Education Law Lawyers in the USA

In California, the responsibility of school employees to report suspicion of child abuse is not only a component of a person’s moral compass, it’s the law. Communities rely on places like institutions of education to provide an element of safety for children, and teachers and administrators are assumed to uphold that expectation.

Most often, when a teacher is charged with a criminal offense, their job is in jeopardy. A tenured teacher facing disciplinary and possible dismissal from employment must endure a 3020a hearing. Robert J. Thompson, 38, a Schuylerville school teacher resigned from his job and will serve a prison sentence of 1 to 3 years after pleading guilty to vehicular assault and driving while intoxicated.

Illinois passed the Illinois False Claims Act (IFCA), previously called the “Illinois Whistleblower Reward and Protection Act,” in 1991. The IFCA models the Federal False Claims Act (FCA), but is different is some aspects. 1]—Liability and Damages Provisions - Generally, an individual will be liable under the IFCA for the same violations as the federal FCA.

On May 12, 2011, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (“SJC”) upheld a trial court ruling that an employer who filed a baseless lawsuit against a former employee, two years after that employee had filed a discrimination charge against the employer with the MCAD, violated the anti-retaliation provisions of Massachusetts General Law chapter 151B, §§4(4) and (4A).

On June 16, 2011, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (“SJC”) considered whether the plaintiff, a former employee of Verizon, was entitled to unemployment benefits even though she accepted an incentive-based voluntary termination package. Affirming a decision by the district court, the SJC ruled that the former employee, Kristen Connolly, was not entitled to unemployment benefits because she could not show that her decision to leave her job was involuntary.

Does improper employee training warrant a call to a Las Vegas workers’ compensation lawyer? In some cases employers try to say that the employee should have known better and that training has nothing to do with why she or he was injured. However in numerous cases, injury could have been prevented if the proper training was furnished.

Prevailing wage laws(1) require that contractors and subcontractors who obtain certain government construction and service contracts pay their employees a local minimum amount, commonly referred to as the “prevailing wage.” By: Joel M. Androphyi and Rachel L. Grier

The False Claims Act (“FCA”) is particularly important in the area of defense contracts. In fact, the FCA was enacted due to the sever abuses which occurred at the hands of many defense contractors and corrupt officials who fraudulently procured payment for the necessities of war, such as ships, food, supplies, and weapons, to the detriment of the United States military.(1) By: Joel M. Androphyi and Rachel L. Grier

President Obama has announced a plan that seeks to lessen the burden of paying back student loans. The plan calls for lowering the maximum required payment on student loans from 15 percent of discretionary income annually to 10 percent for eligible borrowers. This plan goes into effect in 2012 and any remaining debt would be forgiven after 20 years.

Civil courts are seeing more school bullying cases. Parents are hoping these lawsuits will bring more attention to the seriousness of bullying.