Defending Employment Related Claims

Operating a business involves handling different issues – financial, administrative, legal, and so on. In such a situation, if you face a lawsuit regarding from an employee, it sure is a bother. Consultation with a competent attorney to prepare defense is the first thing to do if you are facing such a suit.

The defense an employer could use depends on the claim the employee files. A good legal practitioner is the best judge of when to use a particular defense strategy. Moreover, he/she also has the necessary knowledge and expertise to implement it and argue on your behalf. Here are a few instances, and possible defenses.

If the lawsuit concerns a violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), which provides for things like minimum wages and hours, overtime pay and so on, the defenses that could work are as follows:

Establishing that the employee belongs to the exempt class – the FLSA does not apply on certain employees. Who is within this category? Executives, administrative employees, computer specialists, professionals and such others belong to this class.

Using § 10 of the Portal-to-Portal Act as good faith defense – if you were paying an employee less than the minimum wage because of the administrative rule, order, ruling, interpretation or approval of the Wage and Hour Division of the U.S. Department of Labor, it may work for your defense.

Using § 11 of the Portal-to-Portal Act as good faith defense – for this, the Fort Lauderdale attorneys need to prove that the employer was taking the step in good faith (without any intent to violate a law) and did not know of any violation.

Possible defenses that may work in almost all employer-employee disputes would include the following:

Putting forward a voluntary/involuntary waiver – this could work as good defense if an employee files a suit claiming back wages. This works in many cases where employees try to recover on frivolous grounds.

Arguing on grounds of time limit set by the statute of limitations – like every state, Florida also has such limits when it comes to filing a claim.

Questioning the failure to arbitrate – if the contract between the employer and the employee makes it essential to opt for arbitration before filing a suit, this failure may work in your favor.

However, establishing any of these defenses is no easy task. You need a competent attorney to deal with the case the proper legal way. Sometimes, the dispute may reach a resolution with negotiation; however, you need an attorney for defense in case it reaches the trial phase.