


Immediate Past Chair
Ian E. Smith

Members at Large 
William "Cory" Barker
Andrea Doneff
Michelle E. Shivers
Marcia Alembik Ganz
Daniel Hart
Dan Klein
Robert Lewis
Elizabeth Ann (Betty) Morgan
Adriana Midence Scott

Newsletter Editor
Ellen Malow 
Section Sponsors




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Mediation: The New Way To Litigate
By A. Lee Parks and Jenn Coalson, Parks, Chesin & Walbert, P.C.

The art of finding a workable compromise of sharply contested litigation through the use of a neutral is now an essential skill set for any successful civil litigator. Mediation has become the single most powerful tool in a civil litigator's arsenal to resolve lawsuits economically and on terms beneficial to their clients. 
 
Mediation now concludes far more cases than trials. Its increased popularity stems from the fact it empowers the parties to a legal dispute to take charge of their own futures and settle their differences on mutually acceptable terms that mitigates the extraordinary time, expense and uncertainty of traditional litigation. 

Overtime, It Is a-Changin': Obama Administration Sets Out To Broaden the FLSA By Narrowing its Most Utilized Exemptions
By Kevin Young, Seyfarth Shaw LLP

In a development that both sides of the employment bar will want to watch in the months to come, the Obama Administration has set out to overhaul the most utilized and litigated exemptions to the FLSA's overtime requirements: the white collar exemptions. These exemptions are everywhere you look: grocery stores, banks, hotels, drugstores, restaurants, coffee shops, and hospitals, just to name a few. If these places have exempt employees-and most do-it is nearly always because of a white collar exemption. President Obama has directed Labor Secretary Thomas Perez to propose sweeping changes to the exemptions on account of "millions of Americans" who the President believes "aren't getting the extra pay they deserve."

US Supreme Court Expands Whistleblower Protection Under The Sarbanes-Oxley Act
By David S. Fried, Fried & Bonder, LLC

Various federal laws prohibit the United States' roughly 5,000 publicly traded companies from retaliating against whistleblowers. This March, the Supreme Court of the United States extended whistleblower protection under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act to private employers, specifically, the contractors and subcontractors of publicly traded companies. According to the Supreme Court's March 4, 2014 ruling, lawmakers always intended for the Act to reach these private companies.

Passed in the wake of the Enron scandal, the 2002 Sarbanes-Oxley Act ("SOX" or the "Act") has been called the most far-reaching U.S. securities legislation in years. SOX mandates increased reporting and corporate obligations for all companies regulated by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). 

Training Employees to Reduce Risks Associated with Data Breach
By Richard Sheinis, Esq., CIPP-US, Hall Booth Smith, P.C

 

Data breaches at huge companies caused by hackers get the headlines. The fact of the matter, however, is that a very substantial number of data breaches at companies of all sizes occur because of employee mistakes and negligence. The "Global Cost of a Data Breach" study by the Ponemon Institute found that 35% of data breaches are attributable to negligence or human error.
  
 
The Pros and Cons of Removing Human Resources: Is The Grass Greener?
By Sonya Madison, [email protected]


When business decisions conflict with employment standards, human resources become the enemy. As a result, some companies are taking the "act now apologize later" approach by eliminating their human resources department. While this approach does have its advantages, it will not alleviate the personnel issues that must be addressed either to comply with the law or encourage positive employee relations. Therefore companies must analyze if what works for the goose, truly works for the gander.