The Worst Predictions of All Time!

Yes, yes, this Post has nothing to do with Employment Law, I know!  But, I found an 1999 article from Herbert I. London called "Piercing the Gloom and Doom" and enjoyed it so much, I thought I would pass it along.

Here are some of my favorites, as per Mr. London's article:

Uh, Mr. President.....

Reisman Never Saw This Coming...

In 1905, Grover Cleveland said, "Sensible and responsible women do not want to vote." 



Social scientist David Riesman declared, in 1967, "If anything remains more or less unchanged, it will be the role of women."

"You ain’t going nowhere, son. You ought to go back to driving a truck," said Jim Denny, manager of the Grand Ole Opry, in firing Elvis Presley after a performance in 1954. 

Nowhere Man?!

In the 1830s, Dionysius Lardner, author of The Steam Engine Explained and Illustrated, said, "Rail travel at high speeds is not possible because passengers, unable to breathe, would die of asphyxia."




Let's Just Stick to Telegrams...

"This telephone has too many shortcomings to be considered as a means of communication," said the president of Western Union in 1876. "The device is of inherently no value to us."   

The president of Michigan Savings Banks advised Henry Ford’s lawyer not to invest in the Ford Motor Company because, he said, "The horse is here to stay, the automobile is a novelty."

Like a Pet Rock....

In 1921, radio pioneer David Sarnoff said, "The wireless music box has no imaginable commercial value. Who would pay for a message sent to nobody in particular?"

Darryl Zanuck observed, in 1946, "Television won’t last because people will soon get tired of staring at a plywood box every night."

BORRRR-INGGGG....

In 1926, Lee DeForest, inventor of the vacuum tube, said, "While theoretically and technically television may be feasible, commercially and financially I consider it an impossibility."

"Heavier-than-air flying machines are impossible," said Lord Kelvin, president of the British Royal Society and one of the nineteenth century’s greatest experts on thermodynamics.

Na na na na na, Pops!

The Reverende Milton Wright, "If God wanted us to fly, He would have given us wings; He would have made us angels; He would have made us birds. Let me assure you, you will not see people fly." Three months later, Wright’s two sons, Orville and Wilbur, flew the first airplane, from Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.

"A rocket will never be able to leave the earth’s atmosphere," stated the New York Times in 1936.

Prepare to be Amazed!

"Space travel is utter bilge," said a British astronomer in 1956.

"There is no likelihood man can ever tap the power of the atom," said Nobel Prize-winning physicist Robert Milliken in 1923.



Trisk, Trisk....

"Taking the best left-handed pitcher in baseball and converting him into a right fielder is one of the dumbest things I ever heard," said Tris Speaker in 1919. He was talking about Babe Ruth. 

The chairman of IBM said, "I think there is a world market for about five computers," in 1943.

"There is no reason for any individual to have a computer in his home," said the president of Digital Electronic Corporation in 1977.


In 1929, Yale economist Irving Fisher said, "Stock prices have reached what looks like a permanently high plateau." Two weeks later, the stock market crashed.




How About $Millions?

MGM executive Irving Thalberg had this for Louis B. Mayer regarding Gone With the Wind: "Forget it, Louie, no Civil War picture ever made a  nickel."



or Else Become an Icon....

The director of Blue Book Modeling Agency advised Marilyn Monroe in 1944, "You better learn secretarial work or else get married."

Right, then....

"We don’t like their sound, and guitar music is on the way out anyway," said the president of Decca Records, rejecting the Beatles in 1962.

"We will bury you," predicted Nikita Kruschev in 1958.

Which one is your favorite? 

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What can Rs 5 get you?

Rs 5 per day** can get you a cover for your health care costs:

**For an individual aged 35 for 1 lac health cover.

All one needs is just Rs 5 per day ** to ensure basic personal health cover.... And Rs 5 these days get nothing substantial for us. Think about it.

Wide variety of features in health insurance plans give you useful options for the entire family:

• Exclusive senior citizens' plans with and without medical tests.
• Maximum cover can go upto 50 lacs.
• No upper limit in entry age.
• Single cover can cover three generations of one family (Grand parents, children, in-laws, grand children).
• Periodic free health check up.
• Life long renewal.
• Special discounts in premiums.
• Tax benefits under Section 80D upto premiums payable upto Rs 35,000.

Health care costs are sky rocketing....

If, cost of a major surgery is now Rs 5 lacs, can you imagine what can the same surgery cost after 10 years???

Rs 31 lacs

A whopping 31 lacs for the same surgery which may cost Rs 5 lacs. That's the effect of rising costs of health care.

