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Recent Blog Posts
Litigating a Breach of Employment Agreement in Maryland
Maryland employers work "at will," meaning that they may be hired or fired at any time and for any legal reason. However, where the parties have signed an employment agreement, its terms will determine the parties’ rights and responsibilities.
Both parties to an employment agreement are bound by their terms and may face legal consequences for breaching the contract. An experienced Baltimore, MD employment agreement dispute attorney can represent either employees and employers in a lawsuit on a breach of an employment agreement.
What Should You Do if You Believe There is a Breach of an Employment Agreement?
If you suspect that the other party has breached the employment agreement, the first thing to do is to review the agreement, particularly the sections related to the breach and to the resolution of disputes. Next, you should document the breach by collecting any pertinent written evidence. If you are an employer or employee at a workplace with a human resources department, have an HR representative review the terms of the agreement and company policy. It may be possible to come to a negotiated solution by communicating with the other party. If you cannot amicably resolve the dispute, it may be time to consider filing an employment agreement breach of contract lawsuit.
5 Biggest Myths About Workplace Discrimination
Most of us are aware that nondiscrimination law prohibits employer discrimination against employees on the basis of race, sex, religion, disability, age, and other characteristics. Beyond that, however, there are many myths or misconceptions about employment discrimination. These myths can be harmful to both employers and employees: they may stop employees from reporting discrimination, and they may cause an employer to think they are complying with the law when they are not. Either way, a Maryland employment discrimination attorney has the experience to advise employees and employers on employment discrimination law.
Myth: Only Large Employers Are Covered By Discrimination Law
There are multiple federal laws that prohibit workplace discrimination, and Maryland does as well. Not all federal laws have an employer size requirement. For example, under the Federal Equal Pay Act, employers may not discriminate against women by paying them less than men for doing the same work, and this law applies regardless of company size. Even when there is an employer size provision, it is not very large. Many federal anti-discrimination laws and the Maryland employment anti-discrimination law apply to employers with 15 or more employees.
A Guide to Maryland Severance Agreements
When an employee leaves a place of employment, the employer may have the employee sign a severance agreement outlining the terms of their termination, including any severance pay and other compensation. In return, an employee will also agree to certain provisions, such as not to compete under certain geographic and time circumstances. An experienced Howard County, MD employment attorney can advise employees and employers on Maryland severance agreement best practices.
Why are Severance Agreements Important?
A severance agreement can provide an employer and an employee with certainty about their future dealings for a long period of time. It can also avoid disputes by outlining the terms of the parties’ agreement about the employee’s termination. By offering severance agreements, employers can also protect their company’s proprietary information as well as their reputation. Some common severance agreement components include:
Maryland Bans Non-Competes for Some Healthcare Professionals
Following a trend across the nation, Maryland’s HB 1388 restricts non-compete agreements for some medical professionals. Certain veterinarians and vet technicians are exempt from non-compete and conflict of interest provisions in employment contracts as of June 1, 2024. As of July 1, 2025, some healthcare professionals who provide "direct patient care" will also no longer fall under non-compete and conflict of interest provisions if they earn $350,000 or less annually.
For those making more than this amount, non-compete provisions will not be enforceable if the contract states the non-compete is in place for more than a year or for more than ten miles from your current place of employment. If your employment contract prevents you from transitioning into self-employment or seeking other employment in the same industry, it will be unenforceable. The ban on non-competes does not apply to taking or using a client list or other proprietary client-related information.
Changes to Paid Family and Medical Leave Insurance (FAMLI)
The Maryland governor signed SB 485, which was cross-filed with HB 571 on April 25, 2024. These bills will make significant changes to the Family and Medical Leave Act, a federal program. The bills also updated and changed the Maryland Paid Family and Medical Leave Insurance program, first established in 2022. The FAMLI program would cover all Maryland employers with at least one employee and would receive funding from employers and employees.
While employers with 14 or fewer employees are not required to contribute to the FAMLI plan, employees in these smaller businesses will be required to make contributions and will be entitled to FAMLI benefits. Eligible employees will receive up to 12 weeks of paid family and medical leave per benefit year for any reason or event specified in the program.
