N. O. Smelz, owner of Smelz Rug and Carpet Cleaning, learns that Brite Bank has submitted a request for proposal to clean the carpets at their 15 branches in the DFW area. When Smelz reads the request he notices it includes a diversity provision that requires at least 10% of the total amount paid by Brite to go to a vendor, or a subcontractor, that is a minority-owned, woman-owned, veteran-owned, LGBT-owned, or disabled-owned business. Smelz is concerned because he doesn’t fall into any of those categories, and he doesn’t believe any of his long-time suppliers do either.  But because his cleaning company has the best reputation around, Smelz submits his proposal anyway.  Will Smelz get the contract?        
Continue Reading Supplier Diversity Policies

Agreeing with Benjamin Franklin that there is nothing certain except death and taxes, Sketch Wood and his partner Minnie Brix, owners of Wood & Brix, and their 200 employees are certain that the new tax law will affect them, but they are a bit overwhelmed. Looking for an overview, Sketch asked his favorite non-tax lawyer to hit some of the high points of the first significant reform of the U.S. tax code since 1986.
Continue Reading New Tax Law – Impacting Your Small Business and You

Frustrated with the high number of employees that did not show up for work in the fall and winter last year, Jim Duncey, the owner of Duncey’s Caps, Inc., issues a memo to all employees that they must provide proof that they got a flu vaccine shot by January 1, 2018 or they would be fired.  Tommy Goinmyownway protests, saying that his religious beliefs prohibit him from getting vaccinations.  New Year’s Day comes and Tommy is fired after he doesn’t provide the required proof.  As he is escorted out of the plant Tommy threatens to sue Duncey’s for discrimination.  Does he have a claim?
Continue Reading Sticking it to Your Employees During Flu Season

“Big” Bob Brothers is concerned that his company, Big Brothers Security Systems, is losing out on customers because his salesmen and installation teams are slacking when they are out of the office.  Brothers reads a newspaper article about another company that is putting microchip implants containing radio-frequency identification tags (RFID) into his employees in order to make sure they aren’t doing “off the clock” stuff while on the clock.  Brothers sends a memo to employees explaining that they will all be chipped the next month, and anyone refusing to chip will be terminated.  Can Brothers “big brother” his employees like that?   
Continue Reading Can I “Chip” Away at my Employees’ Privacy?

US Customs and Border ProtectionLast week Emma Grant’s line cook and 25 other undocumented employees at her bar-b-que restaurant Emma Grant’s Bar-B-Que were working the lunch shift when it was raided by Immigration and Customs Enforcement personnel, apparently at least in partial response to a recent executive order. Can the President of the United States do that? Can this

Having started as a bookkeeper and worked his way (fifteen years later) to become controller of the Bunz in the Oven family owned business, Swendoll Hugh felt underpaid andbusinessman hiding envelope with money in pocket at jacket under-appreciated by Bertha Bunz and her highly successful business. When Swendoll’s grandmother passed away, he “borrowed” funds from Bunz in the Oven to cover funeral expenses.

Wanting to expand out of North Dakota before the Christmas season, Homer’s Christmas Tree Farm picked Bubba’s Christmas Farm in the Texas Panhandle. Knowing that Bubba’s employee, Skeeter Jones, was critical to Bubba’s continuing success, Homer required Skeeter to sign a new employment contract complete with non-competition and non-solicitation provisions under North Dakota law. When