The Great Expert Blog

The BFOQ defense states that it is not unlawful for an employer to take adverse employment actions otherwise prohibited by the ADEA where age is a bona fide occupational qualification reasonably necessary to the normal operation of the particular business. Thirty of the 49 salaried employees the company laid off were at least 43 years old. In that case Meacham versus Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory the Supreme Court interpreted a provision of the ADEA that permits an employer to take an adverse employment action against an employee. At the trial a jury found Knolls had violated the ADEA because its layoff procedure had a disparate impact based on age. For example it would not be illegal to consider criteria for a particular role in a movie that has a disparate impact on age if the part calls for someone of a particular age. The Supreme Court then agreed to hear the case and eventually reversed the Second Circuit and reinstated the jurys finding that Knolls policy unlawfully discriminated because of age. The Supreme Court ruled that if an employer seeks to rely on that defense. In other words the ADEA permits employers to discriminate based on age considering age is legitimately necessary under the circumstances. The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit initially affirmed the jurys findings but after the United States Supreme Court asked it to reconsider the Second Circuit reversed itself and ruled in favor of Knolls. In Meacham Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory was planning to lay off a number of employees. As long as the adverse action is based on reasonable factors other than age. Twenty-eight of those 49 employees sued under the ADEA claiming Knolls illegally fired them because of their age. Knolls totaled those scores and gave the employees additional points based on their years of service. The company had its supervisors rate their subordinates based on their performance flexibility and critical skills. In reaching its conclusion that the employer has the burden to prove the reasonable factors other than age defense the Supreme Court looked at another provision of the ADEA the bona fide occupational qualification defense. It has the burden to prove that its decision was based on a reasonable factor other than age. Even if the employment action is otherwise prohibited by the ADEA. A lawyer from Vlissingen won from a advocate in Encinitas California Specifically the jury found that although the plaintiffs did not prove that Knolls intentionally discriminated against them they did prove that Knolls method of deciding who to lay off disproportionately harmed older workers. The Supreme Court has previously recognized that the employer has the burden to establish the BFOQ affirmative defense. It then used those totals to decide who to lay off.

The Virginia Workers’ Compensation Law was adopted in 1918. The law provides compensation for lost wages and medical benefits. The common law right to sue the employer for the worker’s injuries was abolished. However, the employer lost the right to defend the accident on the basis of the worker’s contributory negligence or assumption of risk. Also, the worker did not have to prove the employer’s negligence caused his injury. As noted by the Virginia Supreme Court in Feitig v. Chalkey, 185 Va. 96 (1946), the principles of the Virginia Workers’ Compensation Law have been accepted by practically all of the States in the United States.

The principle restriction on recovery in a workers’ compensation case is that you cannot recover “pain and suffering” as you can in a personal injury case. The principle benefit may be a speedier but smaller recovery without resorting to costly litigation.

Of course, if the injury results from the actions of a third party, the worker can file a personal injury action against the third party provided the third party is not a co-employee. The usual example of this is if the worker is driving a company vehicle which is negligently struck by a driver of another vehicle. In this situation, the worker would have a workers compensation claim against his employer and a personal injury claim against the driver of the other vehicle. Also, if the injury was caused by defective equipment, then the worker could sue the manufacturer of the machine and workers compensation would not be a bar to this kind of product liability lawsuit.

In my workers’ compensation practice, potential clients often ask “Why can’t I sue my employer for my injury?” The only response I can make is that the State of Virginia in 1918 like the other States in the United States at about this time decided that industry and labor were better served if employers were required to provide workers’ compensation insurance as a cost of doing business rather than the worker having to rely on the uncertainty of personal injury lawsuits.

This may be considered AN ADVERTISEMENT or Advertising Material under the Rules of Professional Conduct governing lawyers in Virginia. This note is designed for general information only. The information presented in this note should not be construed to be formal legal advice nor the formation of a lawyer/client relationship.

Gerald G. Lutkenhaus, has been representing Social Security Disability claimants for 30 years in the Central Richmond Area in Virginia. He was given Martindale Hubbell’s highest rating in 2003, for more information check our website at http://www.virginiadisabilitylawyer.com or http://www.geraldlutkenhaus.com or email us at jervalaw@aol.com.

