labor lawAdivision of labor law center

 A firm specializing in information technology has been ordered to pay nearly $1.7 million in back wages to H-1B non-immigrant workers following an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor in a case that should sound a warning for every employer.

The company, GlobalCynex, Inc. ,  is a division of Sterling information technology. According to its website, the company bills itself as “a leading Global Consulting and IT services company, providing a broad array of solutions customized for a range of key verticals and horizontals. From strategy consulting right through to implementing IT solutions for customers, providing innovative business and technology services that deliver measurable results.”

The total award of $1,683,584 to 343 workers amounts to (more…)

A number of states require employers to give workers time off to vote, including voting in the presidential election on Tuesday, November 4, 2008.

According to CCH, a nationwide leader in labor and employment information, more than half of the U.S. states have laws that mandate time off to vote. Employers who do not comply face fines and even jail time.

The states that do not require employers to give workers time off to vote are: Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Idaho, Indiana, Louisiana, Maine, Michigan, Mississippi, Montana, New Hampshire, New Hersey, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Vermont and Virginia.

In many states, (more…)

The U.S. Department of Labor has filed a lawsuit on September 25, 2008 against Houston-based CEMEX Inc. for overtime violations. The suit maintains that the company failed to pay $5 million in overtime to more than 2,000 drivers from eight states. The employees were drivers of ready-mix concrete trucks.

CEMEX, founded in Mexico in 1906, provides cement and other building supplies for the construction industry. The company’s website claims it employers more than 60,000 employees in 50 countries on 5 continents.

Affected employees of CEMEX worked in Texas, (more…)

Proving that sexual harassment is not confined to civilian employers, an Air Force commander was recently found guilty of two counts of indecent assault involving female employees at a base in Texas.  He was sentenced to 9 years in prison and discharge from the service on a total of 34 criminal counts on July 26, 2008. The sexual assault convictions mean that Col. Lofton must register as a sex offender.

According to a Wichita Falls newspaper, a military panel of 7 men and  2 women found Col. Samuel Lofton III guilty of forcing two civilian female employees to kiss him and placing their hands on his genitals. One of the women reported two incidents in 2007, while the other reported two incidents in 2006. Both women worked in the same building as Col. Lofton, although neither reported to him. Col. Lofton was also found guilty of harassing a high-ranking enlisted Air Force member on the phone and making sexually suggestive comments to her at work.

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Former NASCAR official Mauricia Grant has filed a $225 million suit against the racing giant, citing multiple instances of racial and sexual harassment. Grant, who is a young African American female, specifies 23 incidents of sexual harassment and 34 incidents of racial and gender discrimination. She says that she documented all of them at the time on an Excel spreadsheet created by her sister.

Grant charges that she was the target of repeated and continued harassment, lewd jokes, racial remarks and unwanted sexual advances. Allegedly, two NASCAR officials exposed themselves to her. NASCAR has disciplined the two officials, but denies the charges. NASCAR representatives also contend that Grant willingly participated in most of the exchanges. If true, her complaints suggest that NASCAR lags behind most employers in enforcing Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

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