ATC attorney Trinity Hundredmark was a guest contributor on HLN’s ”Raising America” on June 11, 2013. She commented on a variety of topics, including jury questions in the Jodi Arias trial, the Brett Seacat murder trial, and jury selection. Watch an excerpt here:
http://www.hlntv.com/video/2013/06/11/how-important-was-jodi-arias-sex-life-trial
Congratulations
to Matt Reeves for being chosen to be part of the 29th Class of Leadership Gwinnett!
Matt will soon join the number of attorneys at ATC that have graduated from the Leadership Gwinnett program over the years, with the skills to educate, equip, and engage in the community. Those attorneys include: Ethel Andersen, Tom Tate, Brad Carr, Kathleen Guy, Scott Duncan, Jim Joedecke, Pat McDonough, Don Swift, Brian Carmony and, most recently, Amy Bray.
With a strong history of creating a legacy of success in Gwinnett and metro Atlanta, the 29th class of Leadership Gwinnett is set to begin in August 2013 to drive positive change in the region. From the nearly 350 nominations received for the nine-month experience, Leadership Gwinnett alumni selected the final group of 42 based on work experience, accomplishments, community involvement, education and other information from their individual applications. The program year is comprised of two overnight retreats, seven learning days covering leadership in a world class community, infrastructure, economics, education, health & human services, justice and regional relations, as well as monthly study groups and other activities.
Recently, a client approached us after losing his job as a cashier at a convenience store. He contended that he had been terminated over religious differences with his boss and coworkers. Our client was Hindu and his coworkers Muslim. As a result, he felt that he was routinely given the worst tasks of all of the staff, and ultimately, that he was fired for complaining about the discriminatory treatment.
This client relied heavily on his steady income and was suffering from its sudden loss. We agreed to pursue a claim of wrongful discharge based on religious discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. In preparing a complaint and computing the damages to the client resulting from the loss of his job, we asked him more about his lost earnings – what was his hourly rate? how many hours did he work in a typical week? It became Immediately apparent that, not only had the client been unlawfully terminated, but, working 60 – 80 hour weeks at a “straight time” rate of $10.00/hr, he had not been paid overtime (or “time and a half”) for all hours in excess of 40/week in accordance with his rights under the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”). Suddenly, this client’s case became focused on the three years of unpaid overtime to which he was entitled – a clear, easily calculated claim which was not dependent upon proving the discriminatory mindset of the employer.
Once an overtime violation is alleged by an employee, the burden shifts to the employer to disprove the entitlement to overtime and/or back pay. For that reason, FLSA allegations are notoriously difficult to disprove, and such wage and hour claims allow the plaintiff to seek back pay, front pay, attorney’s fees and liquidated damages.
In our client’s case, the violations were so blatant (the pay records, of which our client had copies, clearly showed up to 80 hours of work per week paid at a straight time rate) and serious (thousands of hours of underpaid overtime), that the claim was settled within two weeks and before a complaint was even filed. The resulting settlement to our client was substantial.
Employers provide slam-dunk FLSA cases for disgruntled employees when they
- fail to pay 1.5x the “regular rate of pay” for all hours worked in excess of 40 per week;
- incorrectly calculate of “regular rate of pay” (which is more complicated than it sounds);
- use “comp time” in lieu of overtime;
- incorrectly classify employees as “exempt” (“exempt” means more than just “salaried and/or responsible”);
- make automatic deductions from pay for meals and breaks;
- permit, or require, “off the clock” work of any description;
- make deductions from pay for the cost of uniforms, damage to property, loss of property, violations of rules/policies;
- retaliate against an employee who complains of FLSA violations.
Employees who feel that their FLSA rights may have been violated should compile good records of their hours worked and pay received for the previous three years, before speaking to an employment lawyer. Employers should be proactive in consulting an employment lawyer to confirm they are complying with the FLSA.
Jim Joedecke, Liz Clack-Freeman and Eadaoin Waller represent both employees and employers regarding compliance with Title VII, FLSA and in other areas. By not limiting their practices to “one side,” they have a unique perspective to “both sides” of a claim or potential danger zone.
Andersen, Tate & Carr is a proud to be a sponsor for the Georgia Lenders Quality Circle
2013 Small Business Week Awards Luncheon
Thursday, May 23, 2013
11:30 – 2 pm
Villa Christina
400 Summit Boulevard
Atlanta, Georgia
Multitasking is the modern American way. Friends and colleagues frequently claim to be multitasking, as if bragging about their high efficiency. But decades of research by neuroscientists has definitively established that multi-tasking is a myth. Our brains are not designed to pursue two or three tasks at the same time. Our brains function best when doing a singular task.
The best example of this is texting and driving. You cannot give your full attention to the road in front of you and draft or read a text message. Surprisingly, the same is true of merely talking on your cell phone while driving, even if you’re using a hands-free device or Bluetooth through your stereo system. In fact, research has shown that driving a car while on your cell phone is the equivalent of being intoxicated. Sleights of Mind, What the Neuroscience of Magic Reveals about our Everyday Deceptions, Macknik, Stephen L.; Martinez-Conde, Susana; Picador ISBN 978-0-312-61167-5, 2011, p.87. http://www.sleightsofmind.com.
