Employee Privacy in a Digital Age
September 29, 2010 | Scott M. LepakElectricity has been a benefit and a curse to the legal profession. Before the invention of the fax machine, lawyers could write letters and not have to worry about the matter for a couple of days while it was being delivered. The first fax I received was 76 pages on thermal paper that didn’t cut off to page sizes and scrolled onto the floor as one page over 50 feet long. I knew at that moment that technology was going to be a mixed bag. Clients now call and leave voice messages telling me that they sent me an email or a fax (or both). I check emails while ice fishing (unless the fish are biting). While the access provided by electricity has been a mixed blessing, there is no questions that it has greatly affected my employment law practice. When the internet was first introduced, it became immediately apparent that employees would view things at work that they would not dream of looking at from home (often for fear of reprisal by a spouse). This created the need for personnel policies related to Internet use. Emails became a common form of discourse that mixed the concepts of informal slang, often not entirely professional or appropriate statements and what was a more permanent…
Read MoreCondemnation/Relocation Benefits of Tenants
September 22, 2010 | Barna, Guzy & Steffen, Ltd.Summer 2010 In Brief by Angela Samec When a unit of government (i.e. a state, county or city) takes real property, certain rules must be followed with respect to occupants of that real property. Minnesota has adopted the Uniform Relocation Assistance and Real Property Acquisition Policies Act of 1970 as controlling law with regards to relocation rights. See Minnesota Statutes Section 117.52. Displaced tenants have a variety of rights, including the right to: (i) a general information notice regarding the displacement.; (ii) advisory services as to the displaced tenant’s rights; (iii)advisory services as to relocation opportunities; (iv) notices to vacate cannot require less than ninety (90) days to vacate; (v) claim preparation assistance; (vi) expeditious payments; and (vii) have appeals heard by non-related/disinterested party. Moving Cost Reimbursement: Business owners or tenants may be paid on the basis of actual reasonable moving costs and related expenses or, under certain circumstances, may receive a fixed payment. Actual reasonable moving expenses may be paid when the move is performed by a professional mover or if you move yourself. Related expenses such as personal property losses, reestablishment costs, and expenses in finding a replacement site, also may be reimbursable. Or you may be eligible to receive a fixed payment from $1,000 to $20,000. This payment is based…
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