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(c) 2010-2024 Jon L Gelman, All Rights Reserved.

Thursday, October 23, 2014

NCAA facing lawsuit over minimum wage laws

Today's post is shared from Jurist.org/
English: National Collegiate Athletic Associat...The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) [official website] was Monday for violating the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) [materials]. The lawsuit, brought by a former college athlete against the NCAA and NCAA Division 1 Member Schools, alleges that defendants both jointly agreed and conspired to violate the wage and hour provisions [materials] of the FLSA and that the NCAA affords better treatment to its students in work study part-time employment programs than its student athletes. Work study participants, "students who work at food service counters or sell programs or usher at athletic events, or who wait on tables or wash dishes in dormitories," qualify as temporary employees of the NCAA and are thus paid at least a federal minimum wage of $7.25/hour for their non-academic work. According to the suit, student athletes engage in a more rigorous commitment than work study students, from time required to stricter, more exacting supervision by coaches and trainers. The complaint goes on to say that without the student athletes' performance many student jobs such as ushering fans and selling programs would not exist. Plaintiff is seeking damages for herself and those similarly situated who elect to opt-in to this action pursuant to the collective action section of the FLSA, in order to remedy the defendants' violation of the FLSA hourly wage provisions that have deprived plaintiff and others of lawfully earned...
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Thousands of federal workers on extended paid leave

Today's post was shared by Steven Greenhouse and comes from www.washingtonpost.com

Tens of thousands of federal workers are being kept on paid leave for at least a month — and often for longer stretches that can reach a year or more — while they wait to be punished for misbehavior or cleared and allowed to return to work, government records show.

During a three-year period that ended last fall, more than 57,000 employees were sent home for a month or longer. The tab for these workers exceeded $775 million in salary alone.

The extensive use of administrative leave continues despite government personnel rules that limit paid leave for employees facing discipline to “rare circumstances” in which the employee is considered a threat. The long-standing rules were written in an effort to curb waste and deal quickly with workers accused of misconduct.

And the comptroller general, the top federal official responsible for auditing government finances and practices, has repeatedly ruled that federal workers should not be sidelined for long periods for any reason.

But a report by the Government Accountability Office, first made public by The Washington Post on its Web site Monday, found that 53,000 civilian employees were kept home for one to three months during the three fiscal years that ended in September 2013. About 4,000 were idled for three months to a year and several hundred for one to three years. This is the first time the government has calculated the scope and cost of administrative leave.

Auditors found that supervisors used wide...

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Doctor in New York City Tests Positive for Ebola

Today's post is shared from nytimes.com/
A doctor in New York City who recently returned from treating Ebola patients in Guinea tested positive for the Ebola virus Thursday, becoming the city’s first diagnosed case.
The doctor, Craig Spencer, was rushed to Bellevue Hospital Center on Thursday and placed in isolation while health care workers spread out across the city to trace anyone he might have come into contact with in recent days. A further test will be conducted by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to confirm the initial test.
While officials have said they expected isolated cases of the disease to arrive in New York eventually, and had been preparing for this moment for months, the first case highlighted the challenges surrounding containment of the virus, especially in a crowded metropolis.
Even as the authorities worked to confirm that Mr. Spencer was infected with Ebola, it emerged that he traveled from Manhattan to Brooklyn on the subway on Wednesday night, when he went to a bowling alley, and then took a taxi home.




