Tom Spiggle

Tom founded Spiggle Law to help individuals facing difficult workplace issues. Although Spiggle Law represents employees in many different matters, Tom has a soft spot for those who suffer from discrimination. As a former prosecutor with significant experience in high-level criminal cases, Tom is also uniquely qualified to represent individuals subject to workplace investigations and criminal prosecutions.

lawsuit

Lifecycle of a Lawsuit

Let’s talk about the stages of your case. I will discuss them further below, but first I want to address two common questions: (1) What is litigation? and (2) When does the lawsuit start? Litigation is a broad term and could mean any time you start an adversarial process: for instance, when you or your […]

Lifecycle of a Lawsuit Read More »

Taping Your Employer

Taping Your Employer Privacy requirements go both ways—you also must pay attention to your state’s laws on privacy before recording any conversation, depending on your jurisdiction. It is very easy to record conversations at work. Indeed, chances are that you could do it with your cell phone. Recordings of conversations can be extraordinarily valuable for

Taping Your Employer Read More »

Workplace Emails

Memo To: Tom From: Karen Date: 11/5/2014 Re: Employee Expectation of Privacy in Personal Emails Summary: An employee’s expectation of privacy in personal emails sent from or stored in her workplace computer depends upon the employer’s written and verbal policies regarding whether an employee is permitted to engage in personal activity on a work computer

Workplace Emails Read More »

Thinking About Settlement

Your ability to reach a favorable settlement is related to two primary factors: (1) the objective strength of your case and (2) the “burn rate” associated with the litigation process. The objective strength of your case depends on the existence of objective “hard” evidence that is difficult for the employer to deny. Note that this

Thinking About Settlement Read More »

EEOC

Most federal discrimination laws require that you file a charge with the EEOC or its local equivalent before you can file a complaint in court. The theory is that your employer should have notice of your complaint and the EEOC should be able to investigate your claims before you file an expensive and time-consuming lawsuit.

EEOC Read More »

Money and Emotions

What strikes me about the cases my firm handles is that the emotional issues involved are often the primary consideration, and the money is just a nice side benefit. Of course, there are exceptional cases that involve a whole lot of money, but large awards are rare, particularly in employment cases. That’s not to say

Money and Emotions Read More »

Military

Family and Medical Leave Rights for Families of Veterans, Re-Employment Rights for Military Service Members Federal law provides for family and medical leave of spouses and family members of those serving in the military and makes it easier for service members to return to their jobs. They have rights to reemployment after the completion of

Military Read More »

Whistle­blowers

Whistle­blower Protection It’s one thing to be fired or disciplined at work because of who you are. But sometimes, employees are disciplined or fired because they do the right thing. When an employee comes forward and reports illegal practices by company employees to HR or company management, that employee becomes a whistle­blower. Your employer cannot

Whistle­blowers Read More »