The Law Office of Mark N. Kerkhoff, PLLC

02/08/2024

Live Now! U.S. Supreme Court arguments regarding the ability of individual states to exclude President Donald Trump from office:

11/17/2022

I spend most of my time with my small firm helping small businesses navigate tricky HR situations. I also litigate a handful of claims in state and federal courts each year, and I spend a significant amount of time carefully researching caselaw and unique employment law legal situations. I've always been interested in the many unique 'you couldn't make that up if you tried' real life HR situations that make binding caselaw precedent.

Post #1: The N.C. Constitution's Fruits of Your Own Labor Clause:

"In his first experience negotiating the surrender of an armed and barricaded suspect, without another negotiator backing him up, Durham Police Sergeant Michael Mole’ might have given up when the suspect's gun discharged at close range. He didn't, and two hours later he had persuaded the suspect to drop his weapon and surrender. The suspect, other citizens, and law enforcement officers were safe. But Sergeant Mole’ was fired because he had secured the suspect's surrender by promising to allow him to smoke a ma*****na cigarette once in custody, and he made good on the promise immediately following the arrest. Sergeant Mole’ sued the City of Durham, alleging that his employer violated his rights under the North Carolina Constitution. The trial court dismissed his complaint pursuant to Rule 12(b)(6) of the North Carolina Rules of Civil Procedure. Because the complaint alleges a colorable violation of Article I, Section 1 of the North Carolina Constitution, which protects each person's right to enjoy the fruits of their own labor, we hold the trial court erred in dismissing that claim."

Mole' v. City of Durham, 2021-NCCOA-527, ¶¶ 1-3, 279 N.C. App. 583, 584, review allowed sub nom. Mole v. City of Durham, 868 S.E.2d 851 (N.C. 2022).

01/14/2022

Federal OSHA Vaccine or Test/Mask Mandate Applicable to 100+ Employee Organizations Stayed by Supreme Court: "It is telling that OSHA, in its half century of existence, has never before adopted a broad public health regulation of this kind—addressing a threat that is untethered...from the workplace. Although Congress has indisputably given OSHA the power to regulate occupational dangers, it has not given that agency the power to regulate public health more broadly. Requiring the vaccination of 84 million Americans, selected simply because they work for employers with more than 100 employees, certainly falls in the latter category. The applications for stays presented to JUSTICE KAVANAUGH and by him referred to the Court are granted."

Entire opinion available at:

11/29/2021

BREAKING-Missouri Healthcare Employers/Compliance Update!!!

Breaking COVID-19 Healthcare Vaccine Mandate News: "IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that Defendants are preliminarily enjoined from the implementation and enforcement of 86 Fed. Reg. 61,555 (Nov. 5, 2021), the Interim Final Rule with Comment Period entitled 'Medicare and Medicaid Programs; Omnibus COVID-19 Health Care Staff Vaccination,' against any and all Medicare- and Medicaid-certified providers and suppliers within the States of Alaska, Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wyoming pending a trial on the merits of this action or until further order of this Court. Defendants shall immediately cease all implementation or enforcement of the Interim Final Rule..." State of Missouri, et al. v. Joseph R. Biden, Jr., et al. (No. 4:21-cv-01329-MTS ) (E.D. Mo.) (Monday November 29, 2021).

A few notable quotes from Judge Schelp:

"What is more, besides applying to all facilities equally, the mandate applies to all facilities’ staff equally, “regardless of . . . patient contact.” Id. at 61,570 (emphasis added). The mandate goes so far as to cover a third-party vendor’s “crew working on a construction project” whose members use the same bathrooms
“during their breaks.” Id. at 61,571. CMS provides no reasoned explanation for this overbroad approach, and it further belies its asserted interest in protecting patients from COVID."

"Truly, the impact of this mandate reaches far beyond COVID. CMS seeks to overtake an area of traditional state authority by imposing an unprecedented demand to federally dictate private medical decisions of millions of Americans. Such action challenges traditional notions of federalism, as discussed above. The independent power of the States serves as a check on the power of the Federal Government: by denying any one government complete jurisdiction over all the concerns of public life, federalism protects the liberty of the individual from arbitrary power.”

Please Like and Follow our page or visit www.MKNEmploymentLaw.com for more updates and information!

“The choice of a lawyer is an important decision and should not be based solely upon advertisements.”

10/01/2019

07/16/2019

Did you know small doctors’ offices may be required to carry workers’ comp insurance in North Carolina, even with less than 3 employees?

Check out my recent article here for more info:

https://mknemploymentlaw.wordpress.com/

03/01/2017

Had a great evening of recognition thanks to my friends at Essex Richards, P.A.! The inaugural networking reception for the Super Lawyers Rising Stars honorees was a great success.

02/04/2017

I believe the perspective of an objective, fair minded attorney that represents both employers and a limited number of employees can be an invaluable tool in the employment law dispute resolution process. After a 40 hour training program this week, I am eager to continue to my development as a mediator in the coming years!

01/24/2017

I am very humbled to announce my inclusion in the 2017 North Carolina Super Lawyers Rising Stars list! As a lawyer under 40 with my own practice in an extremely narrow field, this an enormous honor for the 5th straight year in a row. My firm represents small to mid-market businesses in employment law/HR compliance, contracts, defense of governmental audit and investigation, and defense of administrative charges and litigation.

Super Lawyers is a rating service of outstanding lawyers from more than 70 practice areas who have attained a high-degree of peer recognition and professional achievement. Selection for Super Lawyers includes a multi-phased rating process consisting of independent research, peer nominations and peer evaluations. The Rising Stars list is compiled using the same criteria as Super Lawyers but candidates must be 40 years old or younger or have been in practice for 10 years or less to be considered.

The Super Lawyers list recognizes no more than 5 percent of attorneys in each state, and the Rising Stars list recognizes no more than 2.5 percent of attorneys in each state.

I will be featured in the February 2017 edition of North Carolina Super Lawyers magazine.

http://profiles.superlawyers.com/north-carolina/charlotte/lawyer/mark-n-kerkhoff/78a1982d-03c0-4be1-a315-5bc8265066d0.html

Mark Kerkhoff is one of the top rated Employment & Labor attorneys in Charlotte, NC. He has met the stringent Super Lawyers selection criteria.