Arnstein & Lehr Partner E. Jason Tremblay authored the article, “7 ways to protect your company when hiring from a competitor,” which appeared in the January 9 edition of Inside Counsel. In the article Mr. Tremblay recommends, when hiring a competitor’s employee, that a company should take certain steps to reduce the likelihood of being sued. He offers seven tips for the hiring process and how to behave once they start working.
Mr. Tremblay’s article appearing in Inside Counsel:
7 ways to protect your company when hiring from a competitor Tips for the hiring process and how to behave once they start working for you
Investigate the employee’s employment background
At the outset, it is advisable to determine whether there is any restrictive covenant limiting the employee’s employment rights. If so, it is prudent to discuss this fact with the prospective employee, obtain a copy of the covenant, determine whether the covenant is enforceable and evaluate whether the company should still hire the prospective employee.
Ensure that interviews are carefully conducted
The company should make clear to the prospective employee that it is not interested in the competitor’s trade secrets and will honor valid restrictive covenants. An employer also should not review or accept any of the competitor’s documents that could be considered confidential and that the prospective employee may want to share with the company. Consider such documents “Exhibit A” in any lawsuit filed against the company by the competitor.
To continue reading the article, please click here.
Orientation programs help to maximize employees’ commitment to the company.
To the extent you believe there is any relationship between an employee’s commitment to the company and the company’s performance, a new employee orientation program is an excellent first step in maximizing that correlation and getting the most from your employees.
Generally, and particularly in this competitive work environment, many employers feel that they do not have time to properly orientate new employees. And, if they do have the time, they feel as if the costs of such a program are outweighed by the possible benefits.
However, this sends a bad message to the employee from day one. An orientation program can communicate to new employees the values, beliefs, culture and history of the company, all of which can foster the desire for new employees to be committed to the company and its operations.
To read further about developing formal orientation programs for new employees, please click here.
Arnstein & Lehr is pleased to announce the opening of its Milwaukee office with the addition of partner Charles W. Pautsch, and associates Lisa Baiocchi and Jesse Dill to the firm’s Labor and Employment Practice Group. All three attorneys join Arnstein & Lehr from the law firm of Jackson Lewis LLP. The expansion of this practice complements the recent addition of labor and employment partner Lori Adelson in Fort Lauderdale in December from the law firm of Ruden McClosky.
“The growth of this practice greatly strengthens our ability to serve clients with labor and employment needs throughout all of Arnstein & Lehr’s markets,” said Ray Werner, managing partner of Arnstein & Lehr, a Chicago-based law firm. “Building upon the success of our labor and employment practice, the Milwaukee office marks the latest milestone in the firm’s commitment to expansion in response to client needs.”
Pautsch will serve as managing partner of Arnstein & Lehr’s Milwaukee office but will also maintain a Chicago office to strengthen the employment services for the firm’s clients in Chicago. He is the former managing partner of Jackson Lewis’ Milwaukee office and brings more than 34 years of labor and employment experience to Arnstein & Lehr.
“We are excited to join such a storied law firm as Arnstein & Lehr,” said Pautsch, who is licensed to practice in both Wisconsin and Illinois. “I believe our depth and breadth of knowledge will certainly be an asset to the firm’s clients and reinforce the firm’s already strong practice in this area.”
Arnstein & Lehr’s Milwaukee office will be located in the Renaissance on Water building, in Milwaukee’s Historic Third Ward, in the city’s arts and fashion district, at 309 North Water Street, Suite 210.
The firm has developed a strong working relationship with the Milwaukee firm of Hodan, Doster & Ganzer SC and will continue its of counsel relationship with the Ganzer firm.
About the attorneys:
Charles W. Pautsch has concentrated his practice in labor and employment law for more than 34 years. His extensive experience includes litigating cases in federal and state courts and various federal and state administrative agencies, most particularly the National Labor Relations Board, Occupational Safety & Health Administration, the U.S. Department of Labor, the Human Rights Commission and Wisconsin’s Department of Workforce Development. He has served as lead counsel in more than 150 cases in federal courts alone, representing business clients in 20 federal districts in 13 states. Pautsch successfully handled Rule 23 class actions under Title VII, the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and collective class actions under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA). He is a graduate of North Central College and received his J.D., magna cum laude, from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Lisa A. Baiocchi concentrates her practice on labor and employment litigation in both state and federal court, and she represents clients in matters before administrative agencies. She received her J.D. from Marquette Law School, where she served as president of the Labor and Employment Law Society. Baiocchi is the founder and was president of the Student Animal Legal Defense Fund at Marquette. She received her undergraduate degree from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
Jesse R. Dill represents management in a variety of labor and employment law matters before state and federal courts. While in law school, he worked as a law clerk in the litigation department of Emerson Electric Company and as a legal intern for the Honorable Lynn Adelman of the Eastern District of Wisconsin. He was published by the Marquette Intellectual Property Law Review, where he also served as comments editor. Dill is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Marquette University Law School.
