-
Court Holds that Offering Different Severance Packages to Employees Does Not Constitute Disparate Treatment Under Title VII
n a recent opinion, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia describes the critical difference between an employment action that is adverse and one that is not in a case involving disparate severance packages. The central determination …
-
A King Cake Leads to a Court Clarifying the Definition of “Employee” under the ADA and the Civil Rights Act of 1991
Showing up to work with a Mardi Gras King Cake, which for some is a symbol of Christian faith, and sending an email to coworkers about its religious significance can have bigger consequences than one may think. That was the …
-
Non-Competes Barring Passive Investments May Render the Non-Compete Unenforceable
Recently, a Virginia Circuit Court Judge in Virginia Beach, Virginia held that a non-competition agreement was overbroad and unenforceable because the non-compete barred indirect involvement by the employee as a shareholder in potentially non-competing businesses. In Richmond Medical Group, LLC … -
Press Releases Can Cause Waiver of Work Product
Statements made in a press release, if based on attorney work product information, may waive work product as to the subject matter of the statements. In E.I. DuPont de Nemours and Company v. Kolon Industries, Inc. (E.D. Va. July 30,… -
Supreme Court Rules That Government Employers May Review Employee Cell Phone Records
The Supreme Court ruled that public sector employers do not need to obtain a search warrant in order to review employee text messages sent by government issued cell phones. Although this case is most directly applicable to public sector employees,… -
A Misrepresentation Made During a Contract Performance May Not Constitute Fraud
In a newly released opinion, the Virginia Supreme Court reaffirmed the Virginia rule that a fraud claim cannot be based upon one contracting party’s false statements to another contracting party in absence of an independent common law duty. The opinion …
-
A Virginia Court Redefines a LLC’s Unanimous Consent Requirement to Permit the LLC to Sue One of Its Members
A circuit court in Virginia was faced with the question of whether a Limited Liability Company can sue one of its three Members when, under the LLC’s Operating Agreement, the decision to file a law suit required that all three …
-
Beware of the Web ‘Bots
Cvent, Inc. filed an intellectual property law suit against EventBrite, alleging multiple unfair business practices claims, including: (1) violation of Virginia’s business conspiracy statute; (2) copyright infringement and violating the Lanham Act governing trademarks; (3) violation of the U.S. Computer …
-
Government Contractor Hit with $10 Million in Punitive Damages for Discriminatory Contract Termination
In a government contractor dispute between prime and subcontractor companies, a jury empanelled in the U.S. District Court for Eastern District of Virginia found that the prime contractor racially discriminated against the subcontractor, tortiously interfered with the subcontractor’s employee contracts, …
-
Virginia Petitions the U.S. Supreme Court to Reinstate Anti-Spam Law
Virginia’s Attorney General is petitioning the U.S. Supreme Court to uphold the verdict against spammer, Jeremy Jaynes, and reverse the Virginia Supreme Court’s decision rendering unconstitutional Virginia’s anti-spam statute. Virginia’s petition for a writ of certiorari to the U.S. Supreme …
Protorae Business Briefs
Providing insight on legal issues impacting businesses, our blog focuses on Corporate & Business Entities, Government Contracts, Employment Law, Intellectual Property and Technology Law, Business Litigation, Real Estate and Land Use, Trusts and Estates and Tax Law to help you navigate the business world.