In the first of this three-part series on litigation, employment lawyer Josh covers everything you need to know about filing your lawsuit, starting with the most important part: the unconventional (yet highly effective) way he approaches writing the complaint's introduction. "We write our introductions like an opening statement to a jury. So we figure out what our theme is early and we hit that theme, literally in the first paragraph of the complaint, and we'll hit that theme all the way through to the jury trial, if we get there," Josh says.

In this episode, Michael Morrison expands on discrimination, sharing his opinion that the lines between discrimination and implicit bias blur when an individual becomes aware of yet indifferent to the negative outcomes of their bias. Michael also breaks down why biases occur naturally (spoiler: all of us make most decisions subconsciously); how they play out in the workplace and in the legal system; and how to overcome them. “Implicit biases can skew talent and performance reviews, in addition to amplifying or mitigating workplace disciplinary measures,” he says. “When one has an unconscious belief, which has been molded years and years over by their lived experiences … it can have an impact on all decision making.”

Labor and employment law attorney Michael Morrison is not a medical professional. But he does understand the importance of knowing your rights when it comes to a COVID-19 vaccine mandate in your workplace — especially now that such mandates are legal under specific conditions. “Mandatory medical testing in the workplace is governed by the ADA, the Americans with Disabilities Act, which is intended to protect applicants and employees from disability discrimination,” he says in this episode of The Walking Papers podcast. “An employer must have a reasonable belief based on objective evidence — which can come from a fellow employee or another trusted source of an employee's ability to perform essential job functions — that they will be impaired by a medical condition, or an employee will pose a direct threat due to a medical condition.”

“So, when their general counsel walks in the door, and they walk into a nice office, and they're saying, ‘This firm is different,’ it actually is important.” In this episode, he discusses the first steps anyone should take when seeking an employment lawyer, and why shopping around for the right fit is similar to picking the right car: you shouldn’t just go for the first, cheapest model you find. You need to do some background research and make sure you know their experience and their accomplishments — understand what their rate says about them.

After visiting the EEOC website and reading its mission statement, you might feel heartened and even empowered when filing a charge of discrimination with this federal agency. Its stated mission is “to prevent and remedy unlawful employment discrimination and to advance equal opportunity for all in the workplace.” You’re the victim of discrimination and this agency is there to help right? For most people who file charges, the experience at the EEOC is often extremely frustrating and disappointing. On this episode of the Walking Papers podcast, Attorney Josh Van Kampen gives listeners a glimpse under the hood of the lifecycle of an EEOC charge. With twenty years experience representing both employers and employees before the EEOC, Josh shares his unvarnished take on what listeners should expect in reality when they file an EEOC charge. He takes listeners through the nuts and bolts of this administrative process, including how and when to file an EEOC charge, how the EEOC “investigates”, what you can do to improve your chances at the EEOC, and what happens when the EEOC concludes its investigation. Bottom line, the EEOC investigator will not do much to help you or investigate, which is why being represented by counsel is so important as you navigate through this flawed process.

This may sound familiar to some of you: you’re diligently preparing for a routine evaluation with your boss. You step into their office and an HR rep is there too. What’s going on? Before you have time to digest what’s happening, your boss is telling you that you’re being terminated. What just happened? You never saw this coming. You’re confused. And, you’re angry. Now, security is escorting you out of the building like a criminal. What are your rights? What should you do next? On this episode of Walking Papers podcast, Attorney Josh Van Kampen takes us inside the mind of your company and tells you not only what to expect during a termination meeting, but how to be prepared, how to conduct yourself, what to do, and what not to do, after a termination meeting.

The economic relief efforts surrounding COIVID-19 have left many terminated and furloughed employees feeling anxious and confused. We’re here to help. After listening to this episode you’ll know the ins and outs of Unemployment Benefits in North Carolina during the COVID-19 pandemic. In this episode of The Walking Papers, Van Kampen Law attorney Lana Tigri discusses eligibility requirements for unemployment benefits, what can disqualify an applicant, how the appeal process works, and frequently asked questions regarding COVID-19 and unemployment benefits.

