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What seemed like a small garnishment matter in Roanoke City General District Court could have had drastic implications to Virginia’s restaurant industry, but Gentry Locke was able to successfully defend a national restaurant chain from having to garnish its employee’s tips. The facts started out in a typical fashion: the Restaurant received a garnishment summons for one of its tipped employees and responded to the summons, indicating that the employee did not earn enough wages to be garnished. As is the required minimum, and standard in Virginia, the tipped employee made $2.13/hour, well below the statutory limits on garnishment. The […]

Virginia law regarding prompt payment under the Fee Schedule seems simple enough. In essence, the workers’ compensation carrier/employer has 45 days after receipt of a medical bill itemization to: Contest the bill; Deny the bill; Notify the healthcare provider that the bill is considered incomplete. If the employer/carrier does not contest, deny, or consider the bill incomplete, it must pay the healthcare provider in full within 60 days after receipt of the medical bill itemization. (§65.2-601(A) and (B)). In those instances where the employer/carrier issues a notification to the healthcare provider, then notification must include the following information: “The reasons […]

This article, co-authored by Kirk M. Sosebee and Alicha M. Grubb, appeared in the Spring 2019 issue of the VBA Journal. Click here to read the formatted publication version in PDF. Attorneys’ Fees in Virginia Attorneys’ fees are a topic near and dear to lawyers’ hearts. After all, what could be more important than getting paid for the work we do? And what could be better than forcing the other party to pay our fees? In construction cases, as in all litigation, attorneys should keep the prospect of attorneys’ fees in mind, and should pay close attention to recent developments […]

On February 15, 2019, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals held that the City of Roanoke’s Stormwater Management Utility charge was a regulatory fee and not a tax. The Court, therefore, affirmed the dismissal of Norfolk Southern’s Complaint asserting that the City’s Stormwater Management Utility charge was a tax that discriminated against railroads in violation of federal law. The decision forecloses federal court challenges to local government charges for stormwater management services as unlawful discrimination against railroads. The Court’s decision included three separate opinions; each of the three judges on the panel wrote an opinion. The opinion joined by all […]

Things just got a little easier for employers with tipped employees. Under previous U.S. Department of Labor rules dating back to the late 1980s, employers who used a tip credit to pay less than the federal minimum wage of $7.25 had to carefully track time employees spent performing side duties. If that time exceeded 20 percent of the employee’s hours, those duties might be considered a dual job requiring full minimum wage rather than the $2.13 an hour for tipped employees. (Employers always have to ensure that tipped employees earn enough tips to make at least minimum wage, or make […]