Practice Areas 1 – Langeland Law

Wage Violations

Instances of wage violations are rampant around the country. These situations get worse when economic conditions become severe. Then it’s the worker who takes it on the chin. The impact can be severe. One thing we have found is that people don’t really know what their rights are. They feel something might be wrong, so they go to HR. HR says, “That’s how we do it.” They don’t know that HR works for the employer and is there to protect the company. Most cases involve commission only positions. Due to employer violations, these employees have bills they can’t pay and rack up debt. Survival becomes a struggle.

We see a lot of instances where the employers, especially in sales arena, improperly deduct from the employee’s pay or hire on an hourly pay, but never pay OT; they make the employee work “off the clock hours” to shave time off the employee’s hours. Employees take cell phone calls at night and weekends on unpaid time. A salary doesn’t always mean you don’t get overtime. Salesperson should get overtime whether they get salary or not. Unless they are subject to an exemption which has to be proven by employer, you are owed overtime.

At Langeland Law, we do a thorough analysis of a person’s claims to see if they have a viable case. We look at the law and file whatever lawsuit is strategically viable – individual or class action. We bring the cases to remedy that. We have brought numerous cases which have recovered millions of dollars for our clients.

Employment Law

With employment law, we start with the basics. Since there is employment at will throughout the country, employers can hire or fire at will within certain guidelines. Employment at will has the advantage in that it allows employer flexibility and allows employees the opportunity to leave for a better job if they want. We look at the alleged wrong. Why did you get fired? Was it discriminatory or sexual harassment?

Employer Discrimination. Failure to hire and refusal to hire a particular race is illegal. In one US state, it was discovered that the state agency had never hired an African-American person. Someone filed an individual case and once discovery was done, it was found to be an actual instance of racial discrimination. Additionally, we take action instances where termination of an employee is based on race, age, religious beliefs, and now – political beliefs. . Political affiliation really has nothing to do with work, but discrimination is happening, especially in New York.

Restrictive agreements and non-compete agreements are subject to negotiation. Employees need to know their rights and options. Non-compete agreements have to be limited in time and geographic scope. They can be too long or too broad. Many don’t seek counsel before they sign them. There is no guarantee the agreements will change if you do seek legal counsel, so we recommend you seek legal counsel to review any agreements before you sign them.

Family Medical Leave Act. Whenever an employee has an unfortunate medical situation, they are entitled to have time off from work to deal with it. The employee has a right to return to the same position they had before, not lose their job. This also applies to the situation where an employee’s family member has a medical issue where the employee is obligated to give care to that family member. Employers have fired, demoted or deprived their employees of the time they are legally entitled to.

Hostile work environment. Most people think this means that it’s the boss being mean, but it’s not. Bosses can be mean. It’s mostly in the sexual harassment arena or anti-gay or transgender (sexual orientation). There is a proliferation of cases going on now out of the “Me Too” movement. Cases are real of sexual harassment in the workplace. There is a true effort to show inclusion in companies these days. We are all for human rights and being free and equal.

Breach of Contract

Contract disputes come up in all sorts of business settings. We draft and negotiate contracts for our clients to avoid a breach of contract problem, dispute or lawsuit. Make the contract as clear with plain English terms and protection. Make it so the interpretation of the contract is in favor oof the client. Having a clear agreement dissuades other party from having a dispute or if other party violates puts client in position to show the breach.

We can review other party’s contract and evaluate a breach and the damages that might flow from the breach and evaluate the best course on litigation or resolution.

We have had a number of individual cases where we got to settlement stage. We go for resolving them early. These can overlap with wage violation. Can be a breach of contract.

Americans with Disabilities Act

This law has been around for 40 years. Basically it says that cities and services and restaurants and places that people go should be accessible to people with disabilities. Establishments don’t have to fix everything right now, but if they do make repairs to their facilities, they have to make them accessible. Otherwise the requirement is to have a compliance plan with a projection on when they will fix it.

One case we are representing is against a major city. There are obstructions, like trees or fire hydrants right in middle of sidewalk, posing an unpassable barrier for people in wheelchairs. The disabled person has to go in traffic or go back in order to proceed. Or they are forced to give up and not go to town/work. Some curb cuts are made inaccessible to street or put someone in middle of traffic instead of crosswalk. We had a complaint and showed the city officials pictures of sidewalks in disrepair, which are not ADA compliant. The town was aware of these violations but didn’t do anything about it. We brought case on behalf of people in wheelchairs. One person in this action was so happy, having felt the attitude of the city towards him was, “Tough luck.” New York has been sued in similar case and numerous other locations. So many have not. Those violations have continued. Langeland Law has the purpose to right these wrongs.

Equal Pay Act

This is actually a gender issue. Women should get same pay as men for same work. Many cases occur in industries which have traditionally been male dominated fields. On the Equal Pay Act, they got sued. These cases happen a lot in the area of sales where they pay on commission. These violations are usually hidden. Loan Officers know what leads are good quality leads vs bad quality leads. They give good leads to their top producers; they give the lesser quality leads to someone new or to women employees. They make it impossible for these employees to continue to work there – they can’t make enough money to pay their bills, only getting minimum wage. In the mortgage loan arena, processors and underwriters can also favor men over women. The employer lures in new employees with the promises like, “this guy made a million and you can do it too.” They new employee doesn’t make a million. Bank loan officers just promote their buddies and let others just feed the pipeline. The employee quits with loan deals in the pipeline, having done the work, but then someone else gets the pay. This is an area that is under-litigated.

If it’s same job duties – job qualifications would be considered but not the whole. Has to be a way to get differently qualified people to get the same pay. Same education level – some one tried and true vs someone new or less productive. More about duties vs production.

Religious Discrimination

For some religions, it is still socially acceptable to discriminate or slander them. It’s time for that to end. These illegal acts are perpetrated out of ignorance when you see how much churches actually help people. People have that basic fundamental right to their own religious beliefs. This is an area that is still being infringed on. Freedom of religion is a basic human right guaranteed by constitution, yet people experience discrimination at work and in choosing their housing in. Individual rights is the reason why Langeland Law is in practice and we will do everything possible to protect this basic right for all.

Whistleblower

Langeland Law protects employees from retaliation under the Whistleblower Act. These are situations where an employee is bringing up instances of employer wrongful conduct to the attention of law enforcement or government or judicial system. There are protections for whistleblowers that have to be explored before the allegations are made public to protect them. This is done confidentially under attorney client privilege. We determine if there is a case and if the whistleblower is protected. We then evaluate the strengths of the case and potential damages. We do everything possible to avoid any blacklist/blackball situation. Once we determine the validity of the case, we file the case whereby the employee recovers damages.

Psychiatric Malpractice

This is an area that is so under litigated and so needed. Langland Law helps you fight back. Nearly 40% of practicing psychiatrists are sued for malpractice during the course of their career. Through abusive and coercive actions, your rights can all be taken away if you are deemed mentally incompetent. We litigate instances of psychiatric insurance fraud and fraudulent billing practices. There are also violations regarding what the patient pays – they pay a lot of money for the treatment which is not necessarily covered by insurance.

This stuff really happens, so if you are going to see a psychiatrist, here are things that may occur: Rape, sexual assault and harmful drug side effects, People get all types of harmful reactions to psychiatric drugs and if not properly monitored, these are the malpractice cases. Personal injury from psychiatric drugs can occur.

Life liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Freedom and justice are the two things that have always driven Erik Langeland.