Practice News

When an employee gets injured on the job and takes time off to recover, an employer must rehire them unless there is reasonable cause not to do so. Wisconsin Statute 102.35 requires that an employer who refuses to rehire the employee, pay lost wages to the employee when they refuse to rehire them without a showing of reasonable cause.  In a case that was decided in July of 2011, the Wisconsin Supreme Court found that if a business could show a reasonable cause for termination than that was all they had to prove. The Wisconsin Supreme Court found that the LIRC had incorrectly read in the accommodation requirements for employees with disabilities because it asked for something more than reasonable cause.  The Supreme Court of Wisconsin found that the rehiring provision “does not contain a requirement that employers change their legitimate and universally applied business policies to meet the personal obligations of their employees.” Without a showing of reasonable cause the employer would have to pay. Employers and Employees get into disputes from time to time. Our Firm has extensive experience with employment disputes including return to work issues. Contact Attorney David Daul or Warren Wanezek for a consultation.

Social Media is a prominent part of many people’s lives these days.  With the advent of these technologies comes a lot of hidden risk. People tweet and post on Facebook about their personal experiences without filtering too much of it. Many people don’t realize that these posts and tweets can be used against them in pending litigation. While you may feel the compulsion to post or tweet about everything that happens to you, you should resist the urge when you get involved with something that could result in pending litigation. These tweets and posts can be viewed as party admissions and used as evidence against you. In this age of technology, social media is increasingly becoming a source of problems for people if they aren’t careful of what they post. With the ever increasing presence of social media in our lives, persons should exercise caution in what is posted on social media sites. 

                Conversion is the civil claim that may apply when people take property that does not belong to them.  It is committed when someone, without the consent of the owner takes, controls, destroys or materially alters the property in such a way that seriously interferes with the rights of the owner to control the property or fails to return something to someone who owns it. This deprivation can be permanent or for an indefinite period of time. It does not matter if the person who took it knew the owner was entitled to it or even that he intended to interfere with the owner’s possession as wrongful or unlawful intentions are not elements of conversion. It only matters that the person intended to deal with the property in a way that would interfere with the owner’s possession. Such disputes may arise in many contexts, including business disputes.  Our firm has extensive experience with tort litigation and property rights. Contact Attorney David Daul or Warren Wanezek for a consultation.

The Americans with Disabilities Act, Title III provides that public accommodations be accessible to Americans with disabilities. Title III covers businesses and nonprofit service providers that are generally accessible to the public. Businesses cannot discriminate through exclusion, segregation and unequal treatment. They buildings must be in code with architectural standards and must remove barriers in existing buildings when it is reasonable. The act covers both physical and mental disabilities, but requires documentation of them. It is unfortunate that discrimination occurs in today’s society. Our firm has extensive experience in resolving these disputes. In some instances relief through the Department of Justice can be obtained through an administrative complaint.  However in more complex matters you may wish to file a law suit in Federal Court alleging a violation of the law.  Attorneys usually work on a contingency fee arrangement, allowing the claimant to pursue these actions.  Attorney David D. Daul handles these claims and would be happy to provide you with a free consultation. 

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Wisconsin’s Fair Employment Act protects people with felony conviction from employment discrimination. This protection is available only under state law as there is no federal equivalent. Employers are not allowed to discriminate based on past convictions or charges unless it “substantially relates to the job.”  The substantial relationship is determined by comparing the circumstances surrounding the crime with the circumstances surrounding the job. If a felon convicted of embezzlement applied for an accounting position, it is likely that there would be a finding that the two positions are “substantially related.”  However if that same felon applied for a job as a cook, there is little basis to claim the conviction is “substantially related” to the job.  The healthcare industry has some additional requirements when it comes to employment as some offenses are automatically considered to be related under the Wisconsin Caregiver Law. When it comes to discrimination cases, the more documentation you have the better. Employers sometimes violate the Wisconsin Fair Employment Act by discriminating against those with criminal convictions or pending charges. Our firm has extensive experience in resolving these claims. Contact Attorney David D. Daul for a consultation.

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                There are 3 kinds of partnership that exist today: the general partnership, the limited partnership and Limited Liability Partnership. Each offers unique advantages and disadvantages over the others with things like exposure to liability and tax advantages vary from form to form. Partnerships offer a lot of flexibility when it comes to distributing income and losses, unlike like corporations which are usually forced into distributions equaling shares held. All partnerships have flow through accounting of profits and losses and are reflected on their personal tax returns via the schedule K on their federal income tax returns. This avoids the double tax of the c-corp. Partnerships also facilitate the moving of capital in and out of partnerships efficiently via capital accounts maintained by the partners. Partnerships can be an effective way of doing business if structured properly. Exposure to liability is one of the key factors that change depending on what form of partnership is chosen.

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                A capital account reflects your stake in the partnership. The exact behavior of a capital account will vary depending on the form of partnership selected. This reflects how a capital account will behave in a general partnership with no special allocation provisions. A capital account starts with your beginning balance that you have in your capital account. Then any contributions you add will be added to that total, thus increasing the value of your capital account. Next any distributions taken reduce the value of your capital account. Next you add your share of the net profit/loss as determined by the partnership agreement and this will adjust your capital account accordingly. You will have to pay taxes on the income and may get to recognize the loss regardless of whether you take a distribution. This occurs because a partnership is a flow through tax entity. That will take us to the ending capital account balance at the end of the year.

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Prison officials are obligated under the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution to provide prisoners with adequate medical care.  This principle applies regardless of whether the conmedical care is provided by governmental employees or private actors under contract with the jail or prison. 

In order to prevail on such an Eighth Amemdment claim, the prisoner must show that the prison officials were deliberately indifferent to a serious medical need.  A prison official is deliberately indifferent to an inmate’s medical condition if that official recklessly disregards a substantial risk of harm to the inmate.  This requires that the prison official knows of and disregrds an excessive risk of harm.  A serious medical need exists whenever the failure to treat the prioner’s condition could result in further significant injury or the unnecessary and wanton infliction of pain.  There are several of factors that are considered to determine if the inmate has a serious medical need. 

The above information is just a general overview of Eighth Amedment claims for violation of a prisoner’s civil rights.  If you believe that your civil rights have been violated, contact our office. 

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