Bullying Complaint Williams Oinonen LLC_split_1
Good Georgia Lawyer was featured on the Channel Two six o’ clock news regarding a bullying lawsuit their clients were forced to sue against Clayton County School District for failure to comply with the Georgia Bullying Statute and the Georgia Open Records Act.
Thanks to one of our favorite Politician clients and dear friend Senator Vincent Fort, Williams Oinonen LLC is now the listed political campaign strategy opponent research vendor for the Georgia Democratic Party.
Williams Oinonen LLC also wishes to thank our many friends and clients throughout the years including Tharon Johnson, Kevin Ross, Rep. Rashad Taylor, Mayor Kasim Reed, Rep. Georganna Sinkfield, the Congressman John Lewis team and the many other elected officials to whom we owe a debt of gratitude and friendship.
Williams Oinonen LLC represents CEOs of Counties, Mayors, Senators, State Representatives, Congressmen and other elected officials who call on us particularly during busy campaign season.
It is that time of year again: a time that can be very difficult for teachers in Georgia who have recently received a letter notifying them that their contract has been non-renewed. As many teachers already know, the law in Georgia protects teachers who are in their fourth year within the same local school district. The law states that once a teacher accepts a school year contract for the fourth consecutive school year from the same local school district, that teacher may not be demoted or non-renewed unless for a set of specific reasons. And if demotion or non-renewal occurs, those teachers are entitled to procedural due process which includes a non-renewal hearing. Good Georgia Lawyer has written extensively about teacher rights so to learn more about your rights to a non-renewal hearing, we recommend you read our article here. Also you can read here. And here as well.
The grounds for suspension or termination are listed in O.C.G.A. § 20-2-940 and include such reasons as: incompetency, insubordination, immorality, willful neglect of duties, inciting students to violate laws, failure to maintain educational training, reduction of staff due to loss of students or cancellation of programs, or any other good and sufficient cause.
Regarding the “reduction of staff” grounds for non-renewal, one small improvement to the law happened during this year’s legislative session 2012. As a result of so many teachers facing layoffs due to our difficult economy, legislators added language which states that if non-renewal occurs due to reduction in staff (often known as “Reduction In Force” (RIF) ) due to no fault or performance issue, the local administration must specify in writing “that the termination or suspension is due to no fault or performance issues” of the employee. See: 2012 Georgia Laws Act 707 (S.B. 153).
“How can I get attorney fees in a lawsuit?” This is a question we often hear from clients. Different Georgia laws govern the recovery of attorney fees in a lawsuit. If the actions of the defendant prior to the litigation were done in bad faith and would be considered “stubbornly litigious,” then fees may be assessed pursuant to OCGA 13-6-11.
If during the course of the litigation, the attorneys expanded the litigation beyond reasonable or pursued claims or defenses that had no justiciable issues of law or fact, then a party may recover fees associated with that conduct under OCGA 9-15-14.
And, if a party incurs damages as a result of a lawsuit that are beyond attorney fees, they may have an entirely different and separate cause of action pursuant to OCGA 51-7-80.
Finally, after the trial, sanctions can be awarded for frivolous appeals. As with any of these statutes, the party must prove the attorney fees that were actually incurred, the actions the opposing party did to incur such fees, and whether the fees were reasonable and necessary.
Merely prevailing at summary judgment does not automatically merit an award of attorney’s fees. Chong v Reebaa Construction, Inc. 284 Ga. App. 830 (2007). Likewise prevailing in an entire case also does not garner an automatic award of attorney fees either. Glynn Brunsick Mem’l Hosp. Autho. V. Gibbons, 243 Ga. App. 341 (2000). If there is at least an arguable support for the position taken, then an award of fees should not be justified. So long as there is some evidence from which a jury could find for the plaintiff a defense verdict does not warrant imposition of fees. Rental Equip Group LLC v. MACI LLC 263 Ga. App. 155 (2003). An award of attorneys fees is not justified where there is arguable legal support for the position taken.
Nevertheless, under OCGA 9-15-14(a), attorney fees are mandatory where a party has asserted a position where there is a complete absence of any justiciable issue of law or fact that it could not have been reasonably believed that a court would have accepted the position. Cavin v. Brown 246 Ga. App. 40 (2000).
Additionally, under 9-15-14(b), a permissive award of attorney fees and litigation expenses is available if: i. the action brought lacked substantial justification (is substantially frivolous, groundless or vexatious), ii. the action was brought for delay or harassment, or iii. the party or attorney unnecessarily expanded the proceedings by discovery abuse or otherwise.
