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Denied Maternity Leave, NY Woman Sues Employer for Breach of Contract

Kudos to you, ABC, for bringing this story to light. And shame on you, Cubist Pharmaceuticals, for your discriminatory narrow-mindedness. Kara Krill who works for Massachusetts-based Cubist Pharmaceuticals, recently had twin children via a surrogate. She was compelled to have these children through a surrogate because she had health issues that prevented her from having [...]

Why It Is So Difficult to Invalidate a Mandatory Arbitration Clause in New York

Over the last few months, I’ve been asked why certain mandatory arbitration provisions in an employment agreement couldn’t be invalidated on the grounds that the employees were “forced” to sign it against their will on threat of losing their job. The reason is fairly simple: the courts – beginning with the United States Supreme Court [...]

How Damages for the Breach of an Employment Contract Are Calculated Under NY Law

If you read my previous blog post, “How a Demotion Can Be Deemed a Breach of Employment Agreement Under NY Law,” you are probably wondering (or should be) the following: let’s assume a fact finder (i.e., whether a judge or jury) finds that my employer breached my employment agreement. What damages can I reasonably expect [...]

When NY Employers Condition Receipt of Post-Employment Benefits on a Non-Compete

As you may be aware, it has become increasingly common for employers to condition their employees’ receipt of post-employment benefits upon the employees’ agreement to abide by a strict non-compete clause.  So here’s the question (which, unfortunately, occurs altogether too frequently): what if the non-compete is unreasonably and unduly restrictive (i.e., prevents you from using [...]

When NY Courts Will Uphold Non-Compete Clauses – No Matter How Unreasonable

There is an extremely important exception to the New York Courts’ express disfavor for non-compete agreements: the employee choice doctrine. Under this exception to the rule, the employer is permitted to make the employee’s right to receive post-employment benefits contingent upon the employee’s agreement to abide by a non-compete agreement. The reason that this practice [...]

How to Win the Breach of a Severance Agreement Case in New York

It seems to me that many people are under the impression that your hands are completely tied, and you have no immediate recourse to the New York State courts if your former employer breaches your severance agreement. While in many cases, e.g., where the severance plan is governed by ERISA (in which case a common [...]

In Breach of Employment Contract Case, NY Court Holds Arbitration Clause Unenforceable

It is no secret that mandatory arbitration clauses have essentially become standard fare in business contracts, particularly in the employment or consultant context. But, as a Federal appeals court recently held, “It is well-accepted that although the presumption in favor of arbitration is strong, “the obligation to arbitrate nevertheless remains a creature of contract.” Louis [...]