A recent news headline concerns a NJ man who allegedly faked a slip and fall accident in a New Jersey business and filed an insurance claim to recover money. Believe it or not, as Jack Palance used to say on the 1980's Ripley's television show, there are at least 4 important lessons that can be learned from the accused man's "slip-ups." Let's take a look and see what we can learn. FACTS According to the Middlesex County Prosecutor, Andrew Carey, Alexander Goldinsky, 57, of R

Unless you mistakenly believe there’s no such thing as bad publicity, your business has likely adopted, or at least considered, policies on its employees’ use of social media. After all, you’ve invested time and money building the good name of your business, so you have good reasons not to want your workers engaged in loose or harmful social media chat about it. The same probably holds true for protecting other facets of your business – customer lists, trade secrets, promotin

The practice of searching applicants’ social media accounts for background information is drawing increasing scrutiny and in some cases can increase the risk of liability. When deciding whether to check applicants’ social media content for background-check purposes, consider these questions: 1. What information are you looking for and why? It’s unlawful to consider an applicant’s gender, race, national origin, sexual orientation, age, disability or religion when making hiring

Regardless of the size of your company, in today's social media age  it is critical that you have and enforce a social media policy.  Social media related lawsuits are rapidly developing.  These lawsuits can arise out of employee terminations or leaked confidential information. When crafting a policy, be sure to: 1. Remind employees to familiarize themselves with the employment agreement and policies included in the employee handbook. 2. State that the policy applies to multi

What started off as a digital means of staying in touch with friends has grown into a mainstream and effective method of developing and maintaining business relationships. In fact, just about every business is somehow connected through social media. Proper use of social media provides essentially unlimited opportunities for contractors to generate business exposure, generate new leads and potential clients, and connect with their existing customers. Despite the vast opportuni

The practice of searching applicants’ social media accounts for background information is drawing increasing scrutiny and in some cases can increase the risk of liability. When deciding whether to check applicants’ social media content for background-check purposes, consider these questions: 1. What information are you looking for and why? It’s unlawful to consider an applicant’s gender, race, national origin, sexual orientation, age, disability or religion when making hiring