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Target Corp's data breach has been big news this holiday season, with as many as 40 million holiday shoppers across the nation exposed to potential credit and debit card fraud. According to the Identity Theft Resource Center, which tracks U.S. data breaches, the Target breach was one of over 600 data breaches in 2013. In our increasingly digital world, data breaches are a growing risk with many potential causes, including system failures, human error, employee misconduct, or outside theft. 

In the wake of the Target incident, many companies will be setting a 2014 new years resolution ...
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The holiday season is a time for reflection, including reflection on our technology habits. Many individuals are aiming to be truly home for the Christmas holiday by engaging in digital detox plans and setting their smartphones and other mobile devices aside to spend time with family and friends. Disconnecting from workplace technology during non-work hours is also becoming a trend at other times of the year, and many employers are encouraging this trend. Another take-away from this holiday season may be to reflect on what your shopping habits can teach you about hiring ...

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Posted in Wage & Hour

I sleep with Siri, and I'm not alone. According to a Pew Internet and American Life Project study, 44% of Americans sleep with their cell phone, many of which contain a work email account. Like that critical mass, I want to be connected and to be able to respond to a client if they email at 11:59 p.m. Because attorneys are exempt under wage and hour law, they don't have to be paid extra above and beyond our salary for emailing in the wee hours. That's not, however, the case with non-exempt employees. For employers that don't have effective policies and policing of after-hours technology ...

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Your company holiday party can be added to the list of things impacted by technology. In addition to the risk of alcohol-induced harassment, injuries, or property damage, employers should be mindful that technology and mobile devices permit employees to easily broadcast holiday party activities through social media. Of course, company parties are not the only thing changed by technology in the workplace. Technology has also transformed workplace communication, and, to make this a positive change, employees must use the right technology in the right ways. Outside the ...
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A recent trial experience provided an extraordinary lesson on the significant legal exposure employers face when hiring away employees from a competitor. I recently completed a jury trial in which my client obtained a $22.7 million verdict against a competing company that had hired away two of my clients employees who had secretly taken numerous computer files belonging to my client and then used them for the benefit of their new employer. Although there ended up being many actions of the new employer to criticize, I believe that the most egregious one was the new employers failure to ...

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You may have thought you'd seen it all, but technology continues to change the world, the law, and the workplace. The headlines were abuzz this week with Amazon's announcement that it will soon be ready to use drones to deliver packages within 30 minutes of an order. However, the announcement has produced skepticism based on logistical and legal barriers. In other news, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit will become the first federal appeals court to live stream oral arguments in all en banc cases starting this month. In the workplace, employers are looking for ways to use ...
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The Supreme Court announced last week that it will hear two cases in which for-profit businesses are challenging the Affordable Care Acts (ACA) contraceptive mandate on freedom of religion grounds. The key issue before the Supreme Court will be whether or not corporations have religious rights.

The two lawsuits at issue were brought by Hobby Lobby, a company owned by Evangelical Christians, and Conestoga Wood Specialties, a family business owned by devout Mennonites. In both cases, the companies claim that the ACAs mandate that all group health plans provide and pay for all ...
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