The Things Your Mother Told You Not to Talk About at the Dinner Table
While secrets, drugs, politics, sex and the bathroom are still topics of conversation banned from polite conversation at many family dinner tables, employers should not be taking the same approach to communications in the workplace. With the new federal Defend Trade Secrets Act, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s changes to post-accident drug testing rules, the United States Supreme Court’s…
Failing to Respond to a Lawsuit Filed Against You May Be Costly
When a civil lawsuit is filed, the Missouri Rules of Civil Procedure require that the defendant file an answer within 30 days after service or if the lawsuit is filed in associate circuit court, that the defendant appear on the return date indicated in the court summons. Failure to respond to the lawsuit will result in a default judgment being entered…
Short-Term Probate
Probate. This singular word stirs negative thoughts in the minds of many individuals. For many, the possibility of probate is something to be avoided like a natural disaster or a physical illness. When a person dies, sometimes probate cannot be avoided. It becomes necessary to settle a decedent’s affairs under court supervision. For this article, probate means a judicial procedure…
Missouri’s Motor Vehicle Financial Responsibility Law and the Duty to Defend
The State of Missouri requires all drivers to carry certain minimum coverage under the Motor Vehicle Financial Responsibility Law (MVFRL) as prescribed in RSMo. § 303.190. That section provides that all motor vehicle liability policies must carry at least twenty-five thousand dollars of liability coverage for bodily injury or death of a person in any one accident, fifty thousand dollars…
Art Auction in the Explorer’s Lounge on Deck 6
My wife and I recently returned from an Alaskan cruise tour. It was a “bucket list” trip. In addition, we celebrated our 30th wedding anniversary on a ship that included about 2,200 happy people. One of the many scheduled on-board activities was an art auction. I went to the afternoon event as a complete novice straining to remember the primary…
What’s in a Word? Missouri’s New Standard for Proving Employment Discrimination
New legislation will impact the workplace relationship between Missouri employers and employees. On June 30, 2017, Governor Greitens signed into law Senate Bill 43, which will change several aspects of the Missouri Human Rights Act (MHRA) – including raising the standard for proving employment discrimination. The MHRA makes it unlawful for employers with six or more employees to discriminate against…
