Consumer Protection and Employment Law Blog

When an employer denies overtime pay

On behalf of The Grubb Law Group posted in employment law - employees on Saturday, May 11, 2019.

We have covered many facets of employment law, from discrimination to workplace injuries and other challenges that people may face while on the job. However, wage and hour violations should not be overlooked either, and many workers have been mistreated when it comes to the denial of overtime pay. If your employer has refused to pay you for overtime when you were legally entitled to payments, it is pivotal to take action swiftly. Unfortunately, many employers have been allowed to get away with this behavior, which is completely unacceptable.

Hard-working employees deserve to be compensated in a fair manner, especially those who go above and beyond and work overtime. Employers may come up with a number of excuses when it comes to denied overtime pay, whether they claim that they forgot to compensate an employee for overtime or they claim that overtime payments are not required by law. For example, an employer may claim that a worker is not entitled to overtime pay when state law mandates that they receive additional compensation for the number of hours they worked.

Age discrimination often a barrier for older workers

On behalf of The Grubb Law Group posted in employment law - employees on Wednesday, May 8, 2019.

As an older person seeking employment in West Virginia, you may find that your age and the extent of your experience ultimately hinder, rather than help, you. While you may assume that, the more experience you have, the more of an asset you are to an employer, some employers feel differently and opt to hire younger, less experienced workers who they can pay less than their older colleagues. At the Grubb Law Group, we recognize that there are certain laws in place that prevent employers from discriminating against workers aged 40 years and older, and we have helped many victims of age discrimination in the workplace pursue appropriate recourse.

According to AARP, age discrimination is so common across the country that job seekers over the age of 35 report that their age is the most significant hurdle preventing them from finding jobs. Additionally, two out of every three American employees between the ages of 45 and 74 report having been victims of this type of discrimination, despite the fact that the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 bans it.

Discrimination over an employee's pregnancy

On behalf of The Grubb Law Group posted in employment law - employees on Sunday, April 28, 2019.

From religious discrimination to mistreatment based upon an employee's age, there are all sorts of ways in which discrimination takes place in workplaces across the country. Some employees and job applicants do not realize that other types of discrimination are against the law as well, such as discrimination based upon an employee's pregnancy. Someone who is pregnant may be turned down for a job in an unlawful manner, or they may be fired or subjected to unlawful discrimination while working for a company after their pregnancy became evident. Sadly, this can have a detrimental impact on an employee's state of mind and their future, in various ways.

Those who are subjected to pregnancy discrimination may face significant emotional consequences as a result of discrimination. They may become depressed and feel hopeless, or they could lose sleep due to high levels of anxiety. Moreover, their finances may be impacted significantly. At a time when they likely want to financially prepare for their future and the ways in which their lives will change, they may face financial pressures because of a demotion or the loss of their job.

How do class action suits work?

On behalf of The Grubb Law Group posted in class actions on Friday, April 26, 2019.

Some of what banks do may seem unfair. Assessing heavy fees for various errors, paying out very small interest rates or issuing risky mortgages are all good examples of questionable ethical procedures. However, they are not always illegal.

The illegal actions are often much subtler and tend to require more investigation. Federal regulations governing financial institutions are exhaustive, this is one of the most complicated sections of the law. to go up against a big company, especially a financial institution, you may need help. At Grubb Law Group, we are proud to represent our client's interests with tenacity, courage and integrity, regardless of how powerful our adversaries may be.

Should you join a class action lawsuit?

On behalf of The Grubb Law Group on Wednesday, April 24, 2019.

You may have received a notice that you’re included in a class action lawsuit and requesting a response to be eligible for recovering damages. Or you’ve heard class action lawsuits mentioned on daytime or late-night TV. These are the usual ways people learn about class action lawsuits but what exactly are they?

A class is a group of people with comparable legal issues against the provider of a product or service who has caused them some form of harm. There are many reasons that people may prefer filing these cases jointly rather than individually:

Robocalls are fooling a surprising demographic

On behalf of The Grubb Law Group posted in consumer protection on Monday, April 22, 2019.

