Author: JGL Law

Joseph Greenwald & Laake principal attorney Brian Markovitz was quoted several times in a Variety article regarding President Donald Trump’s denial of sexual misconduct which has left him open to defamation lawsuits.

The article revolves around Summer Zervos, a former contestant on “The Apprentice” who made sexual misconduct allegations against Trump in October 2016. The statute of limitations was likely to preclude litigation over the claim, which was nine-years-old at the time. Trump denied her allegations, along with those of other accusers, threatening to sue them and calling them “liars.” Now, Zervos has sued for defamation, saying that her reputation was harmed by Trump’s claims.

She is not the first to bring a defamation suit against a public figure after their denial of a sexual misconduct allegation, but Markovitz said that it is new that these suits are getting coverage.

Markovitz explained that defamation lawsuits are expensive and hard to win. For average women who work typical jobs, the suits are less useful since the defendants usually are neither wealthy nor well-known. However, this suit is different, because Zervos’ credibility is at stake on a national level.

“Her damages could be very extensive because she has been humiliated and called a liar in the national media,” Markovitz said.

Trump’s lawyers have argued that according to First Amendment law, political statements in political context are non-actionable political opinion and that “expected fiery rhetoric, hyperbole and opinion” are all protected forms of speech.

Markovitz said that this case is “a sexual harassment trial within a defamation lawsuit,” and that Trump’s fiery rhetoric is not helping him legally.

“He is not stating it’s his opinion she is a liar,” Markovitz said. “He is stating she is a liar…The problem [his legal team is] going to have is there’s a videotape” of him saying it.

Brian Markovitz is a principal in JGL’s Labor and Employment and Civil Litigation practice groups and focuses on helping victims who have suffered severe injustices in the workplace. He represents individuals in complex employment litigation and appellate matters involving wrongful termination, retaliation by employers in response to reporting fraud or misconduct and discrimination on the basis on race, gender, age and sexual orientation.

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Joseph Greenwald & Laake principal Jay Holland commented Monday on a Law360 article regarding a Supreme Court denial of Certiorari in the recent Eleventh Circuit ruling of Jameka Evans v. Georgia Regional Hospital.

In April 2015, Evans sued Georgia Regional Hospital in the state’s federal court, claiming that the hospital violated Title VII because they fired her for being a lesbian and for dressing and acting outside of typical gender norms. The Eleventh Circuit majority held that discharge for homosexuality is not prohibited by Title VII, using the Fifth Circuit’s Blum v. Gulf Oil Corp. (1979) case as a precedent.

Evans replead her case, using the Supreme Court ruling of Price Waterhouse v. Hopkins (1989) as a precedent, which held that Title VII bars employers from discriminating against workers who don’t fit sex stereotypes. She was denied, and appealed to the Supreme Court, arguing in her Petition for Certiorari that discrimination because of sex includes sexual orientation. She noted the Seventh Circuit decision in Hively v. Ivy Tech Community College (2017), in which Chief Circuit Judge Diane P. Wood noted that it is “impossible to discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation without discriminating on the basis of sex.”

Holland said that while the Petition for Certiorari was denied in this case, it is only a matter of time before the justices take up the Title VII question, since both the plaintiff’s attorneys and the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission treat the law as though it covers sexual orientation.

“It may well be that for reasons none of us could know, the court felt that the Eleventh Circuit wasn’t the right vehicle to decide the issue,” he said in the article. “I don’t think that this is the end of the story as it relates to whether or not the Supreme Court will hear it.”

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Jay Holland is a principal in JGL’s Civil Litigation Group, and the chair of the firm’s Labor, Employment and Qui Tam Whistleblower practice. He is a renowned employment and qui tam litigator known for taking on tough cases and achieving exceptional results. 

In the interview Markovitz details the differences between sex-based and sexual harassment claims.  Markovitz thinks some harassment claims must pass difficult legal tests before they can even bring the case to court. He’d like to see this change. As for how to put an end to the problem of sexual harassment, Markovitz said, “By raising better sons, I find that training does very little to help. Harassers know what they are doing is wrong but don’t care. So, it is important for companies to fire people, no matter who they are, when it is shown that they harassed somebody. Since harassment is about power, it is important for companies to take that power away.”

Brian Markovitz is a principal in JGL’s Labor and Employment and Civil Litigation practice groups, and focuses on helping victims who have suffered severe injustices in the workplace. He represents individuals in complex employment litigation and appellate matters involving wrongful termination, retaliation by employers in response to reporting fraud or misconduct and discrimination on the basis on race, gender, age and sexual orientation.