In this episode of Walking Papers, attorney Josh Van Kampen of Van Kampen Law explains quid pro quos on employee benefits and which can be used in relation to the Coronavirus pandemic.

In this episode of Walking Papers, attorney Josh Van Kampen of Van Kampen Law dives deep into the FFCRA to give an understanding of what rights are protected and gaps that need to addressed in the context of employment.

In this episode of Walking Papers, attorney Josh Van Kampen of Van Kampen Law discusses wrongful termination damages and what lawyers typically deal with in cases like this. There are different types of damages that you can seek to recover, and Attorney Van Kampen refers to these as buckets.

In this episode of Walking Papers, attorney Josh Van Kampen of Van Kampen Law dives deep into severance packages. He discusses the usual inclusions and the different laws that cover it, such as the Employment Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA)

On this episode, attorney Josh Van Kampen sits down with attorney Bartina Edwards of the Law Office of Bartina Edwards to explore how and when an employee should make a report to human resources.

Mediation is an opportunity to resolve your dispute without throwing your case on the mercy of the court. In fact, courts in North Carolina require mediation for most labor and employment cases. In this episode, attorney Josh Van Kampen and attorney Steve Dunn discuss the benefits of mediation versus litigation and outline how to best prepare yourself for your mediation.

On this episode entitled “You Want Me on That Wall, You Need Me on That Wall: Proving Your Discrimination Case Without Colonel Jessup Admitting He Ordered the Code Red," attorney Josh Van Kampen details how you can prove a discrimination case without a big, smoking gun-style admission from your employer.

The Walking Papers is a bi-weekly podcast by Van Kampen Law that aims to give listeners, who are on the wrong side of some situation at work, practical advice on how to turn the tables on their employers. In this episode entitled “Take this Job and Shove it; How Resigning Will Make Your Discriminatory Employer do a Celebratory Back Flip”, attorney Josh Van Kampen walks you through the pros and cons of resigning at work when you have are on the wrong side of some sort of situation and how that decision will affect your chances in court. Josh explains the biggest con to resigning is that by resigning a person has added another hurdle that must be cleared to win a discrimination lawsuit against their employer. In a typical discrimination case, a person must prove they were fired with discriminatory intent, and that’s already pretty difficult. If a person resigns, now they must convince the court that it should treat their resignation as if you'd been terminated. To convince the court it should treat a resignation the same as a termination, a person will need to prove the conditions at work were so intolerable that a reasonable person would have resigned. Things that help convince a court of this, outside of physical violence or sexual harassment, is if a manager has told an employee they should resign, hours or pay has been cut back significantly, or their job responsibilities have been changed or hollowed out. None of these facts alone are going to convince the court alone but are useful facts to have in your favor. Josh also talks about how employers have a huge advantage when they are allowed to reframe a termination as a resignation. In many cases, they will try to make it look like a resignation even when it isn't. Finally, Josh discusses some of the pitfalls people often fall into when thinking of resigning. One is taking an offer to leave when you may have a good discrimination case or giving a polite resignation letter, write a resignation letter that tells the truth. Quotes Josh on how resigning affects an employment law case when there is good evidence of discrimination: “[It]doesn't mean that we can't prevail in a case, but the job just got a whole lot harder.” (01:27) Josh on how the court views resigning: “Understand that the court's expectation is that where you're being discriminated against at work, or harassed, you are expected to stay and fight.” (05:28) Josh on the biggest piece of advice he has to give folks thinking of resigning: “As a general rule, my advice to folks would be the longer that you can stick it out, the better.” (08:29) Next Episode: Josh Van Kampen provides more practical advice when we discuss how to prove a discrimination case. Connect with us: Our website: www.ncemploymentattorneys.com (http://www.ncemploymentattorneys.com) Follow us on Facebook (http://https://www.facebook.com/VanKampenLaw/), Twitter (https://twitter.com/VanKampenLaw), Google (https://goo.gl/maps/mGcPcfEWai52) +, LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/company/van-kampen-law-pllc), and YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/user/vankampenlaw) For more information on how Van Kampen Law can help you, call 704-247-3245 or contact us online by filling out our confidential online intake form (https://www.ncemploymentattorneys.com/client-intake-form/). The Walking Papers is a bi-weekly podcast by Van Kampen Law, a plaintiff-side employment law firm based out of Charlotte, NC, This podcast aims to give listeners, who are on the wrong side of some sort of situation at work,

