Employment Litigation

I handle all kinds of employment and personal-injury cases. I carefully select cases and then provide my clients with vigorous prosecution of their claims. I litigate cases in Oregon and Washington state and in federal courts and administrative agencies.

The most prominent of these employment cases include the following types of litigation:

Wrongful Discharge: A wrongful discharge occurs when an employee is fired in violation of "public policy." Examples of a wrongful discharge are when an employer discharges an employee because the employee served on a jury or refused to do something unsafe on the job. There are many examples of wrongful discharge, but one should realize that not every discharge, however "wrong" in the eyes of an employee, is necessarily wrong in the eyes of the law. Generally speaking, a discharge is a wrongful discharge only when the discharge violates a public policy.

Discrimination: A discrimination case occurs when an employee has something adverse happen on the job, such as discharge, because of the employee's race, sex, age, color, religion, national origin, or disability. Discrimination in the sense of an employment case does not occur when an employer discriminates on the basis of other criteria, such as a personal like or dislike. A discrimination case may be brought before a government agency or in court.

Retaliation: A retaliation case occurs when an employee opposes or complains about discrimination and something adverse-such as discharge-results. A retaliation case can be brought before a government agency or in court on account of retaliation. In fact, retaliation cases often grow out of discrimination cases when employers retaliate against employees because the employees have complained about or opposed discrimination on the job.

Harassment: An employer can be liable for sexual, racial, religious, or other types of harassment. This occurs when an employer makes the workplace a hostile environment on account of an employee's sex, age, color, race, religion, or some other characteristic such as disability. Sexual harassment is the most common, but not the only, type of harassment.

Civil Rights: A civil rights case may be brought against a local, state, or federal government when the government deprives someone of a right guaranteed by the constitution. An example of a civil rights case would be discharging a government employee because the employee has exercised his right to free speech.

Disability: A disabled employee has a right to reasonable accommodation. What this means is the disabled employee has a right to be given the means to work on the job and to be a productive employee. An employer must give a disabled employee this reasonable accommodation, unless to do so creates an undue hardship for the employer. And not every medical condition constitutes a disability within the meaning of the law, however. The medical condition must substantially impair or inhibit the person in the performance of a major life activity such as eating, walking, or working.

Wage Claims: An employer may refuse to pay an employee for all hours worked or for overtime. Some employers work their employees through breaks and other time when the employee should be off work or work their employees "off the clock." In addition, an employer may fail to pay an employee all wages due when the employee quits or is discharged. When these events occur, the employee is entitled to compensation along with penalties and attorney fees for unpaid wages and overtime.

Whistleblowing: In general, when an employee makes a report to state or federal government about an illegality or safety violation, and the employee suffers an adverse job action such as suspension or discharge as a result, there may be a violation of what are known as whistleblower laws.

Non-Competition Agreements: A non-competition (also known as non-compete) agreement is an agreement not to compete with an employer, usually after separation from employment. Laws vary from state to state on their enforceability. A non-competition agreement may become a problem when an ex-employee attempts to work for another employer and the ex-employer says the ex-employee is violating the agreement.

Severance Agreements: A severance agreement may be offered to an employee upon separation from employment, usually in conjunction with a release of claims the employee may have against the employer. These agreements often provide for review by the employee's attorney prior to signing.

Contact Us

If you have a legal issue in one of the areas below that you believe Kevin can help you with, please call us (503) 232-9280, or contact us.