Employment
When you are wronged at work, your options may be limited by the strict employment laws in Michigan. And there are often very short time periods in which to take legal action to assert your claims. The attorneys at Pence & Numinen, P.C. represent employees who have suffered legal wrongs in the workplace.
Worker’s Compensation
Workplace injury claims are governed by a special set of laws and litigated in a tribunal separate from the general courts. Steve Pence has devoted a large percentage of his practice to exclusively representing injured workers.
Job Related Injuries Hurt
The Workers Compensation system was established throughout most of the United States approximately 100 years ago. Any legitimate, work related injury was to quickly be compensated. In exchange for this concession from management, the employee would give up a right to damages for pain and suffering, what is known in the legal business as non-economic damages.
The idea was to make the Workers Compensation system something of an uncontested, ‘no fault’ process. The system usually works quite well. However, if you are an employee who fails to get the benefits that the system promises, you need an attorney, and you need an attorney quickly.
Steve Pence has represented parties in Workers Compensation matters for over 20 years. For the last 10 years or so, his practice has focused almost exclusively on the rights of injured workmen and women.
Regardless of where you live in the Upper Peninsula, Workers Compensation hearings are only held in three locations: Sault Ste. Marie, Escanaba and Baraga. Hearings are held once a month at each site. It is important to have an attorney who works diligently and that is Steve’s reputation.
More than anything, Steve Pence returns phone calls, does not neglect cases, and tries his very best to move matters to hearing or other resolution as soon as possible. The overriding emphasis of his practice is getting people help in a hurry and, if at all possible, returning them to the workforce, with their dignity intact.
Experience Counts
Pence & Numinen, P.C. represents employees who suffer wrongs in the workplace.
Michigan law generally restricts employees from suing employers for wrongful termination because most employees serve “at will,” which means you can be fired for any reason or no reason at all, as long as the employer has not discriminated against you. That does not mean, however, that a wronged employee never has a legal remedy. We have successfully obtained large settlements and jury verdicts for many clients who have been wrongfully terminated or suffered sexual harassment in the workplace. Examples of our successful work on behalf of our clients include:
- In a landmark “whistle-blower” case, Steve Pence sued a county governmental agency on behalf of an employee who was wrongfully terminated when he threatened to blow the whistle on his employer. When settlement discussions failed to resolve the claim, Steve took the case to trial. The jury awarded Steve’s client $970,000.00, the largest jury verdict of its kind ever awarded in the Upper Peninsula.
- Karl Numinen brought a breach of contract claim against a well-known restaurant on behalf of two employees who were fired without cause. At trial, the jury found in favor of Karl’s clients and rendered a verdict for the full dollar amount of their respective contracts.
- Karl Numinen represented a middle-aged nurse who was fired without cause after 27 years of dedicated service to the hospital. When the hospital replaced her with a woman “half her age for half her wage,” Karl filed an age discrimination suit. After fending off aggressive litigation by the hospital, Karl got his client a very favorable settlement for past and future lost wages.
Types of Employment Cases We Handle
- Wrongful Termination
- Sexual Harassment Claims
- Discrimination
- Breach of Employment Contracts
- Sales Commission Claims
- Whistle-Blower Lawsuits
- Grievances
