A union’s duties don’t include doing a great job in representing grievances. You may attempt to sue your union for failing to represent you or discriminating against you. Working with an employment law attorney is important during this complex process.
And l ike all professionals, sometimes lawyers make mistakes. If you believe your lawyer has made a mistake on your case which has caused you to suffer damages, you can sue the lawyer in order to receive the compensation the lawyer should have gotten you in your case.
This occurs when an attorney fails to do something he or she agreed to in your contract, such as filing your deed or patent. If the lawyer promised to do something he or she was contractually obligated to do and didn't do it, you have grounds for breach of contract.
Negligence. Negligence is the most common grounds for a malpractice lawsuit. It happens when your attorney fails to use the skill and care normally expected of a competent attorney. For example, you might have grounds for a negligence suit if your lawyer missed an important deadline, failed to prepare for trial, or failed to follow court orders.
If an employee believes their union has breached its duty of fair representation, they may file an unfair labor practice charge with the NLRB. If, after an investigation, that charge is found to be meritorious, the GC will issue an unfair labor practice complaint.
If you feel that the union is not responding to your requests, you may be able to make suggestions to them about how to handle your claim. For instance, you can ask them to interview specific witnesses, request certain documents from the employer, and investigate the experiences of coworkers that are similar to yours.
HIRE A UNION-BUSTING CONSULTANT. ... Tell You To Wait. ... Get a few employees to campaign against the union. ... Send letters to you and your family. ... Hold meetings to sweet-talk — or browbeat — you. ... Deny your rights through delays and law-breaking. ... Spring a last-minute surprise on you. ... Pressure supervisors to pressure you.
The National Labor Relations Board is an independent federal agency vested with the power to safeguard employees' rights to organize and to determine whether to have unions as their bargaining representative.
If a union fails to represent a worker due to prejudice, or hostility, the union can be charged. The idea of failure to represent includes failing to properly investigate a grievance, process a grievance, or in some cases, even to arbitrate a grievance.
You might be able to take your trade union to court, eg for breach of contract if it breaks its own rules. You should seek legal advice before you do this. You can't complain to the Certification Officer and the courts about the same problem.
Union avoidance is a strategy that organizations adopt when they want to stop unionization. It is often used to prevent transferring their authority or changing their core policies to appease the union. Your primary goal is to minimize the influence that labor unions have on your employees.
High-paid consultants and lawyers call it “union avoidance,” but the rest of the world, including us, calls it “union-busting.” Union-busting is an attempt by management to prevent employees from exercising their legal right to unionize.
When employees no longer want to be represented by a union or want to replace the union with a different one, they can vote to decertify the union. The process to decertify a union starts with filing an RD petition at the regional National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) office or electronically on the NLRB website.
Examples include: Refusing to process a grievance because an employee is not a union member. Threatening an employee for filing a ULP charge. Refusing to negotiate in good faith with an agency.
There are five categories of unfair labor practices for employers that are prohibited under the NLRA:Interference, restraint, or coercion. ... Employer domination or support of a labor organization. ... Discrimination on the basis of labor activity. ... Discrimination in retaliation for going to the NLRB. ... Refusal to bargain.
Today, the Wagner Act stands as a testament to the reform efforts of the New Deal and to the tenacity of Senator Robert Wagner in guiding the bill through Congress so that it could be signed into law by President Roosevelt.
To win when you sue an attorney for malpractice, you need to show that: The attorney was supposed to do something. He or she didn't do it (or did it wrong) This resulted in a financial loss to you (losing the case or losing money)
If the attorney violated proper ethics, you can file a grievance with the ethics committee of the state bar association, which ensures all attorneys are in good standing to renew their licenses. The attorney could be disbarred or directed to pay you compensation.
