Florida Business Litigation Lawyer Blog

The Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) not only requires that employers pay minimum and overtime wages, it also prohibits employers from retaliating against their employees for complaining about their wages. The FLSA makes it unlawful for employers to “discharge or in any manner discriminate against any employee because such employee has filed a complaint or…

A common dispute that arises in overtime and minimum wage litigation is whether an individual hired by the defendant is an independent contractor or an employee. Many companies choose to hire independent contractors to perform work instead of hiring employees. Because independent contractors are not considered “employees” under the Fair Labor Standard Act (“FLSA”), the…

Florida law tends to favor enforcement of non-competition covenants. Under Florida law, non-competition covenants are enforceable if they protect one or more legitimate business interests and if they are reasonable in time, area, and line of business. In fact, Florida law explicitly forbids courts from considering “any individualized economic or other hardship that might be…

When an employee brings a claim for unpaid overtime under the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”), the employee must prove that he or she worked overtime without proper compensation. If the employer kept accurate records of the employee’s work hours, the employee could easily prove his or her case by referring to those records. For…

The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) requires that all employers covered by the FLSA pay their employees overtime wages for hours worked over 40 hours per workweek. Generally, “overtime” wages are 1.5 times the regular wage. The FLSA, however, identifies several classes of employees who are exempt from the overtime provision. One such class of…

Because arbitration usually is cheaper and faster than litigation, employers often include arbitration agreements in their employment contracts. However, courts do not always enforce arbitration agreements. Although federal law favors arbitration, state and federal courts may find an arbitration agreement unenforceable for several reasons. One such reason is when the arbitration agreement contains a provision…

Under Florida law, non-competition covenants are generally enforceable if they protect one or more legitimate business interest. However, certain acts by the employer could defeat the enforceability of the non-competition covenant. Under contract law, a party’s material breach of a contract will render the entire contract unenforceable against the other party. In other words, if…

Before drafting a will, the testator, i.e., the person who owns the assets that will be distributed after his or her death, must fully understand any restriction placed on the alienation of his or her assets. A testator might erroneously believe he or she has the power to devise an asset as he or she…

The right to testamentary disposition of property is a right protected by the Florida Constitution. To be valid under Florida law, a will must satisfy certain formalities: the will must be (1) in writing, (2) signed by the testator at the end of the will (or at the direction and presence of the testator), and…

Parties to contracts with non-competition covenants should take note of the effects that a stock purchase, merger, or asset purchase has on the enforceability of those non-competition covenants. A company’s ability to enforce a non-competition covenant can be determined by several factors including how the non-competition covenant was acquired by the company seeking to enforce…