Chicago Partner Mark A. Spognardi spoke at the ICPAS event, “Employment Issues,” on Tuesday, December 13. During his presentation, “Minimizing Risks and Liabilities in Layoffs and Reductions in Force,” Mr. Spognardi discussed various employment labor issues and how they affect businesses today. He also covered the American Recovery & Reinvestment Tax Act, issues that exist with terminating high-level executives and potential employment laws that are currently in the works.
Chicago Partner E. Jason Tremblay was interviewed and quoted in a December 8 online article in Human Resources Executive titled “When HR Sues.” The article discusses litigation by HR professionals and the problems companies face when HR is involved in litigation. In the article, Mr. Tremblay offers several tips for staying out of court when it comes to HR professionals or any other employee.
Arnstein & Lehr Partner E. Jason Tremblay was interviewed and quoted in a December 8 online article in Human Resources Executive titled “When HR Sues.” The article discusses litigation by HR professionals and the problems companies face when HR is involved in litigation. In the article, Mr. Tremblay offers several tips for staying out of court when it comes to HR professionals or any other employee.
On December 1, 2011, the Illinois Supreme Court issued an opinion in Reliable Fire Equipment Company v. Arnold Arrendondo, et al. that set forth the factors that the Illinois courts should look to in evaluating the reasonableness of non-competition agreements. The Court reaffirmed that a non-competition agreement is reasonable only if the following the following four conditions are met:
The covenant is ancillary to a valid employment relationship;
The covenant is no greater than is required for the protection of a legitimate business interest of the employer;
The covenant does not impose undue hardship on the employee; and
The covenant is not injurious to the public.
In addition, the Court clarified what factors a court should consider in evaluating the “legitimate business interest” of the employer. The court stated that “whether a legitimate business interest exists is based on the totality of the facts and circumstances of the individual case. Factors to be considered in this analysis include, but are not limited to, the near-permanence of customer relationships, the employee’s acquisition of confidential information through his employment, and time and place restrictions.” The Court went on to say that no one factor should be weighted more than any of the other factors as the importance and weight to be given to certain factors will depend on the specific facts and circumstances of the individual case. As a result, “the same identical contract and restraint may be reasonable and valid under one set of circumstances, and unreasonable and invalid under another set of circumstances.”
From a business perspective, the importance of this case is that it should be easier for businesses to enforce non-competition agreements against former employees as a court must now consider a variety of factors in determining the employer’s legitimate business interest. This will give an employer more flexibility in arguing what is its legitimate business interest that needs protection.
Please click here if you would like to view the whole opinion.
Chicago Partner E. Jason Tremblay has written an article titled “Clery Act Reminder – Why the Penn State Scandal Matters to the Academy” that appeared in the November 22 publication of University Business. It was the top story on the publication’s homepage last week. In the article, Mr. Tremblay discusses the U.S. Department of Education’s recent announcement that it will conduct an investigation into whether Penn State failed to comply with the Clery Act. Mr. Tremblay also reviews the various aspects of the Clery Act, which requires colleges and universities to keep a crime log of alleged offenses and to “timely” report criminal offenses that occur on campus.
To view the article in full, please click here.
Chicago Partner E. Jason Tremblay was quoted in a November 21 article on Workforce.com regarding employee misclassification issues. The article, “New Law Sinks Teeth into Misclassification of Workers,” discusses a new California law that targets misclassification of workers and provides fines on employers who misclassify workers as independent contractors.
To view the article in full, please click here.
Effective January 1, 2012, the minimum wage in the State of Florida will increase from $7.31 to $7.67 per hour. Minimum wage for tipped employees, such as waiters and waitresses, will increase from $4.29 to $4.65 per hour. This $0.36 per hour increase comes on the coattails of a previous minimum wage increase in Florida in June 1, 2011. Florida employers should therefore be prepared to again increase the hourly pay of any employees on minimum wage as of January 1, 2012. For further information, please contact your labor and employment attorney at Arnstein & Lehr LLP.