The next morning, he reported having a temperature of 103 degrees, raising questions about his health while he was out in public.
People infected with Ebola cannot spread the disease until they begin to display symptoms, and it cannot be spread through the air. As people become sicker, the viral load in the body builds, and they become more and more contagious.
Dr. Spencer’s travel history and the timing of the onset of his symptoms led health officials to...
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Rating Made Real

Today's post was shared by CAAA and comes from myemail.constantcontact.com

HOW DO DOCTORS PERFORM IMPAIRMENT-DISABILITY EVALUATIONS:
THE MYSTERY BEHIND THE MEDICINE
Join us December 6 & 7, 2014 for our annual "don't miss" RATING SEMINAR. The program will be hosted in two locations: Costa Mesa and Monterey.  This seminar is exclusively devoted to providing the practitioner with the tools necessary to achieve the best and most accurate impairment rating so their clients may receive adequate compensation for their injuries. Pre-Registration ends soon, save your seat today! 
  • Understanding the what, how and why of your evaluators rating.
  • Did your QME overlook valuable impairment factors?
  • Guiding your evaluator to thoroughly describe accurate work preclusions.
  • What information your vocational expert needs from the Medical evaluator in order for the vocational report to be "substantial evidence."

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Tuesday, October 21, 2014

Asbestos likely more widespread than previously thought

Naturally occurring asbestos minerals may be more widespread than previously thought, with newly discovered sources now identified within the Las Vegas metropolitan area. The asbestos-rich areas are in locations not previously considered to be at risk, according to a new report. “These minerals were found where one wouldn’t expect or think to look,” said a co-researcher of the study. The naturally occurring asbestos was found in Boulder City, Nevada, in the path of a construction zone to build a multi-million dollar highway.

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Employer Fraud and Recommendations from New York State Supreme Court’s Grand Jury Report

Today's post is shared from http://legaltalknetwork.com/

A recent Grand Jury Report from the New York State Supreme Court brought recommendations of change to handle Employer Fraud in Workers’ Compensation. Among the recommended areas of change are the application process, criminal statutes, and the method of collecting data. On this episode ofWorkers Comp Matters, host Alan Pierce interviews Gilda Mariani of the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office. Together they discuss the results of the Grand Jury Report and the subsequent victims of premium fraud. Tune in to learn more about employee classifications, the involuntary insurance market, and drivers of cost for workers’ compensation insurance.
Gilda Mariani is with the New York County District Attorney’s Office, having held supervisory positions including Deputy Chief of its former Frauds Bureau as well as Chief of its former Money Laundering and Tax Crimes Unit. She has had a significant role in drafting legislation, including the New York Money Laundering Statute and the misdemeanor crime of Providing a Juror with a Gratuity. She has conducted several investigations that have led to issuance of Reports by the New York County Grand Jury, including the Grand Jury Report released in March 2014  on workers’ compensation reform. Mariani is also a recipient of the Robert M. Morgenthau Award by the District Attorneys Association of the State of New York.

Are Uber Drivers Getting Their Tips?

Today's post is shared from http://ncworkcompjournal.com/

A U.S. federal judge recently ruled that a ride-sharing service must face a lawsuit alleging that the company has been pocketing tips meant for the drivers (Detroit Free Press, September 19, 2014). Uber Technologies is a smartphone-summoned car service based in San Francisco that has been charging a 20% surcharge on rides. Uber was founded in 2009 and is currently in 35 countries and more than 100 cities. It is valued at $18.2 billion and is the most valued ventured-back company in the world.

Filed in January, the class-action suit alleges that Uber has been keeping a “substantial portion” of the gratuity as additional revenue rather than sharing with its drivers. This lawsuit also accuses the company of misleading customers about the true cost of its service. The complaint characterizes Uber’s practice as unfair and deceptive because Uber keeps most of the surcharge and it’s not a gratuity.

Uber, Lyft and other car-booking companies have been facing a growing number of legal challenges. In Chicago, cab drivers sued the city claiming that these smartphone-summoned services are not subject to the same regulations governing conventional taxi companies. In Connecticut, Uber and Lyft have also been accused of racketeering by taxi and livery operators who accuse the companies of preying on established businesses and cutting legal corners by partnering with affiliated drivers instead of owning cars. That way, these companies claim they are different from taxi dispatchers and shouldn’t be forced to comply with existing regulations, such as driver background checks and liability insurance.