By: Jeremy Schatz, Managing Attorney, Virtus Law Group. Whether you have a personal injury case depends on several factors, including the circumstances of your injury and the applicable laws Here are some general guidelines to help you determine if you have a potential personal injury case: Did you suffer an injury or harm? The first step in determining if you have a personal injury case is to determine if you suffered an injury or harm. This can include physical injuries, emotional distress, or financial losses. Was the injury caused by someone else’s negligence or intentional conduct? To ha ..read more

By: Jeremy Schatz, Managing Attorney, Virtus Law Group.   Myth #1 “If I wasn’t touched, it’s not sexual harassment.” Fact: Much of the sexual harassment committed in the workplace is verbal, including unwanted comments about appearance, request for sexual favors, request for sexual favor that include employment conditions, comments concerning sexual orientation, showing unwanted explicit photos, emails, text, etc., and discussing sexual acts just to name some examples. While not an exhaustive list, it’s clear there doesn’t need to be physical contact for sexual harassment to occur.   ..read more

Virtus Law Group, Birmingham, Alabama.   FEDERAL LAW: The Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (ADEA) is a federal law that protects individuals who are 40 years of age and older from workplace discrimination on the basis of age. These protections apply to employees and job applicants alike. Age discrimination can take place through: Hiring Firing Job assignments Promotions Discharge (i.e., being replaced by an employee under the age of 40) Compensation (i.e., paying older employees less than younger employees) Benefits Other terms, conditions, or privileges of employment The AD ..read more

By: Virtus Law Group, Birmingham, Alabama.   Disparate Treatment occurs when an employer discriminates against a specific individual or employee because of that person’s race, color, national origin, sex, or religion. In disparate treatment claims, the employer’s intent is at issue. Disparate Impact occurs when an employer discriminates against an entire protected class through practices, procedures, or tests. In a disparate impact claim, the company’s policies, procedures, and/or practices have discriminatory effects.   Disparate Treatment: In order to bring a successful disparate t ..read more

By: Virtus Law Group, Birmingham Alabama.   The Family Medical Leave Act of 1996 (FMLA) is a labor law that entitles eligible employees of covered employers to take unpaid, job-protected leave for qualified family and medical reasons. It also requires that their group health benefits be maintained during the leave. FMLA applies to all public agencies, all public and private elementary and secondary schools, and companies with 50 or more employees. These covered employers must provide eligible employees up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave each year for things such as: the birth and care of an e ..read more

A persistent issue in the area of uninsured/underinsured (UM/UIM) car insurance coverage is that of stacking. What is “stacking?” Stacking simply refers to being able to combine coverage limits, which are the maximum amounts your insurance will pay you for a covered claim, for multiple vehicles. This allows for a greater amount of protection for an insured party should the at-fault party have no insurance or an insufficient amount of insurance to cover any injuries sustained in the collision. For example, John has 3 cars, and each have the minimum UM/UIM coverage in Alabama of $25,000. If he i ..read more

By: Virtus Law Group, Birmingham Alabama.   Alabama does not have state specific wage and overtime laws; therefore, Alabama follows federal wage and overtime laws.  Specifically, the federal law is the Fair Labor Standard Act.  It outlines federal laws for wage and overtime compliance and violations.  One of the most complicated principles in the FLSA is deducting off days from exempt employees. Deducting off days from an exempt employee under the Fair Labor Standard Act can be very intricate and confusing.  An exempt employee under the Fair Labor Standard Act is one t ..read more

By: Virtus Law Group, Birmingham Alabama.   An employer’s liability for harassment that constitutes a hostile work environment, including sexual harassment, depends on the job role of the individual(s) doing the harassing. The standard for employer liability varies depending on whether the harasser is the victim’s supervisor or simply a co-worker. A supervisor is someone who has the authority to significantly change an employee’s employment status.   If The Person Is A Supervisor: An employer will be held strictly liable for a supervisor’s harassment of their subordinate employee whe ..read more

By: Virtus Law Group, Birmingham Alabama. What insurance is available when you’re the passenger of a vehicle involved in a car wreck and injured? As is often the case in legal questions, it depends. Scenario 1: The driver of the vehicle the passenger is in, is at fault Typically, in this situation, the passenger would be excluded from recovering due to Alabama’s guest statute which prohibits passengers from recovering against the driver of the vehicle that was carrying them. However, there are exceptions to this law that allow for recovery if there was willful or wanton misconduct of the drive ..read more

By: Virtus Law Group, Birmingham Alabama.   The Faragher-Ellerth defense is an affirmative defense used by employers to avoid liability from discrimination claims brought against them under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. This defense was the result of two Supreme Court case decisions: Farther v. City of Boca Raton (1998) and Burlington Industries v. Ellerth (1998). The Faragher-Ellerth defense applies most commonly to harassment and hostile work environment claims. This defense allows employers to avoid vicarious liability for its employees under certain circumstances. Essenti ..read more