Below is a review of the posts on Facebook and LinkedIn from the past week. You can check out the full posts by clicking on the links.
NOTE: remember that we now post every other day.
The posts on Sunday 4/19/2026, here and here, was strange saga: missing HOA money tied to woman found dead in her car. Still so many questions, including …
County authorities closed an investigation into allegations that a missing woman, who was later found deceased, had embezzled money from a Grand Lake Homeowner’s Association. In a letter dated April 6 to the Holiday Shores Property Owners Association, the HOA was informed that the Sheriff’s Office Criminal Investigative Division had closed its case due to special circumstances because criminal charges could not be filed against the main suspect. At least part of what the Sheriff’s Office told the HOA is quoted in the post.
Kimberly Garcia, 55 (whose photo is in the post), was employed by the HOA and had access to its financial account and debit card. She was reported missing on Oct. 26, 2025. To locate Garcia, investigators said they had the HOA review the account’s recent transactions to help determine Garcia’s last location. Then, surprise!, what showed up were unauthorized and fraudulent ATM withdrawals from March 24, 2022, through September 17, 2025. More details on how many withdrawals and the total amount are in the post.
Authorities said after an intensive search for Garcia, her body was found Nov. 1 in a locked vehicle in a rural county. She had two knife wounds to her chest and a knife in her lap. The autopsy ruled the death a suicide.
Quotes from Garcia’s daughter are in the post. She also said she had a lot of unanswered questions surrounding her mother’s death.
TAKEAWAY: Bad things occasionally happen to condo/HOA funds – but the more eyes that are on the funds, the easier it should be to spot (or stop or prevent) bad actions. Discuss safeguarding procedures with a community association lawyer.
The posts on Tuesday 4/21/2026, here and here, fired HR specialist was not entitled to retroactive FMLA leave, federal appellate court holds. She knew the literal rules …
The 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals recently held that an employer did not violate the Family and Medical Leave Act when it refused to grant a fired employee retroactive leave. The decision is linked in the post.
Chitwood, the employee, was an HR specialist at Ascension Health Alliance. She allegedly failed to return to work at the end of continuous leave, despite several warnings to do so. After being fired, she requested that her missed days be retroactively designated as intermittent FMLA leave. Ascension declined to do so, and Chitwood sued, alleging FMLA interference and retaliation. A federal trial court ruled in favor of Ascension, finding that Chitwood had not reported her absences as soon as practicable as required by federal regulations and the employer’s policy. That decision was affirmed on appeal. Neither the employer nor Chitwood’s attorney responded to a request for comment.
On appeal the Court placed significant weight on Ascension’s intermittent FMLA call-out policy (relevant details of which are in the post). What Chitwood did on the day she was terminated and after – despite allegedly being familiar with the FMLA procedures, because remember she was an HR specialist – is detailed in the post. The appellate court found that Chitwood showed no reason for her delay. And that doomed her FMLA interference claim (for the reason noted in the post).
Chitwood’s retaliation claim also failed even though she previously used both intermittent and continuous FMLA leave “extensively.” The court’s reasoning as to cause of termination is in the post.
US Department of Labor guidance (linked in the post) explains that employers may enforce call-out policies for FMLA leave unless unusual circumstances prevent the employee from calling out. What must happen in that case is in the guidance (and noted in the post). Possible ramifications of untimely notice by the employee are also in the guidance (and discussed in the post).
TAKEAWAY: Employees do have rights under the FMLA, but those rights do not erase an employer’s call-out policies. Know how to comply with or enforce the policy and FMLA. Contact an employment lawyer for assistance.
The posts on Thursday 4/23/2026, here and here, noted luxury auto-themed condos look glamorous — until they start sinking. This gives another meaning to being under water …
Most people are lucky if they can match carpeting to their couch, but if you’ve earned enough to afford an Aston Martin or Bentley, why not add a matching home? Auto-themed condo projects are popping up all over South Florida – but they can have their problems. There’s something delightful about digging your toes into the warm sand along a beach, but something else entirely when it’s your condominium that is sinking into the sand.
That is just what’s happening at the Porsche Design Tower in Miami (for which an link to an early story on it is in the post); it is a luxurious 60-story condominium on Sunny Isles Beach, along the Atlantic just north of Miami. A new study revealed that it is one of 35 high-rises that have sunk as much as three inches into the sand at a time when the ocean is rising due to global warming. Ouch!
The Porsche tower opened in 2016 and is one of a growing number of auto-themed residences popping up around Miami – many of which are now facing legal and financial problems. Let’s take a deeper drive …
Live What You Drive – Business Insider reports that over the past century, at least 700 branded real estate projects have popped up around the world. And if that is not enough, nearly as many, about 650, are now in various stages of construction, including auto-themed condo projects that integrate automotive architecture into their design and amenities. The Porsche Design Tower that is the subject of this post is one of several with a “Deservator” – described in the post (and something that will seem like sci-fi to the majority of people).
