Harman Law - November/December 2021

Harman Law - November/December 2021

November/December 2021

THE HARMAN HEADLINE

HARMAN LAW

Personal Injury, Workers’ Compensation, and Employment Lawyers

MERRY THANKSGIVIBIRTHMAS! CELEBRATIONS COLLIDE IN THE HARMAN HOUSE

As I write this, I’m hiding away in my office to avoid what’s coming: Thanksgivibirthmas, a monthlong mashup of Thanksgiving, the triplets’ birthday (on Dec. 19), and Christmas. I love celebrating my kids and the holidays as much as the next dad, but holy cow can it all be exhausting! For the last few months, my wife, Jen, and I have been working on our holiday itinerary. Right now, the game plan is to spend Thanksgiving with my family about 45 minutes north of here, then travel to see her parents in Iowa for Christmas. We didn’t get to visit them last year because of COVID-19 concerns, so we’re hoping to make up for lost time. The only downside of visiting my in-laws for the holidays is that I won’t get to enjoy the big breakfast my mom makes every Christmas morning. My wife’s family is more into Christmas dinner, so there’s no chocolate gravy to be found! (The “gravy” — made with chocolate, flour, sugar, milk, butter, and vanilla and served in a gravy boat — is traditional in Virginia where I grew up, and it’s my favorite thing to pour over biscuits on Christmas morning.) Still, the triplets will definitely enjoy the celebration and opening presents galore. “My wife’s family is more into Christmas dinner, so there’s no chocolate gravy to be found!”

Until this year, I didn’t think the kids really understood Christmas, their birthday, or what was going on when someone handed them a present. But now that they’re almost 4, they’re starting to get it! It’s cool to watch their awareness of time grow, and other people see it, too. Just a few weeks ago, I walked in on them talking about how pretty soon, they’d have to go through and clean out their toys to make room for the new ones. I was blown away! Last year, Jen and I asked them to pick out some of their old dolls, cars, and dinos before Christmas so we could pass them on to other kids. We did a big purge and took a box of toys to Goodwill. I didn’t think they understood at the time, but it turns out they were paying attention after all. I can’t believe how fast they’re growing up. Pretty soon, they’ll probably catch on to the fact that Jen and I — not Santa — are the ones delivering their presents on Christmas Eve. I’ve already explained to them that Mommy and Daddy work hard to buy the presents, but it will still be tough to see them lose that last spark of Christmas magic! Until then, Jen and I are going to keep making the holidays as special as possible. There’s nothing quite like the Thanksgiving and Christmas memories you make while you’re little. (That’s why I love chocolate gravy so much!) We’ll have turkey and football on Thanksgiving, pick out a live tree at the tree lot, and drive through the amazing Speedway Christmas light show at the Charlotte Motor Speedway just like we do every year.

If you haven’t checked out Speedway Christmas yet, I highly recommend it! They cover the race course with 4 million lights and sync them to music. It’s pretty cool to drive through and see all the different animated sections and figures dancing around. It’s set to run from Nov. 19 to Jan. 2. I’ll be having plenty of fun with my family this Thanksgivibirthmas, but I’ll also be here if you need me. Give my team a call if you or someone you know needs legal help over the holidays, or visit us at HarmanLawNC.com.

Cheers!

–Michael Harman

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Unwavering Client Experience. Outstanding Results. – Call Us Today 704-237-6613

Disabled? Don’t Let Your Employer Take Advantage of You! 3 Things to Know About Your Rights at Work

1.You CAN ask for accommodations to help you do your job. If your injury or disability is preventing you from working, you have the right to ask your employer for accommodations, and they are obligated to provide them. An accommodation can be almost anything that makes your work easier, including time off for a surgery, a particular kind of desk or phone, or the option to work from home. 2. You DO have the right to pursue a workers’ compensation claim if you’re injured or disabled at work. Whether you’re temporarily or permanently disabled by a workplace injury, you have the right to pursue a workers’ compensation claim against your employer, and you’re legally protected from retaliation. They can’t fire, demote, or otherwise mistreat you for making a claim against them. 3. You CAN take a stand if you’re being mistreated or discriminated against. If you feel you’re being treated differently because of a disability or any physical or mental impairment, you have a right to oppose that practice. This includes insulting nicknames, rude behavior, or hostility over accommodations. You can make a complaint to your company’s HR department or an employment law attorney like those on our team, and you’ll be legally protected from retaliation.

Did you know that Dec. 3 is the International Day of Persons with Disabilities? This holiday often goes unnoticed — just like the struggles of disabled folks in the workplace. Here at Harman Law, we want to ensure that people with mental and physical disabilities aren’t overlooked, underserved, or taken advantage of by the companies they work for, and we’re willing to fight for it! Just this year, we won an epic battle for a disabled man who was fired unfairly. It all started when our client — we’ll call him Tim — asked his employer for time off to have disability-related surgery. Unfortunately, it was a busy time of year for the company, so Tim agreed to voluntarily postpone the surgery by three months. He’s a nice guy and felt like that’s what any good employee would do in his shoes. Tim’s good heart was his downfall. After he worked through the busy season, his employer terminated his job without explanation just two weeks before his surgery. Tim was left high and dry without health insurance, a job, or means to find one as an elderly man with a disability. He asked several attorneys if they could help him but all of them said, “No.”

