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Four Firm Partners Listed in 2010 Virginia Super Lawyers
Jun 25, 2010The firm is proud to announce that four Butler Williams & Skilling partners were selected for inclusion in the 2010 Virginia Super Lawyers listing. Harris D. Butler, III was listed in the Plaintiff Employment Litigation category and was also recognized among the Top 10 Virginia attorneys for all categories presented, measured by highest peer voted point totals. Charles L. Williams was selected in the Construction Litigation category, and James C. Skilling was listed in the Business Litigation category. Finally, the firm's newest partner, Rebecca H. Royals, was selected as a 2010 Rising Star in the area of Employment Litigation: Plaintiff. Congratulations to all four of our attorneys listed this year.
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Court Certifies Overtime Collective Actions
Jun 14, 2010On June 14, 2010, Butler Williams & Skilling attorneys Harris Butler and Zev Antell, and Tim Cupp of Cupp & Cupp, P.C. in Harrisonburg, Virginia, argued motions to conditionally certify two overtime collective actions pending in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia. The Court conditionally certified both cases and ordered that notice be given to all similarly situated employees so that they could join the suits. The Court also ordered that both employers provide the names and last known addresses of all employees who worked for these employers during the times for which unpaid overtime and minimum wage payments are claimed. Butler Williams expects to receive the names and addresses within the next several weeks and expects that notices on these cases will be issued to possible employee and former employee claimants for each employer on or before July 1, 2010.
In Kisamore, et al v. Great Eastern Resort Corporation, Case No. 3:10cv00009, the Court ordered that notice of the claim and the opportunity to "opt-into" the lawsuit be provided to all timeshare sales "front-line" and "in-house" sales personnel and "take-over managers" employed by Massanutten Resort from July 1, 2007 to date.
In Addison, et al v. McLaughlin Communications, Inc., Case No. 5:09-cv-00087, the Court ordered that notice of the claim and the opportunity to "opt-into" the lawsuit be provided to all cable installation technicians employed by McLaughlin in Virginia, West Virginia and Pennsylvania from August 10, 2005 to date. In the Addison case, the Court acknowledged that a longer notice period was appropriate due to claims that McLaughlin is alleged to have created pay stubs that reflected fabricated overtime pay rates and overtime pay which was not actually paid to employees who worked 40 or more hours in a work week. In this case, we are asserting a claim that time during which all employees' overtime and minimum wage claims must be filed should be equitably tolled (or suspended) because of McLaughlin's actions in creating such pay stubs but not paying additional overtime pay for the overtime hours worked. - 2 - 10 -
Attorney Butler Quoted in Article on Avoiding Religious Discrimination
Jun 10, 2010Attorney Harris D. Butler, III was recently quoted in a United States Law Week article entitled, "Hijabs, Burqas, Khimars and Beards: Avoiding Religious Discrimination Suits." The article was published on June 8, 2010 and is reproduced with permission in the Library section of the Butler Williams & Skilling website. - 3 - 10
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Butler Moderates 19th Annual Virginia Employment Law Update
May 17, 2010This year, Harris Butler chairs the Virginia Continuing Legal Education's Employment Committee, and, on May 6 (Richmond) and May 13 (Fairfax), he moderated the 19th Annual Virginia Employment Law Update and presented the annual case law update with Eddie Isler of Isler, Dare, Ray, Radcliffe & Connolly, P.C. Harris and Eddie reviewed U.S. Supreme Court, Fourth Circuit, and Virginia federal and state law developments for other employment law practitioners.
Noted trends were more summary judgment reversals at the Fourth Circuit and continued support of the courts for retaliation claims. Also noted was the Fourth Circuit's class certification for a racially hostile environment as well as disparate treatment and impact classes in Brown v. Nucor, 576 F. 3d 149 (4th Cir. 2009).
The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act offered relief from the earlier adverse Supreme Court Ledbetter v. Goodyear ruling on the timing of filing pay discrimination claims, but the Supreme Court's decision in Gross v. FBL Servs, 129 S. Ct. 2343 (2009) increasing the burden of proof to age discrimination claimants and certiorari grant in Staub v. Proctor Hosp., 2010 U.S. LEXIS 3333 (April 19, 2010) to review the "cat's paw" proof model (where another person with discriminatory animus is claimed to influence the decision-maker) is troubling.
