Recent Blog Posts

Requests for Admissions - Under Used and Under Appreciated

Attorney James Sabatini — Fri, 11 May 2012 22:40:00 GMT

Requests for admissions are under used and under appreciated in wrongful termination and employment discrimination cases. Discovery can be plagued with defendants giving non-responsive answers to written interrogatories and evasive answers to deposition questions. Requests for admissions effectively eliminate the defendant's ability to dance around the facts in the case. The defendant is forced to either admit or deny facts. Furthermore, a request for admission can properly require the defendant to admit to matters relating to the application of law to fact. By having the defendant admit or deny matters of fact or matters involving fact and law, the triable issues in the case are narrowed. Responses to the requests for admissions are binding. In other words, an admission is comparable to an admission in pleadings as opposed to an evidentiary admission of a party. So the next time a defendant dances around the facts or dances around the application of the law to the facts, send out the requests for admissions and then watch the defendant's dancing come to a halt.

Attorney James Sabatini Files FMLA & Disability Discrimination Lawsuit

Attorney James Sabatini — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 20:28:00 GMT

Attorney James Sabatini has filed suit on behalf of his client alleging FMLA violations and disability discrimination. The client worked for Water's Edge Resort and Spa in Westbrook, Connecticut. The client worked as a chef for the resort until his termination. He was terminated following a medical leave of absence.

Law Firm Retained In Pregnancy Discrimination Case

Attorney James Sabatini — Tue, 06 Mar 2012 02:58:00 GMT

The law firm has been retained by a young woman who has been subjected to pregnancy discrimination in the workplace. Employed by a Fortune 500 company, our client was subjected to discrimination following her pregnancy notification to her supervisor. The discrimination culminated in her termination. Federal and Connecticut law prohibit pregnancy discrimination in the workplace.

Workers' Compensation Retaliation & Discrimination - An Overview

Attorney James Sabatini — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 23:43:00 GMT

It is illegal for an employer in Connecticut to terminate or in any manner discriminate against an employee for filing a claim for workers' compensation benefits or otherwise exercising his or her rights under the workers' compensation laws. In order to prove a case of wrongful termination or discrimination, the plaintiff must prove by a preponderance of the evidence that his discharge was due to intentional discrimination based on his filing a claim for workers' compensation benefits. Intentional discrimination is proved if the plaintiff demonstrates by a preponderance of the evidence that his filing a workers' compensation claim was a motivating factor for his discharge. A "motivating factor" is a factor that made a difference in the defendant's decision.

The plaintiff does not have to prove that the filing of a workers' compensation claim was the sole or even the principal reason for the decision, as long as he proves that it was a determinative influence in the decision. He may prove intentional discrimination directly by proving that his filing the workers' compensation claim motivated the defendant's action in discharging him or indirectly by proving that the reason given by the defendant for the discharge was unworthy of belief.

Lawsuit Filed For Worker Fired After Filing For Workers Compensation

Attorney James Sabatini — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 00:23:00 GMT

Attorney James Sabatini has filed a lawsuit on behalf of his client for wrongful termination. The client suffered a work-related injury. Due to the injury, the worker filed for workers' compensation benefits. She also took a workers' compensation leave of absence due to the injuries. The employer retaliated against her by terminating her employment.
Connecticut workers are protected under Connecticut law from retaliation for bringing a workers' compensation claim or otherwise exercising their rights under the workers' compensation laws. Furthermore, employers cannot lawfully terminate an employee because the employee is out on a leave of absence due to a work-related injury. As for how long an employee can be out a workers compensation leave of absence and still have job protection - that is dependent upon multiple factors including whether the employer has a published leave of absence policy and whether the leave of absence policy is consistently and uniformly enforced. The issue is best addressed by consulting with an attorney. Our attorneys are able to answer all questions regarding employee rights after being injured on the job.

