Milwaukee Employment Law Blog

It seems everyday there is another report about a Social Security claimant who fought for decades to receive benefits. This type of story should be rare, however the frequency with which it occurs is staggering. Claimants could fight for years after filing their claims, appealing denials of benefits, sometimes all the way to federal court. In many cases, even Federal Court isn't the final stage if the Judge remands - or sends the case back - to the Administrative Law Judge ("ALJ") who initially heard the case for consideration of new information and a new hearing. This process can be especially frustrating when the ALJ's decision is based on insufficient or erroneous conclusions, or simple boilerplate language that offers no real analysis.

In 1938, the federal government enacted the Fair Labor Standards Act in order to protect workers in Wisconsin and throughout the union from being exploited by their employers. One important provision of this law limits the work week to 40 hours. Workers must be compensated for any hours they work over 40 with time-and-a-half their regular rate of pay. By the mid-1980s, workers in the public sector were given the option of selecting overtime pay or paid time off--meaning they could either take extra wages for their extra hours or bank one and a half vacation hours for every hour over 40 that they work.

Now, the U.S. House of Representatives has voted to give workers in the private sector that same employment right. Proponents of the bill say it is a great family-friendly measure that will help workers earn time off to attend parent-teacher conferences, childrens' sporting events or keep up with other family tasks. The bill, however, is very controversial.

Wisconsin residents may have heard that a landmark Americans with Disabilities Act case came to a close this week. The case involved a Texas turkey processor that ran a labor camp for mentally disabled men in Iowa for decades until the Des Moines Register brought the camp to the attention of state officials in 2009.

Earlier this week, a jury awarded each of 32 former employees of Henry's Turkey Service $7.5 million, ending this sad case that shined a light on the abuse and discrimination suffered by hundreds of men at the camp over the years.

Back in February in this Milwaukee Employment Law Blog, we wrote about the U.S. Justice Department joining in the whistle-blower lawsuit against Lance Armstrong. This week, the Justice Department made it official and filed a formal complaint against the disgraced champion cyclist. The lawsuit also targets the team owners.

As we have previously discussed, this case is continuing to demonstrate the way in which qui tam whistle-blower cases function. Qui tam is a provision under the federal False Claims Act. Under this provision, private citizens--or whistle-blowers--can file a lawsuit on behalf of the government accusing a person or organization that receives government funding of defrauding the government. The government then has the option to take up the lawsuit itself, and if it does so and is successful the whistle-blower is entitled to a portion of the recovered damages.