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Neil Bergt was president and chairman of the board of directors for the airline MarkAir. He participated in the company-sponsored profit-sharing plan and an employee stock ownership plan. The company then created an ERISA retirement plan that allowed employees who were pilots or former pilots to participate.
A new study by the Kaiser Family Foundation reports that during the first five months of 2002, health insurance premiums for employer-sponsored plans rose by 12.7%. This represents the fastest rate of increase since 1990, when rates jumped by 14%. The study showed that employers are bearing the brunt of the recent increases, and that […]
When court secretary Alice Jones sued the Los Angeles Superior Court and the County of Los Angeles for harassment, the county asked to be let out of the lawsuit, arguing that it wasn’t her employer—the Superior Court was. A California appellate court agreed, ruling that the Superior Court was Jones’ sole employer because it appointed […]
The California Supreme Court recently ruled that when making benefits decisions, you don’t have to offer older employees the same perks you offer younger ones. Here’s what happened and why you still must be cautious when basing benefits decisions on age.
David Virts was an “over-the-road” truck driver at Consolidated Freightways Corp.’s Nashville, Tenn., terminal. Virts refused to go on overnight “sleeper runs” with female drivers because it would violate his religious beliefs. Now a federal appeals court has ruled that the trucking company wasn’t required to accommodate Virts because it would have been an undue […]
Several years ago, the California Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board ruled that it’s illegal to terminate an injured worker’s health benefits unless you can show a legitimate business reason for doing so. But now the board has ruled that you can cut off health benefits for an employee out on workers’ comp leave so long as […]
Lunchroom gossip is common in most workplaces, and when it’s malicious, it can damage relationships and affect morale. But can it also create work-related injuries that employers are on the hook for? We’ll tell you why a California appeals court has ruled that one workplace gossip victim was not entitled to workers’ comp benefits—but why […]
Sacramento lawmakers are debating a host of proposals that would impact employers. We’ll look at some of the key legislation that’s on the table.
Two new federal Department of Labor programs will make it easier for employers and benefit plan officials to voluntarily correct certain employee benefit plan violations and avoid enforcement actions and hefty penalties. Here’s how these programs work.
In her first year as an Orange County deputy district attorney, Victoria Chen dated, and later married, Devallis Rutledge, a high-level management attorney in the district attorney’s office. After working there many years, Chen sued the county, arguing that she was discriminated against because of her relationship with Rutledge, who she claimed was not in […]