Wal-Mart billing.A Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. law firm has filed suit against Wal-Mart Stores Inc. to recover about $160,000 in unpaid legal bills. Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith LLP LLP - Lower Layer Protocol , which has represented the Bentonville, Ark.-based retailer in more than 100 legal issues in the past seven years, claims that Wal-Mart has refused to pay invoices since September 2004, totaling about $158,900. The firm represented the giant retailer against employment discrimination claims and had received $89,700 for work from December 1997 to August 2004 in nine lawsuits that were either dismissed or settled, the suit states. However, the firm alleges that Wal-Mart owes it more than $33,600 for a single case involving an employee who was hired in the fabrics department of a Wal-Mart store on Crenshaw cren·shaw also cran·shaw n. A variety of winter melon (Cucumis melo var. inodorus) having a greenish-yellow rind and sweet, usually salmon-pink flesh. [Origin unknown.] Boulevard in late 2002. The employee sued for discrimination and wrongful termination wrongful termination n. a right of an employee to sue his/her employer for damages (loss of wage and "fringe" benefits, and, if against "public policy," for punitive damages). , claiming she was fired in May 2003 after she sought a modified work schedule due to migraines (tool) MIGRAINES - A graphical user interface for evaluating and interacting with the Aspirin neural network simulation. Utilities exist for moving quickly from an Aspirin description of a network directly to an executable program for simulating and evaluating that network. , the suit says. In August 2004, a Los Angeles Superior Court judge agreed with Wal-Mart that the employee was fired for tardiness Tardiness Dagwood comic strip character; chronically late at the office. [Comics: “Blondie” in Horn, 118] ten o’clock scholar schoolboy who habitually arrives late. [Nurs. and did not suffer from a disability. The firm has raised its hourly rate twice since signing its initial contract with Wal-Mart in 1997. In March 2002, its rates jumped to $175 for attorneys, and in March 2004, paralegal paralegal n. a non-lawyer who performs routine tasks requiring some knowledge of the law and procedures, employed by a law office or who works free-lance as an independent for various lawyers. rates increased to $85, the suit states. Lewis Brisbois filed its legal action in Los Angeles Superior Court alleging breach of contract and is seeking to have the legal bills paid, plus interest and the cost of the suit. Wal-Mart spokesman Marty Heires acknowledged a dispute over the fees but said the retailer had wanted to come to some sort of agreement. "We dispute the amount of the money that they allege we owe them. We've asked them to discuss the matter, but they decided to file suit," he said, adding the two sides no longer have a business relationship. Calls to Christine M. Henricks, a partner at Lewis Brisbois, were not returned. |
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