Joseph Greenwald & Laake principal attorney Brian Markovitz spoke to Law360 for a story regarding holiday parties in the wake of the wave sexual harassment allegations. Holiday parties present an opportunity for bad behavior among co-workers interacting outside the workplace. Will holiday parties become a thing of the past following these allegations?

This interview comes after another story in the Wall Street Journal about a company that sent a memo to their employees outlining acceptable behavior at holiday parties.

Brian Markovitz is a principal in JGL’s Labor and Employment and Civil Litigation practice groups, and focuses on helping victims who have suffered severe injustices in the workplace. He represents individuals in complex employment litigation and appellate matters involving wrongful termination, retaliation by employers in response to reporting fraud or misconduct and discrimination on the basis on race, gender, age and sexual orientation. Brian takes on a wide variety of workplace controversies, and it is his goal to help each client in every way he can. 

The Joseph Greenwald & Laake community came together for fun and holiday cheer during the firm’s annual holiday party on Saturday, December 9. This year’s festivities were held at Tim and Sheila Maloney’s home in Kensington. One hundred guests attended the party, ringing in the season with good friends and good cheer.

JGL would like to wish everyone a wonderful holiday season and a happy New Year. 

 

Joseph Greenwald & Laake attorney Debora Fajer-Smith attended a Maryland Legislative Senate House Oversight Committee for Workers Compensation Senate hearing on Monday, Dec. 4. During the hearing, Debora discussed and questioned legislation that introduced to bring State Correctional Officers under the same realm of all public safety positions.

She also introduced legislation involving the case of Buckler v. Willett Construction Company (1996), where Jurist Irma Raker indicated that temporary total disability and temporary partial disability were never defined in Maryland statutes. Debora argued that these definitions must be defined to allow workers with multiple jobs to receive pay from all in the case of an injury.

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Debora Fajer-Smith is the chair of JGL’s Workers’ Compensation and Insurance Group. She has nearly 30 years of experience in being a passionate advocate for her clients’ rights. She is the only woman plaintiff attorney in Maryland with national recognition, and has gained a reputation as a formidable courtroom opponent and excellent negotiator. 

This may seem like a fairly obscure legal question, but questions along these lines have become fairly common. As divorces between working couples become more prevalent, so do the concerns of not just dividing marital assets, but also funds for retirement and what qualifies as income.

As a general rule, you can contribute to a regular IRA or a Roth IRA, if you have qualifying income.  So what counts as qualifying income?

There are three categories of qualifying income:

• Amounts earned as an employee
• Self-employment income, and
• Alimony income.

For purposes of making an IRA contribution, taxable alimony income counts as qualifying income. This is a special rule that permits you to build retirement savings in an IRA even if you rely on alimony income for your support. To qualify, the alimony must be paid under a divorce decree or separation agreement.   So, even if you don’t work, your alimony received is sufficient to meet the compensation requirement. The rule applies only to taxable alimony income, though. You can’t include nontaxable items such as child support.

But there are limitations on whether you can contribute to a traditional IRA or a Roth IRA.    

Traditional IRAs stop accepting contributions in the year that you turn 70 1/2 years old, even if you have lots of alimony or other compensation income. For example, if you turn 70 1/2 in December 2017, you can’t contribute at all during the 2017 tax year. If you’re interested in contributing to a Roth IRA, your age is never an issue.

Roth IRAs have income limits instead of age limits restricting who can contribute. These limits count all your taxable income, not just your alimony, so if you have non-compensation income, such as dividends or interest that counts toward the limit, too. For example, in 2017, a single filer can’t contribute to a Roth IRA if his or her modified adjusted gross income exceeds $133,000.  These limits update annually.

Note that there is a perfectly legal technique called a “Backdoor Roth IRA” that may allow you to circumvent this limit. It allows you to convert a Traditional IRA into a Roth IRA, and there are no income limits for conversions.

A skilled divorce attorney is not only knowledgeable in family law but he or she must have a strong understanding of both the tax code and retirement options and should work with strong network of professionals .   Does your divorce lawyer have that? 

Reza Golesorkhi is widely recognized as one of a handful of elite divorce lawyers in the Maryland, Virginia and Washington DCarea.  He is a partner and divorce attorney at Joseph, Greenwald & Laake, P.A., a firm with an established track record of working tirelessly to get exceptional results.  You can reach Reza directly by email at rgolesorkhi@jgllaw.com or at 240.399.7892.

Joseph Greenwald & Laake principal attorney Jay Holland participated in a panel discussion with retired Court of Appeals Judge Harrell and retired Court of Special Appeals Judge Salmon during the Maryland Employment Lawyers Association Conference on Dec. 1. The conference took place at the Greenbelt Marriott Hotel in Greenbelt, Maryland.

