With roughly 56 percent of Maine employers forcing workers to sign away their right to sue through forced arbitration — which requires employees to resolve legal disputes through a private mediator — employees who experience sexual harassment in the workplace can be denied their day in court. This year, a bill being considered by the state legislature’s…
The board of Regional School Unit 21 apologized to former teacher Rosa Slack this week, acknowledging it “mishandled” complaints she made more than two years ago about how the district responded to racially motivated incidents. Slack, in a statement issued through the law firm Johnson, Webbert & Young, accepted the district’s apology Tuesday and thanked…
And while the NLRB is technically an independent federal agency, the five-person board and General Counsel are all appointed by the president (with the consent of the Senate), and there has always been something of a political aspect to its operations, said Jeffrey Neil Young, a labor lawyer at Johnson, Webbert & Young, LLP, and…
On Thursday, November 14, 2019, the District of Maine welcomed young women from the Long Creek Youth Development Center into the Edward T. Gignoux Courthouse to participate in the Civil Discourse and Difficult Decisions Program in Portland. The students debated the scope of the First Amendment in the context of online bullying through a simulated oral argument and…
For the fifth time, Attorney Webbert has been ranked as one of only five Maine lawyers on the annual Super Lawyers list of the top 100 lawyers in New England. Each year, Super Lawyers selects attorneys from all firm sizes and over 70 practice areas who have attained a high-degree of peer recognition and professional…
To avoid a lawsuit, Saco will pay former Police Chief Raynald Demers $116,000 and continue to pay for his health coverage for four years. David Webbert, a labor attorney with Johnson Webbert & Young, who has been president of the Maine Employment Lawyers Association since 1994, said he believes the settlement is generous, but precisely…
The RSU 21 Board of Directors voted Monday in an executive session to approve a resolution with former Kennebunk High School teacher Rosa Slack in a race-based retaliation complaint filed against the school district. School board chair Emily Kahn issued a statement after the vote: “The school board is pleased to announce that it has…
The U.S. District Court for the District of Maine held its first “Civil Discourse and Difficult Decisions” Program on Monday, May 20, 2019. Twenty-two students and their teacher from Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School attended the half-day program at the Edward T. Gignoux U.S. Courthouse in Portland. In addition to Chief Judge Jon D. Levy, the…
Johnson, Webbert & Young is excited to welcome Attorney Braden A. Beard to our Firm. Braden specializes in labor and employment, civil rights, and complex civil cases. He graduated with honors from the University of Texas School of Law and was an Associate Editor on the Texas Law Review. Before joining Johnson, Webbert & Young,…
On April 10, 2019, Attorney Jeff Young testified at the Maine Legislature on behalf of the Maine Employment Lawyers Association (MELA), that the organization is neither for nor against LD 1345, a bill aimed to ensure a fair workweek. “MELA believes that the bill needs significant changes as to its scope and penalties for violation….