As any resident who owns a phone can attest, phone scams are a serious problem across the United States. It does not seem to matter if people put their names on the do-not-call registry – these phone calls and text messages still manage to find their way through. This is largely because phone scams violate consumer protection laws in the first place, and they will not respect the rules meant to prevent unwanted contact.

Scammers are becoming increasingly sophisticated in their operations, as Fox News points out. When it comes to fake offers or fraudulent claims of owing the IRS, one would assume it is mostly senior citizens or inexperienced people who fall victim to these cons. However, a recent study from Truecaller revealed an unexpected demographic to be the ones most often tricked by phone spammers – millennials and men between the ages of 18 and 34. The nature of the most common scams may have something to do with this news. Fraudulent offers for favorable credit card rates, low-interest loans, political calls and claims regarding a problem with the consumer’s account top the list of current phone scams.

Returning to work from FMLA leave

On behalf of The Grubb Law Group posted in employment law - employees on Saturday, April 13, 2019.

Few people in Charleston ever anticipate needing to take extended time away from work (other than perhaps a week or so for a vacation). Yet an accident or the sudden onset of an illness could require that one take weeks off to recover. Employees can take comfort in knowing that if they are forced to leave work for an extended period for medical or personal reasons, the Family and Medical Leave Act ensures that their employment will not end due to their absence (indeed, according to the U.S. Department of Labor, 13 percent of all eligible employees have taken such leave during the last 12 months). Yet will the same job be waiting for one when they return?

Not necessarily. One is entitled to up to 12 weeks of leave under FMLA in the course of a calendar year. The federal government realizes that in many cases, an employer might not be able to afford to allow one's work functions to not be completed for that length of time. In such cases, an employer can fill the position in the employee's absence. However, what then happens when the employee returns.

Major financial institutions target of class action lawsuit

On behalf of The Grubb Law Group posted in class actions on Monday, April 8, 2019.

Class action lawsuits are often viewed as being complex affairs given the size and scope of plaintiff claims. In actuality, any group of victims in Charleston that has a shared grievance against the same defendant can form a class to pursue litigation. This shared effort often lends validity to their claims. Oftentimes, classes are comprised of groups of individuals, yet there may indeed be times when businesses and even city governments join together to file a shared claim.

Such is currently happening in an action initiated by the city of Baltimore. It is serving as the class representative for a number of municipalities who claim to be the victims of a price-fixing scheme perpetrated by various Fannie and Freddie Bond suppliers (referring to the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac mortgage programs). These bonds are traded through a supplier network, which the plaintiffs claimed facilitated the scheme by allowing the providers to manipulate prices by controlling their availability. Baltimore city officials began looking into this trading market after it was announced that the Justice Department had opened up an investigation to the bond retailer. The results of Baltimore's investigation that the city alone lost over $1 billion over a five-year period. Included in the lawsuit are many of the world's major financial institutions.

How do I know if my vehicle was involved in a recall?

On behalf of The Grubb Law Group posted in lemon law on Friday, March 29, 2019.

There are many reasons you may have missed a recall notice. Perhaps you have recently moved to West Virginia from out of state and still get your mail elsewhere, for example. Luckily, it is quite easy to determine whether your vehicle has been involved in an official recall notice.

Simply navigate to the National Highway Transportation and Safety Administration recall website. Look for the field near the top of the page. You should be able to enter the 17-number vehicle identification code of the car or truck you would like to investigate. For more information and next steps, please continue reading.

Understanding the legal obligation to accept returns

On behalf of The Grubb Law Group posted in consumer protection on Sunday, March 24, 2019.

Consumers in Charleston likely maintain confidence in the wisdom of their purchases based upon the notion that if they are not happy with the products they buy, they can always return them. Most might assume that retailers are bound by law to take back products that customers are unsatisfied with. Yet at the same time, merchandise returns cost retailers billions every year ($369 in 2018 alone, according to Appriss.com). Thus, lawmakers must walk the delicate line between protecting consumers' rights while not inhibiting the success of local businesses.

No federal laws currently exist that address the issue of product returns. A handful of states have created their own local statutes in regulation returns; unfortunately, information shared by TermsFeed.com shows that West Virginia is not one of them. Indeed, local retailers are under no legal obligation to void sales contracts or purchase agreements. They are free to create (and enforce) their own merchandise return policies.