September 2001

WIN AT WORK MONTHLY

A Community Service of DON D. SESSIONS, A PROFESSIONAL LAW CORP., Employee Rights Attorneys
	Win At Work CONSTRUCTIVE TERMINATION So you weren’t fired, but you quit. Do you still have a claim for wrongful termination? Absolutely, according to many courts, especially if you’re subjected to discrimination, sex harassment, unsafe work environment, illegalities, or failure to pay wages as promised. Who should have to work in these conditions? However, you may have to show that conditions at work were so intolerable that any reasonable person would have quit in the same circumstances. Some courts may require proof that you gave notice of the problem to the employer, who then did nothing about it after a reasonable period of time. You may also have to time your quitting soon after the adverse working conditions to show a cause‑and‑effect connection. Then, quitting may have the same legal effect as a wrongful termination by the employer. But with all these subjective conditions, you may want to check with an attorney on this one before acting.		Employee Rights Update CELL PHONE LIABILITY Talking on the phone while driving can be dangerous, and is illegal in some places. But what are the ramifications for employees, and employers, when accidents happen? In a recent case a lawyer was driving and talking on her cell phone. She hit something but continued driving. She thought it was a deer, but she had killed a 15-year old girl. She was fired, lost her law license and pleaded guilty to leaving the scene of an accident. The parents sued her and the law firm for $25 million, holding the employer liable because it provided the phone, encouraged the calls and billed clients for the time. Employer responsibility for actions of employees is not new, but technology that allows a harmless phone call to become a source of liability for employees and employers is new. Some solutions: prohibit cell phone calls while driving; provide equipment like hands-free and speakers; and provide safety training. - Mark J. Keough, Attorney
		Update on our attorneys – Don Sessions taught a course at Brigham Young University in Utah on “Win at Work” emphasizing the history of work, employee rights, employer rights and workplace negotiation. We were sorry to hear about the closure of the Orange County news channel for which we have been a guest commentator for many years.
Look for our answers to employees’ questions in the "Shop Talk" column of the Los Angeles Times’ Sunday Business Section or the “Life and Work Q & A” column of the Orange County Register’s "Business Monday" magazine. Click here to add (or here to delete) your E-mail address to or from our monthly mailing list. For more employee rights information or for past issues of Win at Work Monthly, click here for our website, job-law.com; here to order our book, Employee Rights in California; or contact our office directly at 23456 Madero, Suite 170, Mission Viejo, CA 92691, (949) 380-0900, (800) 774-7494, mailto:attorneys@job-law.com. The Win at Work portion of Win at Work Monthly is from our ongoing syndicated column appearing in Times/Mirror Publications (including Los Angeles Jobs and Orange County Jobs) and elsewhere. Win at Work Monthly is intended for general information and should not be construed as legal advice or opinion. Readers in need of legal advice should promptly retain the services of an attorney. ©2001 by Don D. Sessions.