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The Importance of Depositions in Civil Trials
It is easy to not take the deposition process in civil trials very seriously. They are not conducted in a court house and thus do not seem to contain the same type of clout that witness testimony in court has. Many people believe that the only things that matter when it comes to legal cases are the things that they have seen on Law & Order. But what you view as you sit down in front of a television with a beer and some popcorn is not reality.

United States Supreme Court Grants Review of Employee Privacy/Text-Messaging Case

On December 14, 2009, the United States Supreme Court granted review in the case of Quon v. Arch Wireless Operating and The Ontario Police Department, 529 F.3d. 892 (9th Cir. 2008). In this case, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal held that the City of Ontario violated the Fourth Amendment and California constitutional privacy rights of the SWAT team member and the officers he texted when, as part of an overage audit, Management read transcripts of the messages the officer sent on his City-issued pager.

As a reminder, in Quon, the Ninth Circuit ruled against the City despite the City's written “Computer Usage, Internet, and E-mail Policy,” which stated that use of those devices was limited to city business only and that employees were to have no expectation of privacy when using those devices. Here, the problem was that a lieutenant told employees that text messages would not be audited as long as employees paid any overage charges incurred, and the employees argued that they had relied on this statement. The Ninth Circuit held that the lieutenant's oral agreement not to audit the messages trumped the written policy, thereby creating a reasonable expectation of privacy by the employees and any other individuals who sent messages to the employees. The Ninth Circuit further held that the City’s review of the text messages was not reasonable in its scope as there were less intrusive means to audit overages.

The questions presented to the United State Supreme Court for review are:

(1) Whether a SWAT team member has a reasonable expectation of privacy in text messages transmitted on his SWAT pager, where the police department has an official no-privacy policy but a non-policymaking lieutenant announced an informal policy of allowing some personal use of the pagers.

(2) Whether the Ninth Circuit violated the Supreme Court’s prior Fourth Amendment cases and created a conflict among the appellate courts by analyzing whether the police department could have used “less intrusive methods” of reviewing text messages transmitted by a SWAT team member on his SWAT pager.

(3) Whether individuals who send text messages to a SWAT team member’s SWAT pager have a reasonable expectation that their messages will be free from review by the recipient’s government employer.

Regardless of its outcome, this case serves as a reminder to employers to ensure that not only are employee handbooks updated, but that they are also being strictly followed by managers.

Federal Government Extends COBRA Subsidy

On March 2, 2010, President Obama signed into law legislation that extends the Federal government's COBRA premium subsidy program. The new legislation extends the subsidy program until March 31, 2010, retroactive to March 1, 2010. Currently, the Federal government is subsidizing the cost of COBRA continuation coverage for certain individuals that experience a loss of coverage under employer-sponsored health plans due to an involuntary termination. Previously, only employees who were terminated prior to February 28, 2010 were eligible for the subsidy. Pursuant to this recent extension, employees who are involuntarily terminated between March 1, 2010 and March 31, 2010 will also be eligible for the subsidy.

Under the COBRA subsidy program, the terminated employee pays, in effect, only 35% of the COBRA premium, and the remaining 65% is covered by an advance from the employer. The employer is then entitled to recoup the 65% it has advanced for the cost of that coverage by taking a credit against its own employment tax liability. The period of the subsidy can last for up to 15 months.

It is important to note that the subsidy is still based on the amount that the terminated employee is actually obligated to pay. In other words, the COBRA subsidy is proportionately reduced to the extent the employer has assumed liability for the terminated employee's COBRA premiums. This is significant because it is not uncommon for employers to agree to pay all or a portion of a former employee's COBRA premiums as part of a severance package. In order to maximize the use of the COBRA subsidy, therefore, the terminated employee would have to be obligated to pay the full amount of his or her COBRA premiums since, after the subsidy is taken into account, the terminated employee's actual out-of-pocket cost would be limited to 35% of the total premiums. It is also important to note that the subsidy begins to phase out if the terminated employee's 2010 income exceeds $125,000 (or $250,000 for joint filers), and is completely unavailable if the terminated employee's 2010 income exceeds $145,000 (or $290,000 for joint filers). Any individual who receives the subsidy whose income exceeds these limits will be required to repay all or a portion of the subsidy, as the case may be.

The Five Most Essential Aspects of a Film Contract
A film contract is just as important as contracts of other professional services and thus, it is mandatory for the parties involved, to sort out all irregularities in writing before the commencement o...

Proofreading Increases Written Accuracy For Court Reporters and Others
Certified court reporters are charged with making an accurate and complete record of every proceeding they attend. The conversations, questions and answers are all recorded on a stenotype machine, then translated into English.

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