The event’s focus was on presenting familiar employment law topics from the perspective of the bench, and it gave attendees the opportunity to mingle with fellow employment law practitioners. Aside from the panel, the lineup included both state and federal judges, as well as other participating jurists.

Jay Holland is a principal in JGL’s Civil Litigation Group, and the chair of the firm’s Labor, Employment and Qui Tam Whistleblower practice. He is a renowned employment and qui tam litigator known for taking on tough cases and achieving exceptional results. 

 

Joseph Greenwald & Laake principal Jay Holland commented on a story about NBC’s recent firing of Matt Lauer on November 29 for Law360. Lauer, the former co-host of The Today Show, was fired after the network received allegations of workplace sexual misconduct on November 27.

The company’s actions came before these allegations were made public, making NBC one of the first companies to take this type of swift, preemptive action following allegations of this type. Jay spoke to Brandon Campbell about the accusations and about whether this type of swift action will be something that more companies do moving forward.

In the article, Jay said that Lauer’s firing is “notable for its apparent swiftness,” and that NBC “appears to be raising the bar for employers as it relates to swiftness of action.” However, Jay also noted reports that NBC “may have known about the allegations for quite some time.”

Jay Holland is a principal in JGL’s Civil Litigation Group, and the chair of the firm’s Labor, Employment and Qui Tam Whistleblower practice. He is a renowned employment and qui tam litigator known for taking on tough cases and achieving exceptional results.

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Joseph Greenwald & Laake principal attorney Timothy Maloney was quoted in a Maryland Daily Record article regarding the case of acting Health Secretary Dennis R. Schrader and former acting Planning Secretary Wendy W. Peters, and the constitutionality of budget language meant to prevent Republican Gov. Larry Hogan from paying them.

While Schrader has not been paid since July 1, Peters’ was transferred to a new position and began receiving a paycheck in late September.

Maloney represents both Schrader and Peters, and has asked Judge Ronald Silkworth to declare the language of the budget unconstitutional. In the article, he said that the use of budget language to limit recess appointments was a “usurpation of the governor’s power” and “opens the door to wholesale legislating in the budget without the checks and balances of an executive veto.”

Maloney said, “The Senate does not have the authority to limit recess appointments nor have the power to restrict paying recess appointments.”

Maloney is a preeminent trial lawyer who has obtained millions of dollars in recoveries for his clients in a wide variety of matters, including civil rights, employment discrimination, whistleblower actions and high-stakes business litigation. He is a committed advocate for the public good who has held leadership roles with many civic and charitable organizations.

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Joseph Greenwald & Laake senior counsel Eleanor Hunt hosted a Sip & Shop event sponsored by The Maple Lawn Women’s Networking Group. The event, which took place on Nov. 30, was held at Maple Lawn Community Center in Fulton.

Event attendees had the opportunity to shop local boutique vendors while enjoying drinks, snacks and live music. Over twenty vendors such as Urban Pallets, Beautycounter, Tidal Salt Jewelry, doTerra Essential Oils and LuLaRoe donated items towards three raffles that took place during the course of the evening. JGL provided refreshments, a wine and craft beer tasting, and information about the firm to more than one hundred attendees.

The event benefitted the Sisters 4 Sisters Network, Inc., a non-profit organization that supports and empowers women to reach their fullest potential by focuses on issues that impact women and their families.

Eleanor is a former member of the Board of Directors for the Maple Lawn Homeowners’ Association and founded the Maple Lawn Women’s Networking Group. She is an attorney in the firm’s Family Law practice, representing clients in issues such as divorce, adoption, child custody and visitation disputes, domestic violence proceedings and more. She also counsels individuals and families in estate planning issues such as wills, trusts, power of attorney, advanced medical directives and probate administration. 

JGL principal attorney Timothy Maloney has been named one of the top lawyers in the Washington DC area by Washingtonian magazine. The “Top Lawyers” list, which comes out every two years, appears in the December 2017 issue of the magazine.

Tim is a preeminent trial lawyer who has obtained millions of dollars in recoveries for his clients in a wide variety of complex matters, including civil rights, employment discrimination, whistleblower actions, and high-stakes business litigation. He is a “go-to” lawyer who clients rely upon for some of the most difficult and challenging cases, and he has successfully taken on the government in numerous police misconduct and criminal defense cases.

Tim frequently speaks and writes on significant legal developments, and gives legal education presentations to Maryland lawyers on topics such as the rights of incarcerated people and employment litigation in federal court.

All of our attorneys, and the entire JGL community, are proud of Tim for this impressive accomplishment.