"Beware, there seems to be a recent trend of 5-4 U.S. Supreme Court decisions going the wrong way for employees these days,' says Butler. - 4 - 10 -
Butler Participates In Federal Civil Rules Litigation Conference
May 14, 2010On May 10-11, 2010, Harris Butler accompanied a National Employment Lawyers Association (NELA) delegation to Duke Law School to participate in the Federal Civil Rules Advisory Committee's Litigation Conference. The 180 participants, comprised of federal appellate and trial judges, law professors, major corporate general counsels and experienced litigators, met to discuss possible changes to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.
The business community has beaten a steady drum of opposition to the cost of litigation (and effects of electronically maintained data). As expected, corporate interests at the conference attacked the cost of electronically maintained data and want to restrict such discovery. The corporate 'lobby' also sought to modify federal pleading standards in light of the Supreme Court's Twombly and Iqbal decisions, seeking to amend the rules to make it easier to bar claims at the pleading stage—even before discovery.
Experienced plaintiffs' lawyers explained the burdens to the system created by recalcitrant employers who evade relevant and important discovery of critical emails and statistical proof and the delays imposed by employers' counsel who file dilatory motions to dismiss based on the Iqbal/Twombly analysis.
Obviously, a balance is key—discovery should be of relevant data but beware the business community's cries of "cost" and "burdensome" in its push to deny court access to important claims which advance public policy including the laws requiring that minimum wage and overtime are paid and that employment decisions are not infected with bias on the basis of gender, race, age or disability. - 5 - 10 -
Harris Butler—On The Air at WRIR
Apr 22, 2010On April 21, 2010, Harris Butler's interview on employment discrimination was aired on WRIR's Marty Wegbreit's "It's Time for Justice," the Central Virginia Legal Aid Radio Show (97.3 FM). You can listen to the interview at www.radio4all.net by clicking the "Contributor" link on the right-hand side of the webpage and then selecting Martin Wegbreit, Central Virginia Legal Aid Society. Harris is scheduled to appear again on the show in the near future to speak on wage theft and overtime issues. Stay tuned for more details . . . . - 6 - 10
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Jury Awards Defamation Verdict Against Former Circuit Court Judge
Apr 08, 2010A jury awarded Brenda Collins, former Hampton Drug Court Administrator, $300,000 in defamation damages and $50,000 in punitive damages against Verbena Askew, former Newport News Circuit Court judge. The jury awarded an additional $106,000 for breach of a confidentiality and non-disparagement agreement resulting from a prior settlement. Butler Williams & Skilling attorneys Rebecca Royals and Harris Butler tried the case to a Williamsburg jury January 27-29, 2010. - 7 - 10
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Attorney Butler quoted in The Roanoke Times
Mar 15, 2010Harris Butler was recently quoted in The Roanoke Times concerning Virginia Governor McDonnell's recent "Executive Directive" which stated that state employees should not be discriminated against for any reason, including sexual orientation or parental status, and directing Virginia executive branch employees to base job decisions on qualification, merit and performance and to not discriminate in hiring, promotion, compensation, treatment, discipline, and termination of state employees. The Executive Directive follows the revocation of the Executive Order under the Kaine administration which forbid such discrimination but also provided legal protections that Gov. McDonnell's "Directive" omits.
Mr. Butler additionally states, "While this 'directive' establishes policy, it does not carry the force of law or protections that the Warner/Kaine Executive Orders carried. Gov. McDonnell eliminated the state employee grievance right when he rescinded Gov. Kaine's Executive Order. It is replaced with, as I read it, only and 'opportunity to advise' the Virginia Department of Human Resource Management (DHRM) for their follow-up and action, if any. Critically, it does not reinstate the grievance right which would allow presentation of evidence, neutral decision maker, etc as would be anticipated with a grievance. It looks nice but has no teeth."
See Mr. Butler's quote to the Roanoke Times here. - 8 - 10 -
Butler Williams & Skilling, P.C. Names New Partner
Mar 01, 2010Butler Williams & Skilling, P.C. is pleased to announce that attorney Rebecca H. Royals has become a partner in the firm. Rebecca's practice focuses on the litigation of employment issues ranging from noncompetition agreements to civil rights. Rebecca joined the firm as an associate in 2005, after graduating with honors from the University of Richmond's T.C. Williams School of Law. - 9 - 10
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Attorney Butler to Speak at Carolina Labor Law Update
Oct 09, 2009Harris D. Butler, III will be speaking on Friday, October 23, 2009 at the 25th Annual North Carolina/South Carolina Labor & Employment Law Update in Charleston, South Carolina. His topic will be: The Strategic Value of Collective Actions—A Plaintiff's Perspective. - 10 - 10
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