Worker Rights and Remedies

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit upheld a trial court’s judgment against a prospective employee who claimed he was not hired because he had previously filed for bankruptcy. Eric Myers v. Toojay’s Management Corporation (Case No. 10-10774, May 17, 2011).  The employee appealed from a decision of the  U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida which held that Toojay’s did not violate a section of the Bankruptcy Code which prohibits employers from taking certain actions against people who are or have been in bankruptcy. The first subsection of the provision, 11 U.S.C. §525(a) applies to government employers. It says that they may not “deny employment to, terminate the employment of, or discriminate with respect to employment against” a person on that ground. The second subsection, which applies to private employers, says they may not “terminate the employment of, or discriminate with respect to employment against” an individual on that ground, 11 U.S.C. § 5