Connecticut's Law on Pregnancy Discrimination

Attorney James Sabatini — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 20:57:00 GMT

It is illegal under Connecticut law for an employer to discriminate on the basis of pregnancy. Under C.G.S. Section 46a-60(a)(7) an employer is prohibited from:
1.    Terminating an employee because of her pregnancy;
2.    Refuse to grant to the employee a reasonable leave of absence for disability resulting from her pregnancy;
3.    To deny an employee who is disabled as a result of pregnancy any compensation to which she is entitled to as a result of the accumulation of disability or leave benefits accrued pursuant to plans maintained by the employer;
4.    To fail or refuse to reinstate the employee to her original job or to an equivalent position with equivalent pay and accumulated seniority, retirement, fringe benefits and other service credits upon her signifying her intent to return unless, in the case of the private employer, business circumstances have changes as to make it impossible or unreasonable to do so;
5.    To fail or refuse to make a reasonable effort to transfer a pregnant employee to any suitable temporary position which may be available in any case in which an employee gives written notice of her pregnancy to her employer and the employer or pregnant employee reasonable believes that continued employment in the position held by the pregnant employee may cause injury to the employee or the fetus;
6.    to fail or to refuse to inform the pregnant employee that a they must give written notice of their pregnancy in order to be eligible for transfer to a temporary position.

Besides Connecticut's law prohibiting pregnancy discrimination in the workplace, federal law also prohibits such discrimination. Victims of pregnancy discrimination should contact our attorneys to ensure that all legal rights are protected.

Attorney James Sabatini Secures $100,000 FMLA & Disability Discrimination Settlement

Attorney James Sabatini — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 16:37:00 GMT

Attorney James Sabatini recently secured a $100,000.00 settlement for a client in a FMLA and disability discrimination case. The settlement was obtained after suit was filed and written discovery had been completed. When the disability discrimination claim was intially filed with the CHRO (as legally required) the CHRO found no initial merit to the claim. This is another case where Attorney Sabatini has obtained a meaningful settlement for his client after the CHRO declared that the case lacked merit.

EEOC Sues Texas Roadhouse Restaurants For Widespread Age Discrimination

Attorney James Sabatini — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 14:52:00 GMT

The EEOC has just filed suit against Texas Roadhouse Restaurants charging the restaurant chain with widespread age discrimination that dates back to at least 2007. There are three (3) Texas Roadhouse restaurants in Connecticut. In the lawsuit, the EEOC alleges that Texas Roadhouse discriminated against people over the age of 40 who had applied for waiter and host jobs - jobs that had significant customer interaction. According to the lawsuit a mere 1.9% of the employees holding such jobs were over the age of 40. The lawsuit further alleges that managers had told job seekers that they were a little too old to work here and that the restaurant was hiring "for greeters, but we need the young, hot ones who are chipper and stuff." Older workers have been hit especially hard by the economic recession. Workers over the age of 55 have on average needed 10 more weeks finding a new job than their younger counterparts and twice as likely to be out of work for 99 or more weeks than their younger counterparts.
Our employment attorneys represent people discriminated against on the basis of age and are currently accepting new cases involving age discrimination in the workplace.

Sabatini and Associates Files Lawsuit On Behalf of Former Hartford Police Officer

Attorney James Sabatini — Mon, 22 Aug 2011 19:13:00 GMT

Sabatini and Associates, LLC recently filed a lawsuit on behalf of our client, a former Hartford police officer, against his ex-employer the City of Hartford alleging wrongful termination. Our client suffered a back injury that required surgery. He was told that he was eligible for medical leave under the FMLA so he took the medical leave of absence to have the surgery. When he returned, he was working light duty. He was then fired for absenteeism. We have brought claims alleging disability discrimination under federal and Connecticut law and violations of the FMLA.