In order to prevent the chilling of actions that prevent stagnation of law, section c provides that no attorney or party shall be assessed attorney fees in a “good faith attempt to establish a new theory of law in Georgia if such new theory of law is based on some recognized precedential or persuasive authority” which might include dissents, federal cases, cases from other states, and positions taken in law reviews or other legal writings.
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Yesterday, Sam Olens drafted a memo to all departments, agencies, commission, authorities, councils and boards of the state of Georgia. It was drafted in anticipation of Governor Deal signing HB 397 which substantially revises Georgia’s Open Records and Open Meetings Acts. HB 397 became effective immediately upon signature of the Governor yesterday.
Mr. Olens stated in his memo to the state agencies that: “Our goal in preparing and championing this legislation was not to substantially revise Georgia’s open government law, but, first and foremost, to put it in terms that laymen and public officials alike can more readily understand. Nonetheless, the Act does make several significant changes to prior law, and I write today to highlight several key changes for your reference.”
Those changes were mentioned by Mr. Olens as follows:
Purpose:
The Georgia Fair Business Practices Act is the primary law that protects consumers in our state from unfair business practices. The actual purpose of the law as cited in O.C.G.A. § 10-1-399(a) is: “to protect consumers and legitimate business enterprises from unfair or deceptive practices in the conduct of any trade or commerce….” This law forbids any “[u]nfair or deceptive acts or practices in the conduct of consumer transactions and consumer acts or practices in trade or commerce….”
Notice Requirement and Statute of Limitations:
This past Friday Williams Oinonen LLC hosted a group of pre-law students from Covenant College for an all day excursion. Students left at 6 a.m. from Lookout Mountain, Georgia to arrive at the downtown law office in Atlanta that morning to meet Ms. Oinonen, an attorney at Williams Oinonen LLC who led the day trip.
The day started out with a visit to Emory University School of Law. The group arrived at Emory University around 9:15 a.m. to do a brief walking tour of the larger university campus as a whole and ended up at the law school building. They started the visit by attending an admissions presentation in the Emory Law School Courtroom and then participated in a student led tour of the law school itself. Afterwards, they attended a property class taught by Professor Frank Alexander which according to students was the best part of their visit at Emory. His lecture focused on the constitutional issues surrounding eminent domain. Prior to saying goodbye, they were introduced to the Dean of Admissions, Ethan Rosenzweig 02L
After the Emory Law School tour, the group travelled to the Commerce Club, of which Ms. Oinonen is a member to attend a special private luncheon. During this time, she listened to all of the students share stories of their time at Covenant College and answered questions about law school and the legal profession.
Good Georgia Lawyer wishes Chag Sameach to all our Jewish friends this Passover.
We also wish a Good Friday and Happy Easter to all who celebrate the resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ this Sunday.
For all people, it is a good time to reflect on the newness and re-birth of the season this spring.
It’s that time of year again, when sadly, many good teachers start to worry whether their principal or school administrator will issue them a non-renewal letter regarding their teaching contract. This can often happen if the teacher has been previously placed on a Professional Development Plan, or “PDP.”
One of the biggest way principals or school districts lay the groundwork in order to try and fire a tenured teacher is by putting them on a PDP early on in the school year. Laying the “paper trail” even when the accusations against the teachers are not legitimate, is the most effective legal strategy that school districts use to try and ensure that future adverse employment action against the teacher is deemed legal and fair.
One administrator estimates that 50% of the teachers placed on a Professional Development Plan (“PDP”) are successful in completing it. School administrators know this ‘game’ when they place the teacher on a PDP. Oftentimes the end purpose is not to improve the teacher’s performance, but rather simply to have legal justification for firing the tenured teacher down the road. To do this successfully, some teachers end up being set up for failure by being placed in a no-win situation.
If you are a tenured teacher who has been placed on a PDP, it is vital that you immediately seek competent, legal counsel in order to begin to fight the one-sided paper trail that will be used to justify non-renewal of your teaching contract from day one.
It is also important to educate yourself on your legal rights as a Georgia teacher. For example, if a school board terminates, suspends, or demotes a teacher in the middle of a contract year, the teacher has a right to be represented by counsel during a hearing – even if the teacher is not tenured (O.C.G.A. 20-2-940). If a school board attempts to non-renew a tenured teacher’s contract, the teacher again has a right to a non-renewal hearing. (O.C.G.A. 20-2-942).