Call 9 55 11 55 11 6 for suitable health insurance plan.

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"Headhunters" and Non-Compete Agreements in Pennsylvania - Some Things to Keep in Mind

Human Resource Recruiters in Pennsylvania Are Usually Bound by Non-Compete Agreements

Yet, the personnel recruitment industry is a highly fluid one wherein recruiters frequently move from job to job on a regular basis.  How may one retain one's freedom to choose a new employer or business endeavor when one has executed a seemingly airtight non-compete agreement?

Click Here to read our recent discussion on this issue, which includes links to other Posts on a variety of related topics.

I am John A. Gallagher, a non-compete employment lawyer with 21 years of experience located in Paoli, Pennsylvania.  Call 610-647-5027 for a free telephone consultation, or send me an e-mail. 

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The Wizard Will See You Today - Anyone Can File a Lawsuit

In Pennsylvania, Anyone is Allowed to File a Lawsuit for Any Reason

To a lawyer, what I am about to say is axiomatic.

For most of my clients, what I am about to say causes an "Aha" moment.

Here we go:

1) No Civil Police

The Police Will Not Stop...

Fact:  There are no civil police that you can call if you believe you are being subjected to behavior that is unlawful according to civil laws.

...this Type of Behavior

Meaning....? If you are being harassed at work, or threatened with a baseless lawsuit by your former employer, you cannot call anyone to make your antagonist stop what he/she is doing. 

Compare:  If a burglar is in your house, and you call the police, they will (hopefully!) come immediately to stop the crime.




2) No Bar to Door to Court



Unlike the Wizard, the Courts Accept all Callers

One files a lawsuit by walking into a courthouse, paying a fee and filing a Complaint.  No one reviews the Complaint to see if it is worthwhile or sound before it is filed.  If you have a Complaint, and have a check, the lawsuit will be filed - every time.






3) What Does This Mean to Me?

Civil disputes are best worked out prior to the filing of a lawsuit.  If they cannot be worked out, no one can stop another person from filing a lawsuit, no matter what the circumstances.

So....

If you are being treated unfairly at work, there are strategies you can employ to remedy the situation, but there is no "authority figure" that you can call that will make your employer stop what it is doing.  In many such situations, the smart thing to do is to retain an attorney, and then develop and execute a sound strategy that you protect all of your rights to remedies such as unemployment compensation, severance, COBRA, a lawsuit alleging discrimination, etc., etc.

NOTE: There is a process called an injunction proceeding that can be utilized via the filing of a lawsuit wherein one asks that the offensive behavior be stopped.  However, such suits can be quite expensive.

If you are being threatened with a lawsuit for violating a non-compete agreement, there is no one that you can call to examine the matter and determine who is right/wrong and whether a lawsuit is appropriate.  Rather, you must try and work it out yourself or, perhaps more prudently, via counsel.

John A. Gallagher is an employment lawyer who represents employees in Pennsylvania.

Click Here if you have questions about any aspect of employment law, from wrongful termination, to wage and overtime claims, to discrimination and retaliation laws, to Family and Medical Leave…

Click Here if you have questions about any aspect of Pennsylvania Unemployment Law, from willful misconduct, to voluntary quit, to Referee Hearings, to severance issues…

Click Here to e-mail John directly.

Thanks for checking in with us.

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Recruiters and Non-Compete Agreements in Pennsylvania

If You Are a Recruiter, You Have Probably Signed a Non-Compete Agreement

Nowadays, many companies are electing to hire independent contractors for specified projects as opposed to hiring employees on a full-time basis.  This is good news for recruiters.  However, virtually any recruiter that is hired is required to sign a non-compete agreement, which typically includes a non-solicitation clause. 

Pennsylvania Courts Will Enforce a Non-Compete Agreement Only if Doing So is Necessary to Protect the Legitimate Business Interests of Your Former Employer

A standard non-compete agreement prohibits you from working for a competitor of your former employer for a period of time usually ranging from 1-2 years. 

A standard non-solicitation agreement will prohibit you from doing business with any of the corporate clients or individual candidates of your former employer for a similar time frame.

In most situations, courts will not enforce non-competition covenants because they are not truly needed to protect your former employer's business interests. After all, it is a big world, and how is one more recruiter in the vast sea of recruiters going to hurt your old company?

Click Here to read our recent Post concerning the practicalities of such clauses where IT Recruiters are concerned. 

Click Here to read our comprehensive post on the enforceability of non-competition agreements in general.