The Walking Papers is a bi-weekly podcast by Van Kampen Law that aims to give listeners, who are on the wrong side of some situation at work, practical advice on how to turn the tables on their employers. In this episode entitled “Responding to Bullshit Evaluations and Write-Ups,” attorney Josh Van Kampen describes two typical scenarios when long-time employees often see employers using bullshit evaluations to terminate long-term employees for cause. Josh explains what a person should be doing if they receive a bullshit evaluation and why making sure previous evaluations are as positive as possible is often very important in deciding a case.sp Josh also talks about the ways an employee can dispute evaluations at several steps in a typical company and some tips on how employees can build evidence to combat a bullshit evaluation by seeking additional feedback from the manager and old managers or other business partners in the company that can help strengthen their case. In the weeks to come, Josh Van Kampen will provide more practical advice for people who are on the wrong side of some situation at work. Quotes: Josh on what to do if you are in a meeting receiving a bullshit evaluation and what to do after that meeting: “[In the meeting] I want you to [be] saying why. … Coming out of this evaluation meeting, then I'm wanting my future client to be taking contemporaneous notes about all of the why's that they asked and all the inadequate answers that were given in response.” (5:00) Josh on why evaluations are so critical: "If you end up in a litigation situation, I think evaluations are considered basically the holy bible as far as evidence is concerned." (6:35) Josh on what employees should be doing after a bullshit evaluation from a manager they think is looking to fire to build evidence: “You should be approaching the managed out manager either in person, on a telephone call, or in an email, and just saying, "Hey, how am I doing? Is there anything that I need to improve on? Are you happy?" (11:14) Next Episode: Josh Van Kampen provides more practical advice about how to turn the tables at work. Connect with us: Our website: www.ncemploymentattorneys.com (http://www.ncemploymentattorneys.com) Follow us on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/VanKampenLaw/), Twitter (https://twitter.com/VanKampenLaw), Google + (https://goo.gl/maps/mGcPcfEWai52), LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/company/van-kampen-law-pllc), and YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/user/vankampenlaw) For more information on how Van Kampen Law can help you, call 704-247-3245 or contact us online by filling out our confidential online intake form (https://www.ncemploymentattorneys.com/client-intake-form/). The Walking Papers is a bi-weekly podcast by Van Kampen Law, a plaintiff-side employment law firm based out of Charlotte, NC. This podcast aims to give listeners, who are on the wrong side of some situation at work, practical advice on how to turn the tables on their employers. This podcast is just an educational resource. It does not constitute legal advice and is no substitute for consulting an employment attorney about your unique situation before making legal decisions. Visit our website for more online resources and videos at NCemploymentattorneys.com, or better yet, call (704) 247-3245 for a free initial intake interview so Van Kampen Law can evaluate your case.

