About Attorney Nicole Gainey

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Seattle, WA, United States
Seattle Attorney, Nicole Gainey, founder of Gainey Law PLLC, represents Washington State employees who have been sexually harassed, discriminated against and wrongfully terminated in legal disputes against their employers. To date, she was litigated against employers large and small seeking justice for her clients.
Showing posts with label pandemic. Show all posts
Showing posts with label pandemic. Show all posts

Thursday, June 4, 2020

Going back to work?

An excellent article on the issues faced by Washington workers and employers as we seek to re-open businesses during this on-going pandemic can be found here:

June 4, 2020 Update from ESD. Employers and employees are facing some tension about going back to work. For employers it may not be reasonable to bring employees back full-time or at full-pay. For employees who may be making more on unemployment then you will make if you return to work. Especially if your employer wants to bring you back at part-time or at a lower rate of pay then you were making before.

Actually, Scott Micheal from Washington's unemployment department points out that if an employee is brought back under reduced hours from their normal work hours everyone will get the best of both worlds. It is a win for the employer who can more slowly ramp up and safe money on payroll while doing so. It is a win to the employee who will receive the optimal amount of income while securing their job.

For example, a worker who normally makes $1000 a week would get $750 on ESD. If they go back to work at 1/2 time the employer saves on paying the employee for now. The employee still gets paid $500, and they get $350 in Washington ESD and $600 in federal funds for a total of $1450 total. These numbers are not precise and remember the federal $600 has a deadline of June 30. However, this is a net win for both the employer who saves money and the worker who gets more than they would receive either by going back to work full time or by remaining on full time unemployment. 

The House did pass the HEROES act which would extend these benefits to January of 2021. If it does not pass then the extra federal benefit of $600 a week will expire at the end of June and at that time the analysis would also change. At that time, the highest income would result from a return to full time employment. 

Call your Senators, if these benefits are important for you and want to see these benefits extended. https://contactsenators.com/washington 

Friday, May 15, 2020

I'm afraid to go back to work because I fear exposure to Covid-19? Can I lose my job if I refuse?

As the State of Washington considers opening businesses in a phased opening, many employees are concerned about their safety. Some will undoubtedly refuse to go back in asking for accommodation - greater safety measures or requesting to continue to work from home. What are an employee's rights? What can a employer demand? Well it depends.


Employees should understand that if they have a disability they should ask for accomadation, however the legal  ADA PRECEDENT states that an EMPLOYEE IS NOT ENTITLED TO THE ACCOMMODATION OF HIS/HER CHOICE; ONLY TO A REASONABLE ACCOMMODATION

Examples of reasonable accommodations may look like:

Additional or enhanced protective gowns, masks, gloves, or other gear beyond what the employer may generally provide to employees returning to its workplace.
Additional or enhanced protective measures, for example, erecting a barrier that provides separation between an employee with a disability and coworkers/the public or increasing the space between an employee with a disability and others.
Elimination or substitution of particular “marginal” functions (whether on an alternative or temporary basis).

For example, a worker doesn't want to go to work and risk accommodation b/c my souse is a cancer survivor and infection could kill them. Normally the employer would have no requirement to accommodate that employee. However, employers should be careful there is case law supporting disability by association. Same as if a employee's souse is a nurse or doctor and other workers are afraid of exposure through that employer. to be continued....

Employers can get more legal information from https://www.cozen.com/coronavirus-updates 

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