Pennsylvania Courts Will Enforce a Non-Solicitation Agreement if You Are Taking Clients From Your Old Firm and Causing it to Lose Money

The above headline says a mouthful, and one must parse through and understand each sub-proposition to understand the essence of Pennsylvania law where non-compete/non-solicitation agreements are concerned.

Here is a simple rubric:

Joe Employee joins new firm competitive with old firm but does not do business with corporate clients or candidates of old firm: non-compete generally will not be enforced;

Jane Employee joins new firm competitive with old firm and does business with corporate clients of old firm but not candidates: non-compete generally be enforced;

Joe Employee joins new firm competitive with old firm and does do business with individual candidates but not corporate clients of old firm: non-compete generally will not be enforced if Joe found candidates via social networks such as Linked-In, as opposed to via use of old employer's database that he had downloaded and kept after his job ended.

There Are Many Permutations to Pennsylvania Non-Compete Law

The fact is, each and every situation is essentially unique, and avoiding a lawsuit is the key goal, even if it means your earnings are deflated for a while.  Even so, you must understand that, no matter what you do, there is nothing anyone can do to stop your former employer from filing a lawsuit if that is what it wants to do.

Consequently, the best offense is a very sound strategy.  One must think through and carefully plan one's steps so that, if a lawsuit cannot be avoided, you may emerge victorious.

I am John A. Gallagher, a non-compete employment lawyer with 21 years of experience located in Paoli, Pennsylvania. Call 610-647-5027 for a free telephone consultation, or send me an e-mail. 

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IT Consultants, Personnel Recruiters and Non-Compete - Non- Solicitation Agreements in Pennsylvania

I am a Personnel Recruiter: Is My Non-Compete - Non-Solicitation Agreement Enforceable?

Over the years, the business of IT Consulting has expanded and expanded so that, today, many companies routinely retain temporary workers who are IT specialists under a contract with a personnel supply firm.

This typically results in two separate contracts: 1) a contract between the end user (the company requiring manpower) and the recruitment firm wherein the end user agrees to pay the recruitment firm a fee over a fixed period of time in exchange for provision by the recruitment firm of temporary workers needed to complete a given project; and, 2) a contract between the recruitment firm and individuals who agree to go to the end user for a specified time frame and provide services on such projects pursuant to an independent contractor agreement.

In other cases, recruitment firms provide permanent employees to corporate clients and are paid a one time fee.

This Post is not intended to discuss the overall enforceability of the non-compete agreement between you and your former employer.  Rather, it is designed to address two common issues faced by employees who, having found work subsequent to leaving their former employer, desire to understand the boundaries for contacting candidates and clients of their former firm.

Click Here to read our Post on general rules relating top the enforcement of non-compete agreements in Pennsylvania.

I Have Been Recruiting IT Candidates for Years: May I Contact Them After I Leave My Pennsylvania Employer?

Over time, people who work for recruitment firms develop relationships both with candidates (i.e. individuals potentially suited for various positions) and clients (i.e. corporations who require candidates).  Most people who work as personnel recruiters are required by their employers to execute non-compete agreements as a condition of employment. 

Upon departing from employment to strike out on a new venture, such persons often call me and ask: can I contact the candidates that were part of the data base of my old firm?  The answer is: a qualified yes.

If you can locate, identify and contact such candidates via social media such as Facebook, Linked-In, etc., then you are likely going to be fine.

However, one may not utilize the data base of a former employer to identify and contact such candidates.

Human Resource Consultant: May I Contact the Clients of my Former Employer if I Have a Non-Compete or Non-Solicitation Contract in PA?

In the context of the subjects discussed in this Post, contacting and/or doing business with corporate clients who purchased manpower from your prior employer is a much dicier proposition for persons bound by non-compete agreements.  That is so because corporate clients are the ones that pay recruitment firms for the candidates they provide.  Hence, any time a former employer learns that its former employee is doing business with one of its corporate clients, a dispute will likely blossom.

Here is one rub.

The IT field is extremely specialized, yet the vocabulary used to identify the specializations remains undeveloped.  Hence, the prohibitions in a typical non-compete agreement in the IT consulting industry are usually overbroad, and thus, paradoxically, vague.  For example, your old employer recruited only software engineers.  Does that mean that you cannot recruit and provide a software programmer to a corporate client of your former employer?

Here is another rub.

