Articles
Meeting Minutes: Are Your HOA or Condo Association’s Minutes Adequate?
They seem almost like an afterthought; perhaps they are. Minutes of board of director meetings and member meetings are a chore to prepare, possibly even a drudge. But they are critically important to your subdivision homeowners' association or condominium association....
“Me Too” Evidence Addressed by Missouri Supreme Court for Discrimination Lawsuits
The Missouri Supreme Court has just issued a major ruling on whether "me too" evidence is admissible in an employment discrimination lawsuit brought pursuant to the Missouri Human Rights Act. The case involves an age discrimination claim brought by a former employee...
Adverse Possession: When Your Property Isn’t Yours Anymore
One of our attorneys' neighbors, who purchased land from the lawyer to build a home, recently put up a fence in the backyard between the properties. (Just an aside: the fence was not built because the attorney's family makes a bad neighbor, but was put up because the...
Easements: Rights and Obligations of the Respective Parties
Many of us have observed a utility, such as the electric company, trimming trees away from the company's lines on our property and may have thought, what gives the utility company the right to come onto my private property? The simple answer is what is called an...
Property Owner Can Keep Purple Swing Set Despite POA’s Disallowance
Lewis and Marla Stout live in the Raintree Lake community in Lee's Summit, Missouri. Two years ago, the Stouts erected a swing set and, at the request of their children, painted it purple. Pursuant to the Raintree Lake covenants and restrictions, the Stouts were...
The Business Judgment Rule: A Self-Defense Tactic for Corporate Officers and Directors
As the driving force behind a company's success or failure, corporate officers and directors are bestowed with broad powers under Missouri law. Nonetheless, these individuals owe certain duties and responsibilities to the corporation and its shareholders. For...
FLSA Overtime Pay and the Employer’s Duty of Reasonable Diligence
Unless exempt, employees covered by the Fair Labor Standards Act ("FLSA") must receive overtime pay for hours worked over 40 in a workweek at a rate not less than time and one-half their regular rate of pay. A covered employee must be compensated for duties before and...
EEOC Issues Ruling for Federal Workers that Sexual Orientation Discrimination is Sex Discrimination Under Title VII
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission issued a ruling last week in which it stated that employment discrimination based upon sexual orientation amounts to sex discrimination, at least for claims against the federal government. The 3-2 ruling by the Commission...
U.S. Department of Labor Issues New Interpretation on Misclassification of Employees as Independent Contractors
The Administrator of the U.S. Department of Labor ("DOL") recently issued a new interpretation concerning the proper legal standard to determine whether an individual has been misclassified as an independent contractor instead of an employee. The administrator's...
Closing Protection Letters — Paying for an Honest Deal
Have you ever wondered why you had to pay a charge for an "honest" transaction? Kind of gets you wondering, "What's next?" That question comes up in real estate closings, where a charge regularly appears for a "closing protection letter." Just what is a closing...
Celebrating 800 Years of Magna Carta, The Bill of Rights’ Ancestor
Magna Carta, the "Great Charter," celebrates its 800th Anniversary today. Drafted by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Stephen Langton, and a cadre of the most powerful barons of England, Magna Carta was sealed by King John to end a civil war between the Roman Catholic...
June 30, ACA Deadline Looming for Small Employers to Avoid $100-per-Day-per-Employee Penalties
Does your business or employer pay for, or reimburse employees for, individual health insurance coverage? Did you know that as a result of the Affordable Care Act, such arrangements were prohibited beginning January 1, 2014? Did you know that more-than-2% shareholders...