Schinnerer's RM Blog - liability tag

Employment Practice Liability

Thu, 20 May 2010 14:49:00 GMT

Firms that have more than a sole practitioner should know the various federal, state, and local employment laws that are applicable to their firm. Acceptable workplace behavior has been defined by these laws and further refined through court decisions. Design firms must be aware of their responsibilities and legal obligations. They should develop policies and guidelines that are clear and communicated to all staff members consistently. All staff should be aware of the procedures and guidelines in place both to guide their conduct in the workplace and to respond to an issue relating to workplace comfort.

The following guide from Schinnerer provides a good starting point for firms to manage the risks of employment practices (access limited to policyholders and brokers):

www.schinnerer.com/risk-mgmt/Documents/GeneralPracticePublications/Employment-practices-liability.pdf

A workplace environment where all employees are treated fairly is critical to the long term success of any firm. The following Management Advisory from our online collection has some suggestions on how to avoid mistakes when investigating employment practices claims (access limited to policyholders and brokers): www.schinnerer.com/risk-mgmt/Documents/ManagementAdvisories/EPL-claims-mistakes.pdf

Potential for Nationwide Good Samaritan Protection

Mon, 15 Oct 2007 13:11:00 GMT

A bill introduced to the US House of Representatives would give liability protection to architects and engineers who volunteer their services in times of emergency. Except for gross negligence or willful misconduct, when A/E volunteers provide assistance to without expectation of compensation, H.R. 2067 would grant immunity nationwide. This would preempt existing state “Good Samaritan laws.” Thus, if the bill is passed, design professionals won’t have to grapple with state-specific interpretations of the law. In addition, the new bill would cover both individuals as well as their firm. Most state laws currently only cover the individual professional, which leaves the firm at risk for potential claims.

The bill, currently in the House Judiciary Committee, was introduced by Congressman Dave Reichert (R-WA) currently has bipartisan support, with cosponsors Rep. Jim Matheson (D-UT), Rep. Gary Miller (R-CA), Rep. Nydia Velazquez (D-NY), Rep. Christopher Shays (R-CT), and Rep. Dan Lungren (R-CA). You can track the progress of the bill, and read its full text here.

We’ve written a Management Advisory with suggestions for contractual provisions when providing services in emergency situations, you can read it here.