Legal Updates and Firm News

Maury Bowen Joins Savannah Office as Partner

Our Savannah office continues to grow with the addition of attorney Maury Bowen as a partner.  Maury brings 20 years of diverse experience to the firm, most recently as a partner at another law firm and before that as Assistant General Counsel for a sizable corporation. In her labor and employment practice, Maury advises and defends corporate clients On a wide variety of issues, including...Read More

HGRS LLP Opens Savannah Office with New Partner Kristen Wigh Goodman

We are extremely pleased to welcome Savannah attorney Kristen Goodman as a partner in the firm. Ms. Goodman joins us from Goodman Law Firm, which she founded in 2002. She was the lead appellate Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Department of Justice in the Southern District of Georgia, before founding her own firm. Kristen will continue to practice in Savannah and Atlanta, handling a variety of...Read More

Preliminary Injunction Obtained by HAGRS LLP Leads to Favorable Settlement

We recently resolved a restrictive covenant dispute in favor of our client after obtaining a preliminary injunction to enforce the covenant. After an employee announced her resignation to work for a competitor, we obtained a preliminary injunction against the employee in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, precluding her continued employment. The employee appealed to...Read More

HGRS LLP’s Client Win Upheld on Appeal

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit recently affirmed the grant of summary judgment and dismissal of claims against our client for alleged retaliation under 42 U.S.C. § 1981. In a case filed in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, a former employee claimed he had been terminated in retaliation for making allegations of race discrimination against the same...Read More

New Partners, New Counsel, New Name

The employment law firm of Hall, Arbery & Gilligan LLP has gained two new partners, David Allen Roberts and Rebecca Williams Shanlever, and a new counsel, Jonathan D. Letzring.  The new firm, Hall, Arbery, Gilligan, Roberts & Shanlever LLP, focuses on matters related to the workplace, including litigation and advice regarding non-compete and other employment agreements, compliance with...Read More

Training Tip: Hit All the Right Notes in Employment Decisions

Employers often ask whether an employment action would comply with employment laws.  Often, that is the wrong question.  Ultimately, whether a decision is lawful often depends on motive, which can be a matter of dispute.  Employers should ask, “In the event of a legal dispute regarding this decision, who would be believed, and why?” Even better, before taking a significant action,...Read More

Reminder From Texas That Oral Employment Agreements Can Be Enforced

A recent case from Texas serves as a good reminder that promises made in the workplace can be enforced under certain circumstances, even if they are not in writing. The Texas Court of Appeals was not persuaded by an employer’s argument that an agreement to continue providing sales commissions to its employee even after his employment ended was unenforceable simply because it was an oral...Read More

Employer Wellness Program Did Not Violate ADA

A decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit may encourage employers to offset rising healthcare costs through the use of wellness programs and the implementation of fines for nonparticipation in such programs. According to the Eleventh Circuit, under certain circumstances the medical examinations and inquiries connected with wellness programs do not violate The Americans...Read More

Court of Appeals Emphasizes Duty of Employer in Harassment Case

The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals recently affirmed a finding of liability and reinstated a punitive damages award against an automobile manufacturer based on a jury’s reasonable conclusion that the employer did not promptly or adequately respond to an employee’s complaints of harassment. Although the employee was unable to identify who had left harassing and threatening notes in his...Read More

Georgia Non-Compete Law Effective May 11, 2011

The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that Georgia’s new covenant laws (O.C.G.A. § 13-8-51 et seq.) greatly enhancing the enforceability of employment-related restrictive covenants in Georgia do not apply to contracts entered into prior to May 11, 2011. While the ultimate authority on this question of Georgia law is the Supreme Court of Georgia, which has not ruled on this issue, for...Read More