Settling Sexual Harassment Lawsuit Costs MD Casino $100,000 | MD
Golden Entertainment agreed in May 2024 to pay $100,000 to settle a sexual harassment and retaliation lawsuit. The company also agreed to provide managers, employees, and supervisors with comprehensive sexual harassment prevention training. The EEOC lawsuit stated that a bartender (male) who worked at the Rocky Gap Casino subjected another bartender (female) to repeated incidences of sexual harassment.
The sexual harassment included unwanted sexually suggestive comments as well as unwanted physical contact when he repeatedly groped the female’s buttocks. When the female bartender complained to her supervisor about the harassment, the casino ignored her complaints and continued to schedule the two to work together.
When the female made multiple complaints about the sexual harassment, the casino finally reassigned her to a station where she made considerably less money, and she eventually resigned from her position.
Discrimination and harassment cause wide-ranging harm
You should feel safe and secure at your place of employment. It sounds like a simple thing, but if you're reading this post, then you may have felt threatened, harassed, or treated unfairly at work.
Despite being illegal for decades, sexual harassment and workplace discrimination are rampant in Maryland workplaces, leaving individuals like you missing out on key employment opportunities and facing retaliation for reporting harassing and discriminatory behavior.
Yet, a lot of people who are subjected to harassment and discrimination let the matter go without taking any formal action. Sometimes this is because they fail to recognize the egregious behavior for what it is, and in other instances they think that it's easier to just let it go and deal with the consequence than to fight for accountability.
This just perpetuates the cycle of harassment and discrimination, which is one reason why you should fight to hold your employer responsible for the harm that they've caused to you. And don't for a second think that those damages are minor. In fact, the true harm caused by harassment and discrimination is more severe than many people realize.
Five tips for building your age discrimination claim
If you're 40 years of age or older, then there's a good chance that you have additional workplace protections against age discrimination. Yet, despite laws prohibiting age discrimination, the issue continues to run rampant in workplaces across the country. One reason is that workers simply can't identify when age discrimination occurs. In some instances, these individuals minimize the behavior exhibited towards them, while in others they aren't aware of their employer's motivation for taking certain actions against them.
But you can't afford to let your employer get away with workplace discrimination. If you do, then you could wind up with a stunted career, lost income, a damaged reputation, and mental anguish. To avoid those outcomes, you need to take legal action to hold your employer accountable for the age discrimination they've exhibited towards you.
How can you build an effective age discrimination case?
You have to be thorough as you build your age discrimination case. This means taking the following actions to develop your claim:
What to know about the ADA's reasonable accommodations provision
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) provides legal protections to disabled workers. These protections apply to all state and local governments, as well as private businesses that employ 15 or more people.
One of the key protections provided by the ADA is the right to request reasonable accommodations. Here, a disabled worker can request a modification to hiring practices or work environment to allow them an equal opportunity to secure the job in question, effectively perform their job duties, and enjoy the benefits of their job.
And reasonable accommodations can cover a lot. For example, you might be able to successfully request physical changes to your workspace, the installation of beneficial computer programming, the use of interpreters or closed captioning at meetings, and the use of a service animal. So, think through what you need to be successful at your place of work, then consider requesting the accommodations that are right for you.
When does workplace harassment become illegal?
Most of us maintain friendly and professional relationships with our work colleagues. But no matter what job or industry you work in, you are bound to encounter colleagues you do not get along with or who cause you frustration, anger or make your job more difficult.
This sometimes leads to workplace conflicts. While conflict is to be expected at times, if you are feeling harassed by another employee, you may wonder when the harassing conduct crosses the line and becomes illegal.
According to the U.S. Equal Opportunity Employment Commission ("EEOC"), workplace harassment becomes illegal when the unwelcome conduct is based on certain categories. Some of these categories include age, color, disability, national origin, race or religion.
Harassment also becomes illegal when it turns your working environment hostile. A hostile work environment is one where the harassment becomes severe enough to create a substantially negative work environment.
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