The Utah Employment Lawyer: Cases --- May 22nd through 28th

Contract/Noncompete/Trade Secret/Wrongful Termination

Green v. Brennan (U.S., May 23, 2016) (vacating dismissal ofGreen's constructive discharge claim. The lower court held his complaintuntimely, having been filed 96 days after he had agreed to retire. The TenthCircuit affirmed. The Supreme Court, however, held that the 45-day limitationsperiod did not begin to run until Green actually submitted his resignation,only 41 days before filing his complaint)

ERISA and Employee Pension Plans

*Romstad v. City of Colorado Springs (10th Cir., May 24, 2016) (affirming dismissal of plaintiffs' breach of contract claim (they did not allege a contract) as well as their due process claim (they did not allege a constitutionally protected right to continue participating in the pension plan at issue)

Workers' Compensation/Occupational Safety and Disease

Adair v. City of Muskogee (10th Cir., May 26, 2016) (affirming summary judgment in favor of Muskogee because Adair could not demonstrate physical qualification as a firefighter, nor that the medical evaluation was illegal, nor that the city's reason for his termination was pretextual)

*Benavidez v. Colvin (10th Cir., May 26, 2016) (reversing denial of disability benefits because the administrative law judge improperly ignored a relevant medical opinion without justification)

Workplace Violence/Weapons

*Kerkhoff v. West Valley City District Court (10th Cir., May 23, 2016) (affirming dismissal for failure to state a claim because Kerkhoff failed to challenge some of the district court’s rationales for the order of dismissal)

*Cases marked with an asterisk are cases the 10th Circuit does not consider binding precedent except under the doctrines of law of the case, res judicata, or collateral estoppel. They may be cited, however, for persuasive value under Fed.R.App.P. 32.1 and 10th Cir.R. 32.1.