Types of Attorney Malpractice 1 Negligence. To sue lawyer for negligence, you need to be able to prove the attorney didn't use the proper care in your case and missed a deadline, filed the wrong papers, didn't comply with court orders, or made other errors that were not intentional but were sloppy. Negligence happens when the attorney makes mistakes that other attorneys normally would not. 2 Breach of duty. This kind of malpractice happens when the lawyer violates his or her responsibilities to you by settling the case without your approval, not preparing the case for trial, lying to you, abandoning your case, misusing funds you provided for court costs, or misusing funds owed to you (such as a settlement amount). The attorney has not done what other attorneys would do in this type of case. 3 Breach of contract. This occurs when an attorney fails to do something he or she agreed to in your contract, such as filing your deed or patent. If the lawyer promised to do something he or she was contractually obligated to do and didn't do it, you have grounds for breach of contract.
Breach of duty. This kind of malpractice happens when the lawyer violates his or her responsibilities to you by settling the case without your approval, not preparing the case for trial, lying to you, abandoning your case, misusing funds you provided for court costs, or misusing funds owed to you (such as a settlement amount). The attorney has not done what other attorneys would do in this type of case.
When you hire an attorney, you do so with trust and confidence. Most attorneys are upstanding and do a good job for their clients. Unfortunately, there are also some bad eggs out there. If your attorney has done something wrong, you may want to consider suing a lawyer for malpractice.
Breach of contract. This occurs when an attorney fails to do something he or she agreed to in your contract, such as filing your deed or patent. If the lawyer promised to do something he or she was contractually obligated to do and didn't do it, you have grounds for breach of contract.
The attorney could be disbarred or directed to pay you compensation. If you are disputing a fee with your lawyer, the state also likely has a fee dispute committee that can help you obtain an out-of-court resolution. You can hire another attorney to complete or fix your case and obtain the outcome you need.
If you feel that the union is not responding to your requests, you may be able to make suggestions to them about how to handle your claim. For instance, you can ask them to interview specific witnesses, request certain documents from the employer, and investigate the experiences of coworkers that are similar to yours.
On the other hand, if you believe the union intentionally mismanaged your grievance because they didn’t like you or because of your race, gender, or other discriminatory reason, the union may have breached its duty of fair representation and you may have a claim.
Either way, you have 6 months from the day that you exhausted all other internal grievance procedures to file your claim. Your claim will be against the union for breaching its duty of fair representation. However, you can also bring a claim against your employer for your original grievance if the reason you did not get a satisfactory remedy was because of the union’s failure to fairly represent you. In the claim against the employer, you must first prove that your union failed to fairly represent you, regardless of whether you are also pursuing a claim against the union.
discriminatory (e.g., a union refuses to pursue the grievances of all of its non-white workers); or in bad faith (e.g., a union official fails to respond to your complaint just because he/she doesn’t like you). If you feel that the union has treated you in one of these three ways and has breached its duty of fair representation, ...
Again, probably not. The law does not require that the union be smart about the resolution of grievances. As long as they were reasonably thorough and careful, they will not have breached their duty to fairly represent you—even if the result is worse than the situation that caused you to file a grievance in the first place. On the other hand, if you believe the union intentionally mismanaged your grievance because they didn’t like you or because of your race, gender, or other discriminatory reason, the union may have breached its duty of fair representation and you may have a claim.
If you feel that the union has treated you in one of these three ways and has breached its duty of fair representation, you may bring legal action against it. However, the duty of fair representation does not require the union to pursue all grievances until the final possible stage of the grievance procedure or to take all the steps ...
Sometimes a union shop steward or other representative may refuse to file a grievance. If this happens, you can ask a union officer or someone else who holds a position of power in the union to file a grievance for you.
The lender nudges your firm into a technical default status, then under the guise of “working with you” puts your company or asset group into their Special or Troubled Assets machine, running up big fees on top of increased interest rates upon inflated administrative expenses.
If you do nothing, the results are absolutely foreseeable – they win, you lose your company and assets.
Typically, lender liability claims arise when a financial institution or fiduciary violates a duty of good faith or fair dealing to its customer – borrower or has assumed such a degree of control over the borrower that it assumes a fiduciary duty.
The private lender or bank takes your assets.
