At the end of each year, I take the time to reflect on our service to the community and how we help move North Carolina forward for employees and businesses.
I am truly grateful for the trust placed in us by our clients. Countless times over the year we offered advice and counsel to help our clients navigate the often tricky waters of federal and state employment law. However, many of our clients come to us in a time of deep personal crisis. Some examples that come to mind are:
- The local business owner panicked and confused over an aggressive audit of her payroll;
- The young woman physically assaulted at work by her much older boss;
- The start-up entrepreneur who’s entire company was put at risk when a former employee disclosed confidential information to a competitor;
- The sixty-year experienced professional told he was too old to be hired for any position;
I am humbled by the extraordinary circumstances like these that bring our clients and attorneys together.
Even North Carolina itself experienced a time of crisis as the ill-conceived HB2 bill displaced discrimination protections for North Carolinians. Employment attorneys from around the state, including The Noble Law Firm, were the early voices denouncing HB2 as an anti-business and anti-employee bill. I was moved to speak out about the danger of undermining traditional legal recourse for contemptible acts of employee discrimination. Although HB2 was modified to allow state law claims of discrimination to proceed, it severely limited that right by putting a narrow statue of limitations on the claim. Without much meaningful public input, HB2 ended up costing businesses hundreds of millions of dollars and put an unnecessary burden on both employers and employees.
I remain hopeful that 2017 will bring North Carolina opportunities for fairness and prosperity. We remain prepared to advise and defend our clients through whatever employment challenges that they may face.
To all of our clients, friends and colleagues, Happy New Year!
Laura Noble