Why an irresistible offer is critical to your online success.

Here’s a prediction that may shock you:

If you don’t make a compelling offer to your Web site visitors the first time they visit, they will probably never come back!

And I can prove the truth of this to you in about 30 seconds.

Go to your browser bookmark file and count the number of sites there versus the number you’ve actually been back to. Be honest. I’ll bet it’s less than 10%.

And these are the sites you *bookmarked.* What about the sites you *didn’t* make a note of? Out of sight and out of mind, perhaps forever.

No matter what you sell, you absolutely, positively *must* make your visitors an offer they can’t refuse. You *must* get them to tell you who they are, and possibly what they’re interested in, and you must get them to agree to let you contact them.

This is by far the best way to build a base of qualified prospects that you can market to again and again.

The best offer to make is for something free. The challenge is to create a high-perceived value for your freebie while keeping your fulfillment cost low.

An e-zine can work well for this, but its value usually takes time to develop — as people read issues. One way to build value up front is to create teasers for your zine at the point of signup. Tell people what they’ll get with each issue and how it will benefit them. Or better still, get some testimonials about how your zine benefited readers and link to them.

You might want to create a “starter” issue of your zine that people get via autoresponder as soon as they subscribe. You could create a “best of” or resource issue for this purpose. Doing this will give your subscribers immediate value while it reminds them of what to expect in the future. If you don’t send something quickly, people may forget they signed up and not recognize your zine later on.

Depending on the nature of your site and your business, you might offer people a free classified ad, a free consultation, a free sample, or a free link to their site. If you do this, be sure to assign a realistic value to your offer. Let people know what they’re getting for free.

Whatever you do, make sure your offer is prominently displayed near the top of your home page. You might want to create a small banner for this purpose.

Make sure you get as much appropriate information as you can about your visitors when they sign up for your offer. For an e-zine, that may be just a name and email address. But for offers that have a higher perceived value, you can ask a lot more questions, which most people will answer.

If you don’t have a compelling, irresistible offer on your home page, I urge you to create one immediately. The sooner you do, the sooner you’ll start generating a roster of qualified prospects you can cultivate into a garden of profits.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Nick Nichols helps you spend less on your advertising and promotion and get more cash out of your business. Get his new free book, “10 Secret Tricks Every Online Marketer MUST Know to Stay Competitive” here:
http://MySecretTricks.com/goarticles

Personal injury laws offer victims of negligence or criminal action relief from having to deal with the financial and emotional inconveniences that arise as a result of serious injury. Many personal injury law firms deal predominantly with injuries that result in a long-term recovery or permanent disability. In most states, personal injury law cases necessitate the claimant to establish that he or she has experienced damages and that the defendant was undoubtedly accountable for those injuries. A few states authorize settlements to include compensation for pain and suffering in addition to medical bills and lost wages.

Torts are mistakes acknowledged by law as grounds for initiating a lawsuit seeking right for damages. Unlike criminal actions brought by the state, tort lawsuits are on average brought about by an individual, group, or class of individuals who think that the defendant caused them injury due to negligence or criminal action. Tort law exists in order to bestow some sort of assistance on the injured party and to discourage other persons or companies from doing similar damage.

One type of relief given to injured parties is the coverage of all medical bills resulting from the injury. Another is restoring lost wages and ensuring provision for lost earning capacity. In many cases, an award or settlement under personal injury laws consists of both present and probable future losses. Some states also make allowances for pain and suffering and awards in these cases can sometimes result in million dollar settlements for the injured party or multimillion dollar settlements in class action lawsuits.

Some personal injuries are the consequence of criminal actions. These can consist of an injury sustained during a bank robbery or other criminal act. Assault and battery can also be grounds for a tort lawsuit. There are also types of torts including intentional, negligent, and strict liability. A criminal conviction can result in a tort lawsuit, and a tort lawsuit can result in a criminal case.

Chicago Personal Injury Lawyers provides detailed information about Chicago personal injury lawyers, Chicago personal injury funding, chicago personal injury law firms, and more. Chicago Personal Injury Lawyers is affiliated with Traumatic Brain Injury Lawyer.