Most law firms are not competent to sue banks either due to inexperience (commercial loans, mortgage commitments, loan securitization issues, and CMBS problems are a complex and evolving field) or level of resources (banks put unlimited money into herds of lawyers who create more paper than the New York Times) available;
Most financial and lender liability law firms will not sue a bank, either due to a conflict or they do not want to lose out on lucrative legal work defending gargantuan banks;
It is important to remember that, in most cases, when an individual cannot afford a criminal lawyer, the court will appoint one to represent them. It is also important to keep in mind that if an individual is sentenced to jail time, they will not be able to earn an income and may lose a job.
A lawyer is an individual who is licensed to practice law in a state. Lawyers are also known as attorneys or an attorney at law. Some lawyers are licensed in multiple states. Some lawyers are admitted to practice at the Federal level as well.
Even in transactional civil matters, such as drafting a contract, a lawyer can be very helpful. A lawyer can make sure contracts are drafted correctly and avoid problems at a later date. A real estate purchase, business purchase, and/or creation of a trademark or copyright will most likely involve a lawyer.
Lawyers can provide a wide range of services to their clients. Some lawyers handle many different types of cases. Some lawyers specialize in one or two types, such as family and divorce law.
It is important in divorce cases for an individual to have a family lawyer representing them to ensure their rights are protected.
Civil matters include contract disputes between businesses, real estate, and personal transactions. Unlike criminal cases, there is no determination of guilt or innocence. Usually, the parties may only recover monetary damages, including punitive damages in some cases.
Criminal law is the body of laws that pertain to crimes. Crimes are actions or behaviors prohibited by state or federal laws. Crimes are punishable by fines, probation, and/or imprisonment. Usually, crimes are categorized as misdemeanors or felonies.
If you believe the union has failed to uphold its duty to fairly represent you, you may seek legal action. However, keep in mind that a union’s duty to fairly represent you doesn’t require it to pursue the matter in the specific way you want it to or even to pursue every grievance until the last stage.
How Working With an Attorney Can Help. If you’re part of a union, but aren’t sure what your rights are, an employment law attorney can help you clear things up. The law is always changing, so it helps to have a professional on your side to answer your questions.
If, however, you believe that your grievance was intentionally mismanaged based on a discriminatory reason (like your gender or race), you might have a claim due to the union breaching its duty to fairly represent you.
Employment law attorneys are well-versed in labor-related laws and the necessary steps for pursuing a grievance or lawsuit. While researching general information is helpful, every situation will have unique factors. With the ever-changing complexities of the law, it’s best to take a little extra time to do this right.
Once you’ve exhausted any internal grievance procedures you have access to, you have 6 months to file a claim against the union. If your issue wasn’t resolved because your union failed to adequately represent you, you may also file a claim against your employer.
This duty to represent applies to handling grievances, collective bargaining, and dealing with employers, among other actions. Keep in mind that a union’s duty to represent you doesn’t require that they do a good job in investigating the grievance. You may be able to sue your union for lack of representation if its choice to stop pursuing your ...
Union members have the freedom of assembly and speech, protection against improper discipline, equal rights to be a part of union activities, the right to sue, and a voice in setting rates of assessments, fees, and dues.
Some other causes for lawsuits against contractors include: The contractor completes the job but unsatisfactorily; The contractor completes the job but the work violates safety standards; The contractor took advantage of the homeowner, such as by accepting a deposit or payment but then failing to complete the agreed upon work; or. ...
Examples of this include missing deadlines or failing to perform all of the work required.
The most common are: Breach of Contract Claim: Breach of contract refers to one party failing to follow through with their side of a contract.
Fraud Claim: contract fraud occurs when one party knowingly makes a false claim, intending to trick or deceive the other party into signing the contract. A homeowner may sue a contractor for fraud if they told the homeowner that the completed project would look one way, but the result is vastly different.
