RECENT ARTICLES...

LNL GREEN BUILDING LAW ALERT: The LEED® v.3 Challenge Process

Your LEED® v.3 project’s certification just got challenged, or you were denied certification for reasons you believe are invalid. What happens now? LNL’s green building law team answers this question and more in a Memorandum that summarizes the LEED® v.3 challenge mechanism at www.OhioGreenBuildingLaw.com.

FMLA Leave May Be Used For Investigating The Possibility Of A Serious Illness

A North Carolina court recently ruled that a doctor’s visit to obtain test results to determine whether a serious health condition exists can be covered by the FMLA. In that case, the employee had not been previously incapacitated or sick for at least three consecutive calendar days, as FMLA rules require. Therefore, the employee was told she must take personal time off for her doctor's appointments. Since she had no personal days left, she was further told that she would be fired if she attended to her appointment. She did so and was fired. The Court determined that her doctor’s visit to obtain test results to determine whether a serious health condition may exist is covered by the FMLA. The bottom line: seek legal consultation when determining whether to terminate an employee where there is a potential medical issue. Employers that terminate employees with medical issues typically get little sympathy from juries.

You Can Get a Speeding Ticket Without Being Clocked

In a June 2, 2010 decision, the Supreme Court of Ohio held that a police officer’s unaided visual estimation of a vehicle’s speed is sufficient evidence to support a conviction for speeding without independent verification of the vehicle’s speed if the officer is trained, certified, and experienced in visually estimating vehicle speed.

Bankrupt Condo Owner Cannot be Precluded from Voting

A Bankruptcy Court in Virginia recently held that a condominium board violated the automatic stay when it refused to allow a condominium owner (who was a debtor in Chapter 11) to vote at an owners' meeting due to the debtor's delinquency in paying assessments. The Court held that the refusal to allow the debtor to vote was an act to collect the pre-petition past-due assessments. Condominium owners' associations should be mindful of the Secton 362 automatic stay when acting to collect or when taking any action inconsistent with the owner's rights because of pre-petition delinquencies.