Not keeping up to date on employment law changes. Every year brings new laws and enforcement priorities from the government with respect to regulating the employer-employee relationship. Employers must keep abreast of these changes to avoid liability. For a recap of some of the recent changes, read Employment Law Changes Employers Need to Know for…
Sexual Harassment Prevention Policy The legislation will require every New York employer to maintain a specific written sexual harassment prevention policy. The Division of Human Rights and Department of Labor have been tasked with creating a model policy, which will include specific complaint forms, access to New York State and Federal Law, anti-relation language and…
For those thinking about selling investment property, the time may be right to take advantage of tax-deferred exchanges. Thanks to §1031 of the Internal Revenue Code, a properly structured transaction will allow an investor to sell a property, to reinvest the proceeds in a new property and to defer all capital gains taxes. Such a…
Stormy Daniels. Now the most famous porn star in the country, if not the world. Great for water cooler conversation, but very few lawyers ever envisioned her issues with President Trump would have any real legal significance. But her recent lawsuit against the President has brought forth an interesting question: Can a party effectively invalidate…
As we all know from the recent articles and news reports, the new Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 has many aspects. Although the new law did not repeal Federal estate and gift taxes, it has temporarily doubled the exemption amount applicable to each person. But be warned, the disparity between the Federal estate…
New York State and New York City laws are ever-changing, and the more employers know, the less risk they face. The following is a primer for employment law changes going in to effect in 2018. New York State Paid Leave Employers should already be aware of this new law, which provides paid leave to employees…
I want to provide an example in my own experience relating to sexual harassment. I was recently at an event where I had an interaction with three other colleagues. Let’s call them Mike, Judy, and Ann. I was sitting with Judy and Ann when Mike approached and gave Judy a long and awkward hug. He…
Shareholder disputes can arise for many reasons from disagreements over the operations of a business to claims of conflicts of interest. It is often a problem for small businesses because the more closely involved a shareholder is with operational decisions, the greater the potential for conflict. At their worst, shareholder disputes can affect the daily…
Whether it’s Fox News, Uber or most recently, The Weinstein Company, sexual harassment claims are regularly in the news. However, you don’t have to own a big company or be famous to find yourself dealing with a sexual harassment complaint. For employers, these claims can result in significant liability as well as reputational damage and…
Renewal options in commercial leases are valuable to landlords and tenants. For tenants, they provide the opportunity to lock in the space, costs and other negotiated benefits for another lease term. Landlords benefit by having more certainty of keeping a tenant and avoiding the time and expense of finding someone else and making improvements to…
Earlier this month, the New York City Legislature voted to ban questions about a prospective employee’s salary history. It is the latest law to limit an employer’s ability to conduct pre-employment screening and it comes with significant liability for noncompliance. The law, which will take effect November 1, 2017, will prohibit New York City employers…
Many small businesses don’t bother to go through the process of trademarking their name, logo or symbol. A trademark is simply “a recognizable sign, design, or expression which identifies products or services of a particular source from those of others.” A business can have a common law trademark simply by using the name or logo…
