Employment Litigation
Fisher Hudson Shallat attorneys pride themselves in championing employees’ rights. Our employment team has successfully represented employees who have been subjected to discrimination, retaliation, or wrongful termination. We also specialize in lawsuits arising under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and fighting for employees’ rightful wage and overtime claims against their employers. Our motivation is not only to compensate employees who have been wronged, but to also influence employers to change unfair and unlawful practices or policies.
Below we have provided additional information on the types of employment claims in which we specialize.
Wrongful Termination
State and federal laws prohibit an employer from terminating or otherwise retaliating against an employee for making a complaint against the employer for unlawful discrimination or reporting unlawful activity. Idaho is an “at will” state. This means that, absent a contract stating a specific length of employment, an employer can terminate an employee at any time for any reason, unless the reasoning behind the termination violates state or federal law. For example, employers are prohibited from terminating an employee because of his or her national origin, age, gender, disability, or religion.
Hostile Work Environment
An employer cannot create an abusive or hostile work environment because of an employee’s national origin, age, gender, disability, or religion. If an employer is aware of an abusive or hostile work environment and does not try to prevent it, the employer may be held liable for the hostile work environment.
Wage & Overtime Claims
At times, employers misclassify employees in certain positions with the company as “exempt” and pay them a salary, as opposed to an hourly wage, when the employees have little or no role in the management of the company and do not fall within the exceptions outlined in the FLSA. These employees are entitled to be compensated their back overtime wages for the hours worked over 40 hours per week, interest, court costs and attorneys’ fees. Furthermore, unless the employer can prove that they made the classification of the employee in “good faith,” the employer will also be responsible for paying the employee liquidated damages which is double the amount of back overtime pay. Please click here to learn more about our Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) experience.