Scottsdale Employment Law Blog

This February, Arizona's House of Representatives voted nearly unanimously (56 to 3) to expel one of its own, Rep. Don Shooter, after multiple accusations of sexual harassment were made against him. The vote came after a law firm hired by the legislative body to investigate the allegations found "credible evidence" that he had harassed a minimum of seven women.

The first woman to publicly accuse him was a colleague in the House -- Rep. Michelle Ugenti-Rita. She's also filed a lawsuit against him for defamation as well as battery, saying that he harmed her reputation after she reported what she says was a pattern of harassment. Shooter has countersued her.

For some, working in food services is a stepping stone, making them money to pay the bills until something else comes along. For others, the restaurant industry is a calling, and they have a gift for making diners feel welcome and at home. No matter which group you fall into, one thing is for certain. You typically work extremely hard for less money than you deserve.

Because of this, when your employer rips you off, it makes a difference in your standard of life. You have probably dealt with managers and restaurant owners who find sneaky ways to steal your wages. It is frustrating, and you may feel powerless, but you do have options for fighting for your fair wages.

Personnel files used to be kept in file cabinets that filled rooms. Now, many of them are digitized. Either way, employers need to be careful about what information they keep in an employee's file.

Even though access to these files should be strictly limited, the information in them must be factual and unbiased. For example, documentation of an allegation made by a colleague, manager or anyone else that was not pursued or proven should never be in an employee's file.

In many industries, professionals accumulate customers over the years who are devoted to them more than the company they work for. When these professionals leave their employers for another company or to start a business, their customers often want to follow them. If that happened regularly, it could destroy a company.

That's why many companies require their employees to sign nonsolicitation agreements. These state that if they take a customer away from the business, they can be sued. Some nonsolicitation agreements apply to other employees as well. They state that if a person leaves the company, they can't entice other employees to come with them.