Good Georgia Lawyer has written about the rights of teachers relating to employment termination and contract non renewal which we recommend you read here and here.
The important thing is to act sooner rather than later if you are a teacher facing a potential adverse employment action. All too often, human beings procrastinate rather than dealing with the scary things in life that we don’t want to have to face such as the loss of a job in this difficult economy. As a result, clients are oftentimes calling us after the fact rather then early on when it is much easier to help them.
Don’t end up in a case of too little, too late. The sooner an attorney is on your side, the better the chance your employment as a teacher in a challenging work environment will have a successful outcome.
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How do you know if you have valid legal claim for bed bug injuries in Georgia?:
In Georgia, it is important to show that the property owner was negligent. One example to show negligence would be if a hotel owner, when being put on notice of a dangerous condition (a bed bug infestation), failed to respond properly, thus subjecting tenants or hotel guests to the danger which caused their damages, i.e. injuries, property loss, medical bills.
What does the law say about bed bugs in Georgia hotels? The “duty of an innkeeper is well settled in Georgia as the duty to exercise ordinary care to afford guests premises that are reasonably safe for use and occupancy.” Hotel Richmond, Inc. v. Wilkinson, 73 Ga. App. 36, 41 (35 SE2d 536). Furthermore, the innkeeper has a duty to inspect and is liable for such injuries caused by defects as would be disclosed by a reasonable inspection. Hillinghorst v. Heart of Atlanta Motel, 104 Ga. App. 731.
The following are some of the various legal claims a Plaintiff may bring against a negligent hotel owner as a result of bed bug injuries:
Negligence: To prove negligence against a Defendant such as a hotel, the Plaintiffs need to show that the Defendants negligently breached their duty by failing to exercise ordinary care to provide them rooms that were reasonably safe for use and occupancy and that failure caused the Plaintiffs injuries.
Negligence Per Se: Under O.C.G.A. § 51-3-1, it is the duty of an owner who by express or implied invitation induces others to come upon his premises for lawful purpose, he is liable in damages to such persons for injuries caused by his failure to exercise ordinary care in keeping the premises safe. Additionally, under Georgia State Regulation 290-5-18-.11 of the Department of Human Resources, owners are required to utilize effective measures to eliminate insects from their hotel’s premises.
Consequently, in a negligence per se claim against a hotel, Plaintiffs can show that Defendants violated O.C.G.A. § 51-3-1 by inviting guests to stay at their hotel property and failing to exercise ordinary care to keep their hotel premises safe. Additionally, Plaintiffs might also be able to prove that Defendants violated Georgia State Regulation 290-5-18-.11 by failing to utilize effective measures to eliminate the bedbug infestation from their premises while subjecting their hotel guests to these dangerous conditions. If Defendants violate these laws, they are liable for the harms their actions caused to the Plaintiffs.
Georgia Fair Business Practices Act: Furthermore, Plaintiffs as members of the consuming public may be able to file a Georgia Fair Business Practices Act claim if they can show the Defendant engaged in unfair and/or deceptive business practices and that Plaintiffs justifiably relied on Defendant’s knowing, false representations that caused the Plaintiffs damages.
If Defendant has committed several unfair and/or deceptive practices, Plaintiffs may be entitled to both general and exemplary damages, as well as being entitled to treble (triple) damages because Defendant intentional violated the Georgia Fair Business Practices Act. See Conseco Finance Servicing Corporation v. Hill, 252 Ga. App 774 (2001). Prior to a Fair Business practices claim being filed, a 30 day written notice of demand must be made. Under Georgia law this notice is to be liberally construed. See Lynas v. Williams, 216 Ga. App. 434, 435 (1995).
Punitives claim: Plaintiffs can also argue that they are entitled to exemplary damages if Defendants’ conduct was wanton, willful, and showed a reckless disregard and deliberate indifference to the rights of the Plaintiffs.
Claim for Attorneys Fees: Additionally, if Defendants have been stubbornly litigious, acted in manifest bad faith and caused Plaintiffs unnecessary trouble and expense, Plaintiffs may ask that the court should grant Attorney Fees.
For helpful photographs on identifying bed bugs, see here. Additionally, the United States Environmental Protection Agency helpful website which covers frequently asked questions can be, seen here. Bedbug Central, a website devoted to helpful bed bug advice can be seen here.
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Georgia Injury Lawyer Blog