Employment Law

Employers struggling to win pension overpayment cases against retirees

Employee rights lawyer, Employment Benefits Law, Employment Litigation Attorneys

The late 2000s and early 2010s saw a growth in litigation over 401k fees by employee-side ERISA attorneys. These often attacked large employers and major plan recordkeepers who profit from the kickback scheme known as revenue sharing. We’re still not done with that wave of litigation but we’re seeing a similar rise in litigation for pension […]

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Changes to the NonDisclosure Order Rules in Texas Effective September 1, 2015

Employee rights lawyer

Among the statutory changes on September 1, 2015 is an expansion of the nondisclosure order rules. The changes not only make it easier to obtain a nondisclosure order in Texas but allow more people to obtain one. This is a huge opportunity for many people who are at risk of losing job opportunities, professional licenses

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Can I take my QDRO money early after my Texas divorce?

Employment Benefits Law, Property Division Attorneys, Uncontested Divorce Attorneys

Often divorces divide retirement plans like a 401k or defined benefit pension. A judge signs a QDRO (qualified domestic relations order) ordering the retirement plan administrator to divide the benefit. The ability to take funds from the plan under the QDRO depends upon the terms of the QDRO and plan rules. Some plans allow the alternate

Can I take my QDRO money early after my Texas divorce? Read More »

Plea Deals and Their Effects on Expunctions and Non-Disclosure Orders in Texas

Employee rights lawyer

One unfortunate issue with background checks of arrest records with expunctions and nondisclosure orders is arrests for a felony level offense resolved by plea agreement. This type of plea deal may make tremendous sense to avoid a prison sentence. The appellate decision in In re Expunction earlier this year addresses this problem and why an expunction is typically

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10 Keys to Tackling Defined Benefit QDROs in a Texas Divorce

Divorce Law, Property Division Attorneys, Retirement Plan/401k/Pension, Uncontested Divorce Attorneys

Dividing defined benefit pension benefits in a divorce strikes fear into the hearts and minds of divorce attorneys. Defined benefit pension plans, often simply called pensions, are far more complex than the relatively newer defined contribution plans like 401ks and ESOPs. Defined contribution plans are often easy to divide in a divorce. They maintain records of individual accounts

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What is the employment at will doctrine in Texas?

Employee rights lawyer, Employment Litigation Attorneys, Wrongful Termination Law

All states except Montana follow the employment at will doctrine for employees. Although the employment at will doctrine governs employment relationships in Texas and most of the country since the days of the Founding Fathers, there is still a great deal of confusion about what this means. Part of the continuing confusion is the growing

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Papa Johns franchise hit with $500k recovery and criminal prosecution in overtime violations

Wage & Hour Lawyers

It’s not every day a state criminally prosecutes an employer for wage theft. Last month a Papa Johns franchise operator suffered a judgment of $500,000 in damages plus an indictment in a criminal prosecution for wage theft. The case may not have an effect here in Texas but the facts are worth discussing. They could

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Fort Worth Employment Lawyer and Overtime Pay

Employee rights lawyer, Employment Litigation Attorneys, Wage & Hour Lawyers

Although overtime pay has been a part of the Fair Labor Standards Act since its enactment in the 1930s employer continue to violate overtime rights and misunderstand how employees may be classified as exempt from overtime and minimum wage requirements under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and the Texas Labor Code. Employees not exempt

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Second Circuit undercuts Department of Labor unpaid internship test

Employee rights lawyer, Employment Litigation Attorneys, Wage & Hour Lawyers

This month the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (which oversees appeals in New York, Vermont and Connecticut) in Glatt v. Fox Searchlight Pictures, Inc. rejected the nearly forty year old internship test applied by the Department of Labor in favor of a more business friendly test called the primary beneficiary test. This

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Are Texas Uber drivers employees or contractors?

Employee rights lawyer, Employment Litigation Attorneys, Wage & Hour Lawyers

So far Uber hasn’t had a great start in Texas (according to reviews). Uber has seen great success in other areas. It is widespread in the major cities in California despite an existing availability of taxi drivers. Major cities around the country are tackling the issues with Uber and other ride-sharing services in different ways.

Are Texas Uber drivers employees or contractors? Read More »

Is a Texas firefighter who can’t fight fires disabled under the Americans with Disabilities Act?

Disability Discrimination Law, Employment Litigation Attorneys

Disability discrimination under the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Texas Labor Code (and formerly the Texas Commission on Human Rights Act or TCHRA) is not always a well understood subject in employment law. It is an even more difficult subject following the late 2000s expansion of the federal and state disability discrimination laws to

Is a Texas firefighter who can’t fight fires disabled under the Americans with Disabilities Act? Read More »

Unanimous SCOTUS decision in Tibble holds ERISA fiduciaries must continuously monitor 401k investment choices

Employment Benefits Law, Retirement Plan/401k/Pension

A flurry of 401k litigation arose in the 2000s over the manner in which 401k plan sponsors select the investment choices and how those choices relate to the fees charged to the plan for various plan services and investments. 401k plan sponsors have fiduciary obligations to operate the plan prudently. 401k litigation asserts breaches of these

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“Like” Off: Facebook “Like” still at issue under NLRB social media policy

Employee rights lawyer, Employment Litigation Attorneys, Retaliation Law

In 2012 the National Law Review published my article discussing the relationship between social media and workplace harassment. In that article, I discussed a case arising from the National Labor Relations Board in which two employees were fired for allegedly violating the employer’s social media policy prohibiting employees from disparaging the employer online. Here, the employer

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Do I have to sign that? A Texas employee’s dilemma.

Employee rights lawyer, Wrongful Termination Law

From application to termination an employee often faces documents that an employer wants the employee to sign. These documents may be job applications, employee policy statements, authorizations to perform background checks, acknowledgements of receipts of policy documents, benefits paperwork disciplinary documents, acknowledgements of terminations, severance agreements, waivers of rights or claims against the employer and so on.

Do I have to sign that? A Texas employee’s dilemma. Read More »

Can I record video and audio at my workplace in Texas?

Employee rights lawyer, Employment Litigation Attorneys

On March 3, 1991 a Los Angeles man led California Highway Patrol and later Los Angeles police on a high speed chase that ended in the driver and his passengers trapped in a corner. The passengers surrendered and an altercation occurred between the Los Angeles police officers and the driver. The driver, Rodney King, was

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What is an expunction / What is an expungement in Texas?

Employee rights lawyer, Hiring & Promotion

Under the Texas code of criminal procedure, an individual arrested for an alleged crime that did not result in a conviction or deferred adjudication generally can have the arrest record expunged from public records. This process is called expunction although many people refer to it as expungement. It is the same thing. The purpose of expunging

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Should I get an arrest record expunged in Texas?

Employee rights lawyer

In Texas you can request certain criminal records are destroyed or expunged in what is called an expunction (or sometimes misspelled as expungement). An expunction orders public agencies, such as police departments, courts and the Department of Public Safety, to destroy records. The expunction will also order private entities that house and report this information

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Texas law on employer’s vacation policy

Employee rights lawyer, Employment Benefits Law

Here in Texas our labor and employment laws generally cut in favor of employers over employees. Texas law surrounding an employer’s vacation policy is no exception. Employees are often surprised by employer restrictions on vacation use and issues involving whether unused vacation must be paid out when an employee leaves. Due to differences among state

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