The Walking Papers is a bi-weekly podcast by Van Kampen Law that aims to give listeners, who are on the wrong side of some situation at work, practical advice on how to turn the tables on their employers. Van Kampen Law one of a small handful of firms in North Carolina that exclusively practice plaintiff-side employment law. Based out of Charlotte, NC, Van Kampen Law combats discrimination provides representation to victims of employment discrimination and sexual harassment from the factory floor to the board room. In this introduction episode entitled “Tales from the Crypt,” founding partner, Josh Van Kampen tell us of his journey from representing large corporations in the cut-throat legal market in Chicago, IL to exclusively representing plaintiffs in employment cases in North Carolina. Josh explains common mistakes he sees workers making before they come to his office and what are some steps they could take when they began to become concerned about a situation at work. Chiefly, Josh explains why it is so important to collect evidence while a person is still employed and why resigning is never a good idea. In the weeks to come, Josh Van Kampen will provide more practical advice for people who are on the wrong side of some situation at work. Quotes: Josh on denial, a common mistake he sees workers making: “You always want to see the best in people, the best in your manager, the best in your company, and there will inevitably come a time in your career where that is not the case and you become a number and where you become a target, and I think a lot of people are slow to pick up on that.” (04:46) Josh on the federal laws that pertain to employment situations having only a 180-day statute of limitations period: “There is no hitting the snooze button when it comes to having a successful employment case.” (06:11) Josh on opportunities employees, who suspect a problem may soon arise at work, should take: “You have an opportunity as a current employee to harvest evidence we won't get to for 18 months after you have been fired. It's important to take advantage of that opportunity.” (08:21) Josh on why the right employee have in North Carolina to review their personnel file anytime as a current employee is often critical to a case: “..it certainly happened before in my cases where personnel files have memos added after the fact or even write ups that are added after the fact, and if we just had an image of what the personnel file looked like during the employment, we could catch them in that stacking of the personnel file.” (09:47) Next Episode: Josh Van Kampen provides more practical advice about how to best respond to bullshit evaluations in the workplace. Links and Other Resources: •Tales From the Crypt (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0096708/) (03:41) A TV series airing, often late at night, from 1989 – 1996 that showcased Tales of horror based on comic books of the 1950s Connect with us: Our website: www.ncemploymentattorneys.com (http://www.ncemploymentattorneys.com) Follow us on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/VanKampenLaw/), Twitter (https://twitter.com/VanKampenLaw), LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/company/van-kampen-law-pllc), and YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/user/vankampenlaw). For more information on how Van Kampen Law can help you, call 704-247-3245 or contact us online by filling out our confidential online intake form (https://www.ncemploymentattorneys.com/client-intake-form/).

In Employment Litigation, losing is not an option. Human Resources, Employee Relations, the Legal Department are aligned against you . . . your employer has trained for this day, the day you’ve become an expendable number at work. This podcast is about winning. The fact is that our clients…come to us in dire straits. Often times they are arriving to us at a point when mistakes have been made, and opportunities were missed. The Walking Papers podcast offers the first foray into learning how to turn the tables when you’ve been targeted at work. The Walking Papers Podcast is designed to airdrop critical pieces of information… to people before they have the opportunity to meet with a lawyer. As an attorney, what I think I bring to the table is being an equalizer. Through our talent and our expertise… we’re able to flip that script and turn the tables in our employee’s favor. Minutes matter. Your words and actions matter even more. Winning in employment litigation means avoiding mistakes, and exploiting the mistakes that employers inevitably make. The Walking Papers Podcast. Knowledge is power. Connect with us: Our website: www.ncemploymentattorneys.com (http://www.ncemploymentattorneys.com) Follow us on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/VanKampenLaw/), Twitter (https://twitter.com/VanKampenLaw), LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/company/van-kampen-law-pllc), and YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/user/vankampenlaw). For more information on how Van Kampen Law can help you, call 704-247-3245 or contact us online by filling out our confidential online intake form (https://www.ncemploymentattorneys.com/client-intake-form/). Subscribe to The Walking Papers on iTunes, Stitcher, TuneIn, Spotify, or Google Podcasts The Walking Papers is a bi-weekly podcast by Van Kampen Law, a plaintiff-side employment law firm based out of Charlotte, NC. This podcast aims to give listeners, who are on the wrong side of some situation at work, practical advice on how to turn the tables on their employers. This podcast is just an educational resource. It does not constitute legal advice and is no substitute for consulting an employment attorney about your unique situation before making legal decisions. Visit our website for more online resources and videos at NCemploymentattorneys.com, or better yet, call (704) 247-3245 for a free initial intake interview so Van Kampen Law can evaluate your case.