Best Discrimination Attorneys in Silver Spring, MD

The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) enables eligible employees to take a leave of absence for up to 12 weeks per year for one or more of the following reasons: medical leave if an employee is unable to work due to a serious illness for the birth and care of a newborn child recent adoption of a child by the employee to care for an immediate family member including a spouse, child or parent In addition to this federal statute, many states have separate family leave regulations which allow individuals time away from the office to care for their loved ones. These laws can be very complex and there are many exceptions and restrictions on the right to take medical and family leave. For example, individuals working for businesses with less than 50 employees are not eligible for unpaid leave under the FMLA. However, they may be eligible under their state's laws. If you are considering taking leave from your job, you should consult an attorney who can determine your eligibility and explain your rights under federal and state employment laws.

Unless your employment contract or company policy specifies the presence of a severance package in the event of discharge, you are probably not entitled to a severance package. In many instances, employers offer a severance package in exchange for your agreement to a confidentiality or noncompetition contract, or to secure release of any employment-related claims you may make. Before signing any severance agreement, it is important that you contact an employment attorney to ensure your rights are protected.

Your employer will have an insurance company and an attorney managing the claims process. You should have representation ensuring that your recovery is fair. Our lawyers focus on these types of claims, so we know how to handle them.

When implementing a compliance program, we suggest that clients set up a hotline, drop box, or other anonymous method for internal reporting. This reporting mechanism is emphasized during employee training and all employees are asked to sign a statement that they agree to report all compliance matters. This provides some protection for the organization or practice because employees are required to bring compliance matters to the attention of the compliance officer rather than discuss such matters with outside entities.

All states have statutes of limitation which specify how long a person has to bring a claim for personal injury or property damage before it is time-barred. Given the length of time that can pass from the time a pollutant is put into the environment and when it is discovered, it is often very difficult to determine when a claim for contamination must be filed in order to be within the limitations period. For example, contamination of soil or groundwater by chemical solvents may occur years, or even decades, before it is discovered in someone's well water. In some states, the statute of limitations period is modified in environmental claims to allow for latent "discovery" of contamination beyond the limitations period that would otherwise apply. These "discovery" rules apply to "save" a claim from the expiration of the statute even if the contamination was actually present for longer than the statute of limitations would otherwise allow. Generally, the discovery rules only apply if, prior to the expiration of the statute of limitations, the contamination was unknown or undiscovered by the plaintiff. Other states do not have "discovery" rules and would bar claims based on undiscovered releases of hazardous substances into the environment that occurred years ago, because the ordinary statute of limitations for injury to person or property would have expired.