Auto-themed projects have popped up in Germany, Spain and Dubai, just to name a few placed. In addition to the Bugatti Residences and the Bentley Residences, Dubai’s newest project is Mercedes-Benz Places (whose luxury is linked in the post), a $10 billion complex with 12 separate towers that just opened this year. But Miami has become the heart of the auto-residence trend with condo projects linked to brands including those listed in the post (and there are multiple!). Moving into one of those condo isn’t cheap. The 390 residences in Mercedes-Benz Places in Miami are set to start at around $1.5 million. Prices for the 70-unit Pagani Residences are noted in the post, as is the price for one unit at the Aston Martin Residences (hold your breath for that one!). But as the saying goes, money is not everything …
Trouble in Paradise – The automakers like Mercedes and Porsche typically don’t have any real financial skin in the game. To them, these condo projects are just a way to generate licensing revenue and build their brands. If all goes well. But with a number of them in and around Miami, things aren’t going as planned – causing headaches for owners who’ve discovered all is NOT well in paradise.
The latest problem involves the Porsche Design Tower, the first of the big auto-themed projects in Southern Florida. The number of residences in that project alone is in the post (along with more of its amenities). It, and 35 other buildings on Sunny Isles Beach, recently received unwelcome news from a newly released study conducted by the University of Miami. The actual quote from the study’s senior author is in the post.
There’s been growing concern about the construction quality – and safety – of Southern Florida housing projects ever since Champlain Tower South in Surfside, Florida collapsed on June 24, 2021, causing the death of 98 people. The university study did have some good news about the Porsche complex – see the post. But it’s unclear whether the subsidence (sinking) will continue. Oh but there’s more …
Legal Problems Add to Luxury Residence Woes – From a financial standpoint, the Mercedes-Benz Places condo project is already under water. The much-delayed project has been under development since 2015, with construction only getting under way five years later. A sales center finally opened in 2025, though the formal opening was again pushed back to late 2027. And more recently, the project became the subject of a foreclosure lawsuit which alleges the developer owes nearly $100 million. Meanwhile interest has been accruing at the astronomical daily rate noted in the post.
And lawyers are keeping busy at another auto-themed condo development, the Aston Martin Residences in Miami. In January that condo association filed a lawsuit in state court alleging that the developer, 10 other companies and seven individuals engaged in “self-dealing” contracts unlawfully using condo association funds. The estimated monetary damage is in the post (yep, make sure you are sitting). But …
The Projects Keep Coming – Barely a quarter-mile away from the Porsche Design Tower, the Bentley Residences has its own problems. Developers have even bigger aspirations for this 62-story tower with planned 216 units. This project required the largest residential concrete pour in Florida history (how much is in the post – eye-popping!). While it has similarities to the Porsche tower (see the post), multiple snags have pushed this project back until at least late 2027.
Despite (or perhaps in spite of?) all of this, the auto-themed condo projects keep coming. The latest to get going: the Lamborghini Residences. The details about the project will make most salivate (see the post); it’s currently supposed to open sometime in 2029.
TAKEAWAY: As more and more condos are integrating themes into the lifestyles into which the owners buy, more and more problems may arise. But like any condo (or unit in other common-interest or planned communities, aka HOA or real estate cooperative), developers are still required to perform properly, regardless of the dollars being spent, and the owners and subsequent Boards must all lie by the legal documents put in place by the developer. Community association lawyers can be of great assistance.
The posts on Saturday 4/25/2026, here and here, explained that interviewee nets $495K settlement after receiving email stating he was ‘Too Old’ for the role. Yep, it’s bad when damning proof is in writing!
HCL America, a technology consulting company, will pay $495,000 to settle an age and national origin discrimination lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in August 2024, according to a consent decree (settlement agreement approved by the Court) filed April 2 (and linked in its entirety in the post). The EEOC’s suit charged HCL America with violating both the Age Discrimination in Employment Act and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
According to the complaint (which is also linked in the post), HCL America interviewed and then refused to hire Kenny Batchu because — as the sales director told the hiring team via email, copying Batchu — he was “too old” for the position. The sales director suggested the team prioritize “diverse candidates” (which was defined by HCL America as noted in the post).
The settlement includes HCL America paying Batchu $495,000 along with the other non-monetary actions described in the post.
A statement from the director of EEOC’s district office is in the post.
This case can serve as a reminder for employers to both train and, when necessary, override HR, managers or clients in employment decisions that violate equal employment laws. And because HR is (or should be) tasked with applying policies and legal obligations equally across a company, what it should be empowered to do (to try and prevent any legal liability on the part of the employer) is described in the post.
Unsurprisingly, HCL America did not respond to a request for comment by press time.
TAKEAWAY: We’ve said it many time before: employers must ensure that decision-makers at any level are trained in what they can or cannot do and say to ensure legal compliance. Involving an employment lawyer is never a bad idea.