Your old employer typically "leases" independent contractors to its corporate clients for specified time periods, typically designed to provide manpower for only so long as it takes a given project to be completed.  Your new employer, on the other hand, supplies only recruits for permanent hire by corporate clients.  Is it a violation of your non-compete to provide such services when, in fact, your new employer does not truly "compete with your prior employer?

How to Avoid a Lawsuit Over my Pennsylvania Non-Compete Agreement

The bottom line is: IT personnel recruitment is a complicated business, and non-compete agreements in this field are often overly broad and potentially unenforceable in whole or in part.  However, former employers often will not hesitate to sue if they believe their financial interests are being compromised by a former employee.  And, there is nothing you or anyone else can do to stop your former employer from filing a lawsuit, even a baseless lawsuit, if that is what it wants to do.  Therefore, the best approach is to develop a careful strategy that enables you at once to continue working in your chosen profession while minimizing the risk of suit or, if suit is unavoidable, the risk of a successful suit by your former employer.

I am John A. Gallagher, a non-compete employment lawyer with 21 years of experience located in Paoli, Pennsylvania. Call 610-647-5027 for a free telephone consultation, or send me an e-mail. 

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My live show in Raj News TV on Equity & Economy

On 6th August 2012

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Financial Planning tips: Health Insurance

(The author is the Founder and CEO of Money Avenues, a Wealth Management firm based in Chennai which offers investment solutions through  i.S.M.A.R.T financial plan. Feedback can be sent to ismartfp@ gmail.com) 

Financial Planning Tips: Health Insurance:

Having a separate health cover, apart from what your company provides, makes a lot of sense. Going forward the current generation will confront health care concerns as we are the in the age of rapid lifestyle changes and stress filled careers. All studies point out to the rising health scares in the future as well and compounded by the rising health care costs. With very few exceptions, most diseases are curable these days, thanks to the innovations in the fields of medicine and technologies. But such innovations and life extending technologies come at a huge cost to the people availing health care benefits. This with other factors necessitate one to have a comprehensive health care cover.

Look at the 7 reasons why one must have a health insurance cover right now:

1. Your company's group health insurance  cover you, but may not be sufficient:

Employees and their dependents by and large are covered through group insurance in respective organizations. But many a time, such covers are not sufficient though. For a family of 5 (Husband + wife + kid + dependent father + mother) even a cover of 10 lacs may not be sufficient. But in many organizations, cover may not even exceed 3 - 5 lacs for the total family. Having an independent health cover is paramount, because no one these days work for one organization for their life time. 

2. Risk for dependent parents:

Many organizations have little or restricted covers for the elder dependents, as the risk premium is high on them for the organizations. It is important to have a separate cover for the dependent parents/senior citizens for which one can avail tax rebate under Section 80D. Remember, beyond 60s, taking a health cover for the elderly becomes really tough as the age and health factors make it expensive and cumbersome. Remember during the times of medical emergencies, their health care costs can drain your hard earned savings.

3. Job changes:

In the current career trends, people do not stay with one organization for ever. People keeping moving from one to another at a reasonable pace. The present organization may not offer something similar to what the previous organization offered on group health cover. The vagaries of such changes can be negative many times. One will be left with no cover during the times of transition, from one job to another.

4. Health care costs sky rocket:

Health care costs are set to sky rocket in the future. Thanks to innovations in the field of medicine, most diseases are curable these days with very few exceptions. But unfortunately, such innovations come at a huge cost. Be prepared for such sky rocketing costs in the future.




5. Only you retire, not your needs:

Our generation may not have a predictable retirement lifestyle, given the fact that private sector does not provide us social security post retirement. With the break down of family systems, retirement life will be largely independent and lonely. Health care costs will be an important component in the retirement life. Take a comprehensive health cover now which can come along with you till your life time. Be prepared in a smart way.




6. When PRETIREMENT is the order of the day:

This generation is not fancied about working the usual way for too long... It can be starting our own venture, doing social work, pursue dreams etc., All have aspirations and ambitions of chasing our dreams in life. I don't see many of us working beyond late 40s and 50s... Be prepared for such circumstances by proper planning. Everyone wants to Pretire and not retire..... 


7. Tax benefits under section 80D:

Government extends tax concessions for medical insurance premiums under section 80D. This section allows you to take the benefit for the premiums paid upto Rs 15,000 for self and family, and upto Rs 20,000 for dependent parents. So go ahead and plan your medical insurance and enjoy the tax benefits too....



(The author is the Founder and CEO of Money Avenues, a Wealth Management firm based in Chennai which offers   investment solutions through i.S.M.A.R.T financial plan. Feedback can be sent to ismartfp@ gmail.com) 

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