Although the Surpreme Court issues opinions throughout its term, many come out towards the back end of the term, which concludes in June.  In the last couple of weeks, the Court has issued several decisions which touch on employment law:

In Conkirght v. Frommert, the 5-3 majority upheld the company’s denial of pension benefits to former employees.  Write-up here.

In Perdue v. Kenny A., the 5-4 majority rejected the trial court’s calculations of the appropriate amount of attorneys’ fees for the prevailing plaintiff in a civil rights case.  Write-up here.

In Stolt-Nielsen v. AnimalFeeds, a similar 5-3 majority rejected class action arbitration in this commercial case.  Down the line, there might be some applicability to employer-employee arbitration agreements.  Write-up here.

Categories: Judicial Decisions Tags: Arbitration, Attorney Fees, Case Commentary, Civil Rights, Class Actions, ERISA, Labor and Employment, Pension Benefits, US Supreme Court

Patterson Harkavy is a sponsor at tonight’s 41st Annual Frank Porter Graham Awards Ceremony, hosted by the American Civil Liberties Union of North Carolina Legal Foundation.  This year’s honorees are:

Frank Porter Graham Award – Jimmy Creech
ACLU of North Carolina Award – Juvencio Rocha Peralta
Paul Green Award – Jeremy Collins & Charmaine Fuller Cooper

Categories: News of the Firm Tags: Civil Rights, Firm News, Frank Porter Graham Ceremony, NC ACLU, Patterson Harkavy

The North Carolina Supreme Court denied the defendants’ petition for discretionary review (PDR) in Fulford v. Jenkins today, among its long list of orders.  This is a wrongful death action based on the negligence of the Duplin County Department of Social Services and its employees.  The defendants lost on the issue governmental immunity, appealed, lost unimously in the Court of Appeals, and then sought review from the Supreme Court.   Burton Craige and Narendra Ghosh assisted with the plaintiff’s representation at the Supreme Court, opposing the PDR.  The Court’s denial of the PDR means that the case will return to the trial court where it can proceed.

Categories: Judicial Decisions, Results Tags: Appeals, Burton Craige, Civil Rights, Narendra Ghosh, NC Supreme Court, Negligence, Personal Injuries, Results, Wrongful Death

In a unanimous decision, the North Carolina Supreme Court ruled that the plaintiff could pursue his constitutional claims against the local board of education in Craig v. New Hanover County Board of Education.  Jusitce Hudson, writing for the Court, held that the plaintiff’s constitutional claims could not be barred because the school board enjoyed immunity from other tort claims.   Burton Craige helped to represent the plaintiff on appeal, and argued the case before the Supreme Court.

Categories: Judicial Decisions, Results Tags: Appeals, Burton Craige, Civil Rights, Constitutional Claims, NC Supreme Court, Patterson Harkavy, Results