Finally, Tim turned to us. We could tell right away that something fishy was going on and filed a complaint on Tim’s behalf with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) arguing that his employer discriminated against him because of his disability. These complaints are rarely enforced, but our persistence paid off! The EEOC ruled in Tim’s favor, and we used the verdict as leverage against his employer. After years of being dismissed and mistreated, Tim finally won compensation for his medical expenses and lost wages. Many people in Tim’s shoes don’t fully understand their rights in the workplace. They think that since North Carolina is an “at will” state, they can’t stand up for themselves if they’re mistreated or fired. Employers take advantage of that vulnerability. Don’t let it happen to you! If you’re disabled or were injured at work, the law is on your side. Remember these three things:

To learn more about your rights or book a consultation that will help you stand up for them, visit HarmanLawNC.com/Employment-Intake .

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Unwavering Client Experience. Outstanding Results. – HarmanLawNC.com

SUDOKU

HOWONE DOG SAVED HIS OWNER BY CALLING 911 Dogs can be trained to obey a lot of commands: sit, stay, rollover, play dead. But “dial 911”? Well, that would probably be a foreign command for most dogs. Luckily, it wasn’t for Buddy, an 18-month-old German shepherd who remembered his training and saved his owner’s life. Joe Stalnaker of Scottsdale, Arizona, sustained a head injury during a military training exercise 10 years prior to the incident. Because of that injury, he suffered from seizures. Normally, a condition like that would make it unwise for him to live alone, but Stalnaker valued his independence and wanted to find a way to lead as normal a life as possible. Joe adopted Buddy from a Michigan-based organization called Paws With a Cause when the pup was just 8 weeks old. Paws with a Cause trains assistance dogs, and after adopting him, Joe trained Buddy to dial 911 until an operator was on the line in the event that he had a seizure. A year and a half later, that training saved Joe’s life. One day, Joe began seizing when he was home alone with Buddy. Buddy rushed to the phone and dialed 911, whimpering to the dispatcher. Even if they don’t hear anyone on the line, dispatchers are required to send police. When police arrived at Joe’s home, they found him and Buddy, who was barking loudly. They took Joe to the nearby hospital, where in a few days, he made a full recovery. Some might say that Buddy was just following his training, but this heroic act goes far beyond just sitting and rolling over for treats. Even the veteran dispatchers hadn’t heard of a dog dialing 911 before. Buddy knew it was his mission to keep his owner safe, and thankfully, he knew exactly what to do under pressure — because that’s what heroes do.

Solution on Page 4

EASYPUMPKIN BROWNIES

INGREDIENTS:

•

1 box brownie mix, plus other ingredients listed on box 1/2 cup chocolate chips 1/2 can pumpkin purée 6 oz cream cheese, softened

• • • • •

3 tbsp sugar

1 tbsp pumpkin pie spice

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat the oven as directed on the brownie box, then make the brownie mix. Fold in chocolate chips. 2. In a medium bowl, combine pumpkin purée, cream cheese, sugar, and pumpkin pie spice. 3. Choose your pan as directed on the brownie box. Grease it if needed. 4. Pour half of the brownie mix into the pan and spread evenly. 5. Add the pumpkin mixture to the pan, evenly or in a pattern. Cover with the rest of the brownie mix and spread evenly. 6. Bake as directed on the brownie box, adding 10 minutes to account for the pumpkin. Test for doneness, and when your toothpick comes out clean, cool and enjoy!

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Unwavering Client Experience. Outstanding Results. – Call Us Today 704-237-6613

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Inside This Issue

We’ll Miss the Chocolate Gravy This Christmas! Page 1 Know Your Rights! 3 Workplace Protections Page 2

Sudoku Solution

Easy Pumpkin Brownies

Dog Dials 911 to Save His Owner Page 3

Football and Thanksgiving: A Match Made in Marketing Heaven Page 4

FOOTBALL AND THANKSGIVING: A MATCH MADE IN MARKETING HEAVEN

Last year, 30.3 million people tuned in to watch the NFL’s Thanksgiving showdown between the Washington Football Team and the Dallas Cowboys. For those Americans (and probably for you if you’re reading this article), football is as essential to Thanksgiving as turkey and stuffing — but why? As it turns out, there are two answers to that question. The first is that games have been played on the holiday for almost as long as it has officially existed. Thanksgiving became a holiday in 1863, and just six years later, the third American football game in history was played on it. According to SB Nation, the Young America Cricket Club and the Germantown Cricket Club faced off in that inaugural Thanksgiving game in Philadelphia, and football has been played on Thanksgiving pretty much ever since! When the NFL was founded in 1920, the Thanksgiving game was official from the get-go.

In 1934, a Detroit Lions coach, George A. Richards, decided that in order to attract more fans, his team would make a point to always play on Thanksgiving when most people were off work. To sweeten the pot, he committed his radio station (an affiliate of the NBC Blue Network) to broadcasting the Thanksgiving game live on 94 different stations across America. This idea was a hit from day one! According to Sporting News, the long-unloved Lions “not only sold out the stadium, they also had to turn people away at the gates.” In 1966, the Dallas Cowboys signed on to play every Thanksgiving, too, for similar publicity reasons. Since those early days, football-themed traditions have flourished in American families. Apart from watching games on TV, one of the most popular is organizing a pre-turkey game of family touch football a la the sitcom “Friends.” (Its famed episode “The One With the Football” aired Nov. 21, 1996.) If you’ve never organized a game, this could be your year! To get started, Google “Scott’s Family-Friendly Touch Football” and click the first link.

The second reason we watch football on Thanksgiving is more about money than tradition.

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Unwavering Client Experience. Outstanding Results. – HarmanLawNC.com