There are four main types of breach under the breach of contract umbrella: Minor Breach: This occurs when a party fails to perform part of the contract, but does not violate the entire contract. This is sometimes referred to as an impartial breach;
Defective Construction Work Claim: construction defects are those that lessen the value of your home. This includes: 1 Design deficiencies such as a roof not being built to code, which can result in water intrusion or inadequate support; 2 Material deficiencies such as inferior sheetrock in damp areas; 3 Construction deficiencies as a result of poor workmanship, such as plumbing and electrical issues; or 4 Subsurface deficiencies such as a home being built on hills or other unstable conditions.
Breach of contract claims generally allow a homeowner to recover damages such as a refund of payments made to the contractor. Alternatively, they may be able to refund the difference in costs for hiring a new contractor to complete the project.
Does the lawyer you are considering hiring accept (and respond to) communication via email? Will they respond if you send a text? Make sure they respond promptly (within 24 hours) to your initial inquiries-- you don’t want to hire a lawyer who won’t return your calls or avoids prompt communication about your case.
Location is an important factor in looking for a lawyer to represent you. Since your issue will likely depend on state or local laws and regulations, you will want an attorney who understands the regulations for your location. On the practical side, you will also want a lawyer who has an office that is convenient for you to travel to. Some lawyers are willing to travel to meet you, but may also charge for travel time. It’s usually a good idea to find a lawyer located in your geographical area. Besides legal knowledge of state and local laws, lawyers also have practical local knowledge. Lawyers in specific cities or towns will also have connections to helpful agencies in that city, which will expedite the process of resolving your issue.
Understanding a lawyer’s previous experience is essential to understanding how they can handle your case. You’ll want to ask how many years the lawyer has been practicing. A lack of experience doesn’t necessarily make for a bad lawyer, though, especially if they have experienced lawyers around them.
Lawyers are also important partners in situations that don’t involve the courtroom, advising clients about their legal rights and obligations for personal or business issues. They are trained to interpret complicated systems of laws and navigate the court system.
It’s especially important to understand a potential lawyer’s availability. Will they be going on a three-week vacation in the middle of your case? Do they take phone calls after business hours? Do their legal assistants have a way to contact them if they are not in the office? You should have a good sense of how and when your lawyer will be available to communicate with you.
Your lawyer is your most important ally in any legal matter. They provide advice on how to proceed with your legal issue, and prepare important documents for you .
These are usually non-refundable if you choose to terminate the case early. Statutory Fee: Sometimes, state or local law determines a set amount that you owe your attorney for certain services, like bankruptcy cases and probate issues. A court may also set a statutory fee, though this isn’t standard.
If you’re not happy with your lawyer, you can: Switch lawyers. If you haven’t suffered much damage yet, you may want to consider simply hiring a new lawyer. You’re free to switch lawyers at any time, except in rare cases.
Report the lawyer to your state’s disciplinary board. Every state has a board that disciplines lawyers for ethical violations. If your lawyer isn’t communicating with you or listening to your wishes, this might get his or her attention. In some cases, the board might order the lawyer to compensate you for a clear financial loss—for example, if your lawyer took fund from your client account. (To lean more, see our article on reporting a lawyer for an ethical violation .)
Breach of fiduciary duty. Lawyers owe certain fiduciary duties to their clients, such as the duty of loyalty and duty of confidentiality. Your lawyer must act in your best interests and must keep your communications confidential.
Lawsuits against lawyers usually fall under three categories: negligence, breach of contract, and breach of fiduciary duty . Negligence. Negligence is the most common grounds for a malpractice lawsuit. It happens when your attorney fails to use the skill and care normally expected of a competent attorney. For example, you might have grounds ...
Breach of contract. Breach of contract occurs when a lawyer violates a specific term of the lawyer’s agreement with a client. For example, if your contract says that your lawyer will create a corporation for you by a certain date, the lawyer must stick to that agreement. Breach of fiduciary duty. Lawyers owe certain fiduciary duties ...
It happens when your attorney fails to use the skill and care normally expected of a competent attorney. For example, you might have grounds for a negligence suit if your lawyer missed an important deadline, failed to prepare for trial, or failed to follow court orders. Breach of contract. Breach of contract occurs when a lawyer violates ...
Your lawyer owed you a duty to competently represent you.