For the 29th consecutive year, H&K elves have been hard at work shopping and wrapping for two young children. We want them to have the best Christmas ever! Every year the firm “adopts” children through the Front Door Agency. Employees of the firm donate generously so everything on the children’s wish lists can be purchased. The team effort culminates with…
Notwithstanding diligent screening in the application process, sometimes employees are not found to have the same capabilities or work ethic they purported to have during job interviews or their situation changes and their job performance suffers. Many employees when fired for job performance reasons understand the boss’ reasoning even if they disagree, but others file discrimination suits. Claims the employer…
Attorney J. Daniel Marr and Heather Bishop discuss “Protecting Your Job”. Tune in to WFEA 1370 AM / 99.9 FM (Manchester, NH) every Tuesday at 9:05 a.m. for “Law Matters with Hamblett & Kerrigan”. Each Tuesday the attorneys of Hamblett & Kerrigan will host a radio program dedicated to discussing law matters that matter to you.
A September 22, 2017 decision from the New Hampshire federal trial court of Karen Mead v. Fairpoint Communications, Inc. illustrates what an employee needs to prove when she sues her employer for wrongful termination when, in fact, the employee resigned. This is what is called a constructive discharge claim and the employee making such a claim must show that a…
One way for a business to protect its competitive edge is to take steps to prevent former employees from using confidential and proprietary information and good will in competition against the company through a non-disclosure, non-solicitation and non-compete agreements with their employees. New Hampshire courts will generally enforce an agreement’s: (i) nondisclosure provision that prevents employees and former employees from…
Under New Hampshire law, to obtain property by adverse possession the adverse possessor must show 20 years of continuous, open, and uninterrupted use of the property in question. The adverse possession clock can be stopped by the record owner in two circumstances. First, the record owner can give permission to the adverse possessor to continue using the property. Once the…
On August 15, 2017, the New Hampshire Supreme Court in the case of Dow and Dow held that, for calculating an alimony award, income may be imputed to both the paying spouse and the recipient spouse. In Dow, the parties’ divorce decree did not award either party alimony, although the Court found the wife had a need for alimony. After…
Many people ask if they can leave their assets to their pets. What they usually mean is, can they make sure their pets are taken care of when they pass away. We love our pets and want what is best for them. New Hampshire has a statute that allows a person to make a trust for the care of their…
There are federal and state statutes prohibiting employment discrimination, including based upon race, or national origin, and firing an employee to protect him from the racial hatred of coworkers could result in a valid claim under those statutes but perhaps not under New Hampshire’s non-statutory wrongful discharge law as noted in the July 18, 2017 New Hampshire federal trial court…
The Americans with Disabilities Act and state discrimination laws requires that employers provide reasonable accommodations to disabled employees so that they can do the essential functions of their job. A recent decision from an Ohio federal court points out that telecommuting for disabled employees may not be the answer. In the case of Brian Preston v. Great Lakes Specialty Finance,…