Daniel A Swedlow’s Answers

Terminated for union organizing?!? You may have a nice little lawsuit on your hands. Call a lawyer who practices labor law (this is a little different from Employment law - related but different). Keep in mind that the strength of your case is going to depend on a lot of factors including your work record, your employer's stated reason for termination, timing of the organizing, the lawsuit and the termination, who else was terminated and why, what exactly your union organizing efforts were...

As a general rule, unless you are in a union job, you can be fired for any reason or no reason at all in WA. The only exceptions are that you can't be fired for an illegal reason (i.e. because of your race, gender, nationality, sexual identity, age, etc.). You also have certain protections against retaliation for engaging in certain behaviors (whistleblowing, union organizing, other...). But filing a lawsuit against a former employer is not protected activity and could hypothetically result in...

Potentially forever, or at least 7 years. Avoid if at all possible. See http://www.afscanhelp.com/blog/2007/4/how-does-foreclosure-affect-your.cfm

You clearly are calling the wrong attorneys. If I was a betting man I'd say you'll get a call back the same day if you call one of the attorneys answering this question on Avvo right now.

First and most importantly, do not throw the tree trunks off your property down an embankment to the county road under any circumstances. Second, whether you would be responsible for any fire damage that spread to their property from your dead tree is primarily dependant on whether you were negligent with regard to the tree. The case law in Washington generally holds that whether a land owner is liable for fire damage to a neighbor's property because of the landowner's failure to properly...

Not if nobody else in your likely bargaining unit wants to unionize. But if they learn the benefits of being organized, they may change their minds. I would contact a union organizer at whatever union you think makes sense to join and see if they can work with your group to bring more of your coworkers on board. To figure out the right union, find out who represents the other unionized workers at the district. Good luck.

What you have to disclose is going to depend in part on what you do. You may need to disclose more if you operate heavy machinery at work. It's a good idea to disclose the medication you are on and what the side effects are if there is any chance that they will mistake your condition for intoxication. You shouldn't have to disclose the underlying medical issue for which you are being treated.

Organize a union and demand that they bargain with you over the changes to the workplace conditions. Then when they say no, file unfair labor practice charges with the NLRB. Even though this sounds like I am joking, the truth is that employees have tremendous power when they band together and bargain collectively. You don't even need an official union affiliation. Just talk to management about your concerns but make it crystal clear that you are talking on behalf of more than just yourself....

Were you the server? If the owners made you pay for the patrons who couldn't cover their tab, that is illegal. Did they take it out of your wages?

a lawsuit for defamation or intentional interference with a contractual relationship (or both) comes to mind. Be careful though, in a suit for defamation, truth is a defense. You have to be certain he is really lying.