Verizon To Pay $20 Million To Settle Discrimination Lawsuit

Attorney James Sabatini — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 19:44:00 GMT

Verizon has agreed to pay 20 million to settle a discrimination lawsuit charging the company with failing to accommodate hundreds of workers whose absences were caused by their disabilities. The lawsuit was brought by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). The EEOC's lawsuit alleged that Verizon was punishing and firing workers who built up absences under a "no fault" attendance policy rather than making exceptions for those workers with disabilities. Absences related to an employee's disability cannot be held against the employee as the absences are considered a reasonable accommodation under the law. Currently, the law firm of Sabatini and Associates, LLC has multiple disability discrimination cases pending in court where the employer illegally terminated a disabled employee as a result of an accrual of absences under a "no fault" attendance policy where the absences were caused by the employee's disability.

Attorney James Sabatini Obtains $200,000.00 FMLA Settlement

Attorney James Sabatini — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 17:09:00 GMT

In a case involving violations of the FMLA, Attorney James Sabatini recently obtained a $200,000.00 settlement on behalf of his client. The case was pending in Court for approximately seven (7) months before settling. The initial settlement offer made by the defendant was zero dollars.

Walmart: Too Big To Sue?

Attorney James Sabatini — Fri, 01 Jul 2011 17:57:00 GMT

The recent US Supreme Court decision that rejected the proposed class action lawsuit brought on behalf of 1.6 million women does not mean that Walmart is too big to sue. Nothing in the Court's decision prevents female employees or ex-employees from pursing there individual gender discrimination claims against Walmart in court. Nothing in the Court's decision prevents groups of female employees (for example, female employees working in multiple stores that are supervised by a specific regional or district manager) from filing gender discrimination lawsuits against Walmart. While the Supreme Court's decision was disappointing, it does not render the company too big to sue. If you are a female employee of Walmart and have suffered gender discrimination resulting in a termination, denial of promotion, unequal pay, demotion, etc. you can and should sue.

Best Buy Employment Discrimination Settlement

Attorney James Sabatini — Tue, 21 Jun 2011 23:10:00 GMT

Best Buy recently agreed to settle an employment discrimination case brought by nine named plaintiffs. The plaintiffs alleged in their lawsuit that Best Buy's hiring and promotional practices discriminated against women, Latinos and African-Americans. As part of the settlement the company agreed to change its personnel policies including the establishment of of a transparent electronic registry where all workers could see and apply for available positions. Notwithstanding the settlement, individuals (other than the nine plaintiffs) are free to file separate discrimination lawsuits against the company.

$410,000.00 Settlement Reached In Age Discrimination Case

Attorney James Sabatini — Tue, 03 May 2011 16:18:00 GMT

The firm's employment lawyers, James Sabatini and Vincent Sabatini recently obtained a $410,000.00 settlement in an age discrimination case. The client was an air traffic controller that was denied employment by the U.S Air Force on the basis of his age. The damages were largely confined to loss pension benefits. Due to the complicated nature of the loss of federal pension benefits, economist Arthur Wright was brought into the case as an expert witness. Dr. Wright's expertise confirmed the damages suffered by our client and calculated those damages in present day value along with the necessary compensation to our client for the "extra" taxes incurred on receiving the lump sum settlement. In certain employment cases, the issue of damages can be complicated. Consequently, the damages issue needs to be worked on with as much diligence as the work performed on the issue of liability. This will ensure that the damages claim is made as ironclad as possible to allow for the best possible result in the case.

EEOC Publishes Final Regulations to the ADA

Attorney James Sabatini — Sun, 17 Apr 2011 23:00:00 GMT

The EEOC recently released its final regulations on the Americans with Disabilities Act as amended in 2008. Highlights from the regulations are:
1. Expansion of major life activities to include reading, bending and communicating and major bodily functions including immune system, normal cell growth, digestive, bowel, bladder, brain, nervous system, circulatory, reproductive, and respiratory.
2. Mitigating measures shall not be considered when determining if a person has a disability.
3. Clarifies that an impairment that is episodic or is in remission is a disability if it would substantially limit a major life activity when active.
4. Changes the definition of "regarded as" disabled so as to no longer require the plaintiff to prove that the employer regarded the condition as substantially limiting a major life activity.