Neuroscientists refer to this principle as inattentive blindness. “We have to be aware that there is a cost to the way that our society is changing, that humans are not built to work this way,” says Russ Poldrack, a brain scientists at UCLA. “We’re really built to focus. And when we force ourselves to multitask, we’re driving ourselves to perhaps be less efficient in the long run even though it sometimes feels like we’re being more efficient.” Id, pp. 87-88.
Psychologists at Western Washington University conducted a fascinating experiment regarding inattentive blindness. They observed four categories of college students walking across the main campus square. One group was minding their own business and told to simply walk across the quad. A second group was walking in pairs and talking. A third group was listening to music on mobile devices. The fourth group was talking on cell phones. In each instance, a ridiculously costumed clown on a unicycle pedals in circles around the participants.
Which participants noticed the unicycling clown? The students walking in pairs were most likely to notice the clown. The students listening to music on their mobile devices were only slightly less attentive. Half of the students talking on cell phones entirely miss the unicycling class. Half! The cellphone users also walked more slowly, weaving as they crossed the square. Id., p. 86.
So if we are not going to notice a unicycling clown, we certainly are not going to notice the subtleties of the traffic patterns unfolding in front of us: the driver slowly decelerating, the car in front of us drifting into our lane or the commercial vehicle unexpectedly making a left turn into our lane.
Inattentive blindness is probably a factor in the vast majority of car accidents in metropolitan Atlanta, Gwinnett County and in counties all across Georgia. Multi-tasking drivers must be held responsible for the injuries they cause with their carelessness.
official logo of the American Cancer Society Relay For Life (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Join us today, April 25th, 2013 for our annual “Kickin’ Cancer Cookout“
to raise funds for the Gwinnett County Relay for Life!
the cookout will be at One Sugarloaf Centre
1960 Satellite Blvd.
Duluth, Georgia 30097
from 11:30am to 1:30pm
Your $10 donation includes: hamburger/veggie burger or 2 hot dogs, chips, a side item, a dessert, and a drink.
ALL proceeds go to the American Cancer Society.
When I watch TV shows with my teenage boys, it drives me crazy that they are on their mobile phones, texting, Tweeting and Facebooking. We frequently have to back up the show when something funny or significant happens. Of course, when my wife and I suggest that they pay attention to the show, they strenuously argue, “I’m multitasking!”
Multitasking is the modern American way. Friends and colleagues frequently claim to be multitasking, as if bragging about their high efficiency. But decades of research by neuroscientists has definitively established that multi-tasking is a myth. Our brains are not designed to pursue two or three tasks at the same time. Our brains function best when doing a singular task.
The best example of this is texting and driving. You cannot give your full attention to the road in front of you and draft or read a text message. Surprisingly, the same is true of merely talking on your cell phone while driving, even if you’re using a hands-free device or Bluetooth through your stereo system. In fact, research has shown that driving a car while on your cell phone is the equivalent of being intoxicated. Sleights of Mind, What the Neuroscience of Magic Reveals about our Everyday Deceptions, Macknik, Stephen L.; Martinez-Conde, Susana; Picador ISBN 978-0-312-61167-5, 2011, p.87. www.sleightsofmind.com.
Neuroscientists refer to this principle as inattentive blindness. “We have to be aware that there is a cost to the way that our society is changing, that humans are not built to work this way,” says Russ Poldrack, a brain scientists at UCLA. “We’re really built to focus. And when we force ourselves to multitask, we’re driving ourselves to perhaps be less efficient in the long run even though it sometimes feels like we’re being more efficient.” Id, pp. 87-88.
Psychologists at Western Washington University conducted a fascinating experiment regarding inattentive blindness. They observed four categories of college students walking across the main campus square. One group was minding their own business and told to simply walk across the quad. A second group was walking in pairs and talking. A third group was listening to music on mobile devices. The fourth group was talking on cell phones. In each instance, a ridiculously costumed clown on a unicycle pedals in circles around the participants.
Which participants noticed the unicycling clown? The students walking in pairs were most likely to notice the clown. The students listening to music on their mobile devices were only slightly less attentive. Half of the students talking on cell phones entirely miss the unicycling class. Half! The cellphone users also walked more slowly, weaving as they crossed the square. Id., p. 86.
So if we are not going to notice a unicycling clown, we certainly are not going to notice the subtleties of the traffic patterns unfolding in front of us: the driver slowly decelerating, the car in front of us drifting into our lane or the commercial vehicle unexpectedly making a left turn into our lane.
Inattentive blindness is probably a factor in the vast majority of car accidents in metropolitan Atlanta, Gwinnett County and in counties all across Georgia. Multi-tasking drivers must be held responsible for the injuries they cause with their carelessness.
It is vitally important to retain a competent attorney to represent you in collision cases whether they involved 18 wheelers, other commercial vehicles or Passenger vehicles. Preserving and collecting the proof of cell phone usage in connection with car accidents is highly time sensitive. Cell phone providers only maintain data for a limited period of time. This data must be preserved, and in order to do so, you must put the at-fault driver and their insurance company on notice.
