Category: Employment & Labor
Times Are Changing: Verrill Dana Hosts Full-Day Conference, 2019 Annual Employment Law Update
After a year full of changes for employers paired with a new governor in Maine, Verrill Dana will reflect on recent legal developments in labor and employment law and what the new year might bring during its 2019 Annual Employment Law Update. The full-day conference will take place on...
Changing Policies and Practices? Don’t Just Question if it’s Legal, Question the PR Consequences
Over the past few days, while many were preparing turkeys or throwing out lettuce, the Boston Globe posted Trouble is brewing at craft beer darling Trillium. The article is accessible here , and another article by Paste on the same subject is here , but the long and the...
Tips on Tap for Breweries on the Journey from Passion to Profit
As the number of craft breweries across the country continues to grow, Verrill Dana's Breweries, Distilleries & Wineries Group presents Tap Tips Podcast Miniseries to help brewers on the journey from passion to profit. The miniseries contains eight episodes to assist up-and-coming brewmasters and brewery owners to think critically...
Brewing Up a Small Business: Legal Issues Affecting Maine’s Craft Breweries
On June 8, Verrill Dana attorney, Tawny Alvarez, will participate in a panel discussion entitled, "Brewing Up a Small Business: Legal Issues Affecting Maine's Craft Breweries," hosted by the Cumberland Bar Association at Preti Flaherty in Portland, Maine. Joining Tawny are Perkins Thompson attorney Christopher Dargie and Maine Beer...
Leading the Pack: One Brewery's Leave Policies Are Pawsitively Unique
We talk a lot about the parameters of leave programs. New state laws that are popping up regularly that expand on employee leave rights. While we focus on the legal aspects of all leave laws, we do recognize the importance of having leave policies that work for the culture...
How Big is the Bite for Failing to Accommodate Service Animals?
Multiple New England breweries in the last week have made the difficult decision to no longer permit four-legged friends within tasting rooms. This article provides absolutely no opinion on those decisions—they are difficult decisions that are personal to the breweries. If, however, you own, manage, or are simply employed...
A Bourbon Conundrum
The recent week-long strike at two Jim Beam facilities in Kentucky highlights a very interesting tension in the current workplace. Workers at the Boston and Clermont, Kentucky facilities overwhelmingly rejected the second contract proposal in two weeks, stepping out on strike on October 15, 2016. The second contract proposal...
OSHA Penalties May Cause Craft-Industry to Say O SH**
Late last week, while everyone was focused on the summer holiday, the Department of Labor announced that pursuant to the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act Improvement Act, OSHA's maximum penalties, which have not been raised since 1990, will increase by 78 percent. This will increase the "serious", "other-than-serious"...
Beer Distributor Appeals NLRB Finding as to Terminated Union Employee Who Reeked of Marijuana
Appellate briefing to the Second Circuit was completed earlier this week in Manhattan Beer Distributors LLC v. NLRB , a case in which the NLRB, in 2015, held that Manhattan Beer Distributors violated an employee's Weingarten rights when they terminated a distribution employee who "reeked" of marijuana after he...
‘Tis the Season for Internship Nightmares
With college exams finalized we hear from many companies that bring on college interns for a few weeks in late December and early January. It provides clients with help to catch up on things that slipped through the cracks during the course of the year and provides the intern...
