Many business owners, officers and managers incorrectly believe that corporate formation will automatically protect them from personal liability in employment litigation. In other words, they think that the only possible defendant in an employment claim will be the employer. This understanding of the law is unfortunately incorrect. While doing business as a corporate entity protects individuals from many claims filed by current and former employees, it is not a complete shield from all liability. Plaintiffs nowadays name individual supervisors and human resources professionals as individual defendants in a variety of employment-related contexts.
For one thing, wage claims at the state and federal level provide for personal liability. In the event a company fails to make payroll and provide employees with earned wages, the federal Fair Labor Standards Act and the New Hampshire wage statute (RSA 275:43; 44) provide that certain officers may be held directly responsible for the payment of wages to employees. That means they may have to make up past due wages with their personal funds. Likewise, at the federal level, supervisors may have personal liability in federal Family Medical Leave Act ("FMLA") interference claims. Such claims generally arise when an individual is terminated from employment either during an FMLA leave or immediately following a request for FMLA leave. The basis for this claim is usually that a supervisory employee was personally involved with the...
Dangote Group has dismissed as false and malicious a publication alleging that its President, Aliko Dangote, distanced himself from Tony Elumelu, describing the report as entirely baseless. In a s...