Employment Law Update

On November 10, 2009, the Broward County School Board approved a settlement with Charlene Rebecca Blackwood, a former building inspector who had filed a Whistleblower claim against the School Board. Ms. Blackwood had alleged that she was fired in retaliation for blowing the whistle about building code violations on school construction projects.

Significantly, whereas Ms. Blackwood will receive a net monetary payment of $45,461 for lost wages from the School District, Ms. Blackwood’s attorneys are to receive $150,000 in attorney fees under the settlement.  Ms. Blackwood reportedly said that her case was never about getting a large financial settlement with the district.  This case illustrates how the amount of attorney’s fees in employment litigation cases can often far exceed the monetary amount being sought by the plaintiff. 

Many businesses and local governmental entities are beginning to use pre-suit mediation of employment disputes in an effort to resolve such claims before the parties incur so much attorneys fees that settlement becomes almost impossible.

An article from the South Florida Sun Sentinel on this story can be found here.

Prepared by:

James J. Dean

jdean@lawfla.com