| Volume 143 Number 93 |
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The People’s Lawyer’s Tip of the Day
Did someone use your personal information to open up a new mobile account or credit card? Or maybe buy stuff with one of your existing accounts? Or did they file for unemployment or taxes in your name? That’s identity theft. Click here for more.
AT&T adds new unlimited data plan option
AT&T has announced that it’s giving customers the option to combine different unlimited plans on each line of their account.
On Monday, the carrier said its new “Unlimited Your Way” program will let customers choose either the Starter, Extra, or Elite unlimited plan for each line instead of requiring all lines to have the same plan. Click here for more.
Your Money
Baby boomers have worked an average of 12 jobs, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. During each job change, a retirement account can get lost in the shuffle. Some people lose track of a retirement plan and need to find a lost 401(k) later. "Life gets in the way. You move on and forget," says David Curry, principal and co-founder of East Paces Group in Atlanta. Here is how to find lost retirement savings: Click here for more.
For the Lawyers
Arbitration award stands despite alleged misrepresentation of contract. The Eleventh Circuit refused to vacate an employee’s arbitration award for nearly $4 million for wrongful termination based on the employer’s claim that the arbitration panel misinterpreted the parties’ employment and arbitration agreements in The employee brought several claims in arbitration, including a claim for wrongful termination, when his employer fired him three days after he sent his employer a letter threatening to challenge in arbitration a “final warning” letter, which he received from his employer after he allegedly behaved inappropriately and aggressively towards his colleagues. Despite language in the employment agreement, which indicated that the employee was employed “at will” and could be terminated at any time and for no reason, the arbitration panel ruled in the employee’s favor on the wrongful termination claim. The employee moved to confirm the award, and the employer moved to vacate it. The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida granted the employer’s motion to vacate, reasoning that the arbitrators “exceeded their powers, or so imperfectly executed them that a mutual, final, and definite award upon the subject matter submitted was not made.” 9 U.S.C. § 10(a)(4). The employee appealed. On appeal, the majority emphasized the “very narrow[]” nature of § 10(a)(4) as “among the narrowest known to the law.” A serious interpretive error does not justify vacatur under § 10(a)(4). After all, the court reasoned, the “‘sole question’ under § 10(a)(4) . . . is ‘whether the arbitrator (even arguably) interpreted the parties’ contract, not whether she got its meaning right or wrong.’” Gherardi v. Citigroup Global Markets Inc., (11th Cir. Sept. 17, 2020). Click here for more.