That’s right. The federal Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals recently decided in Nobach v. Woodland Village Nursing Center, Inc. that a Jehovah’s Witness who refused to pray the Rosary with a Catholic patient and was fired for her refusal failed to prove her religious discrimination claim. Nursing home activities aide Nobach was asked to pray […]
Frequent urination can be caused by a number of medical conditions. Frequent restroom breaks can cause problems with the employer who wants the employee to be at his or her work station during the work day. In addition to the physical discomfort, it can be emotionally uncomfortable as co-workers or managers make comments about the
Frequent urinarion at work and disability discrimination in Texas Read More »
In 2012 I had an article published in the National Law Review regarding social media and workplace harassment claims. In the article I discussed the different approaches courts take to whether they consider social media activity to be within the workplace or beyond the doors of the work site. For hostile work environment claims, it
Social media can ruin your employment in Texas Read More »
If you grew up in the 1980s or the first half of the 1990s you remember awesome Saturday morning cartoons. I’m pretty sure there’s still Saturday morning cartoons; but when I was a kid during this time period there was wall-to-wall cartoons from 6am until 11am. A few years they even ran until noon. It was
When I speak with potential clients for personal injury or employment law claims, such as wrongful termination or discharge, in Texas I often notice some uneasiness during the conversation when discussing making the client whole for non-physical losses like pain and suffering. Decades of insurance industry advertising has been very effective in making people feel like
Valuing pain and suffering losses in Texas personal injury lawsuits Read More »
Employment blogs were en fuego a couple weeks ago about the new Pregnancy Discrimination Act guidance from the EEOC. The guidance clarifies important interactions between the Pregnancy Discrimination Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act. It also addresses expanding protections under the Pregnancy Discrimination Act for the lactation provisions of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The
EEOC Issues New Pregnancy Discrimination Act Guidance Read More »
No, an employer cannot require you to sign a waiver of protection under FMLA for future leave or protection from discrimination on the basis of prior use of FMLA. Department of Labor regulations on FMLA prohibit employers from requiring employees to waive FMLA rights and hold any waiver invalid. Like minimum wage and overtime protections, employers
Can my employer make me waive FMLA protection? Read More »
The headline sounds crazier than the facts behind this case, which involves a disability discrimination suit on a wrongful termination. The case arose in a California federal district court against the employer, Walgreens. (The case is EEOC v. Walgreens.) The case involves an employee who broke a workplace rule to avoid a diabetic shock and lost her
EEOC lands $180,000 settlement with employer who fired an employee for eating chips Read More »
This month the federal Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, which hears appeals from Texas, delivered a surprising appellate decision on overtime pay for workers in long haul freight transport in Allen v. Coil Tubing Services, LLC. In this case, the appellate court held that workers could be identified by class in determining whether an exemption
Fifth Circuit Deals Blow to Overtime Pay with MCA Exemption Read More »
Today’s post discusses an interesting case brought in Alabama under a racial harassment or hostile work environment case. This case is Adams v. Austal, U.S.A., LLC and the Eleventh Circuit’s appellate court’s decision is available here. The appeal deals with whether an employee may rely on evidence that the workplace was objectively hostile that he
Racial harassment case recently decided by the Eleventh Circuit Read More »
I’ve written in the past about 401k fees and how they can cripple your retirement savings. For as many problems as those 401k fees can cause they often pale in comparison to the fees retirees will pay after they rollover and transfer their funds to an IRA. A Bloomberg article from June 17, 2014 discusses
401k and Pension Rollover Abuse Read More »
Employment lawyers like myself deal with my fair share of FMLA cases for clients. Among those FMLA claims I see employers violate FMLA often because the employer was ignorant of FMLA regulations or had serious misconceptions about FMLA. I also get plenty of calls from employees who believe their employer violated FMLA but the employee
5 FMLA Myths You Might Believe Read More »
Yes, you read that correctly. Three Boeing employees transformed their work uniform into makeshift KKK uniforms and lost their jobs. Then they filed suit for race discrimination because their African American coworker did not lose his. Yes, you read that correctly, too. This is the backdrop for Barker v. The Boeing Company, filed in Pennsylvania.
Dress up like the KKK and sue for race discrimination Read More »
The Americans with Disabilities Act and the Texas Labor Code require an employer to provide a reasonable accommodation to a qualified employee to assist the employee in performing the essential functions of the employee’s job and/or access the workplace. These federal and state laws require employers to engage the employee in an interactive process to
Does an ADA accommodation have to be the one an employee wants? Read More »
An article published today by Ignites discusses the annoying habits of coworkers according to a poll of mutual fund employees. Although we’re not all mutual fund employees, the habits pointed out in the survey are the annoying habits you find across all industries. The worst of the worst was loud phone conversations. A lot of
Coworkers and Their Annoying Habits in the Workplace Read More »
I am a skeptic of Employee Stock Ownership Plans because they create unique financial risks to employees. The ESOP industry, unsurprisingly, takes issue with my position; but it’s hard to take their position seriously in light of cases like today’s appellate decision from the Seventh Circuit. Certainly I would agree that some ESOP plans are well-managed and
New case illustrates risk of ESOP mismanagement Read More »
If the calls and emails coming into my office are any indication then there is a growing problem with unpaid wages, minimum wage violations, minimum wage tip violations and unpaid overtime pay here in Texas. I am getting a lot of contacts from people with unpaid wages. The Fair Labor Standards Act and the Texas
Dallas and Fort Worth, Texas unpaid wage claims and attorney fees Read More »
Retirement accounts like pensions, 401ks, ESOPs and other employer-sponsored retirement plans are often divided in a divorce. The property award goes into the divorce decree or incorporates into the decree through a settlement agreement. That is not the end of the process to divide those retirement accounts in a Texas divorce. A separate order orders the
Retirement account divided in a Texas divorce without a QDRO Read More »
Let’s consider two workplace scenarios: Employee is an alcoholic and comes to work drunk. Employer fires employee. Legal? Employee is an alcoholic and seeks time off from work to enter a rehab program. Employer fires employee. Legal? The answers under the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Texas Labor Code (which includes similar anti-disability discrimination
Alcoholism and the Americans with Disabilities Act Read More »
If you filed a charge of discrimination with the Texas Workforce Commission related to employment discrimination then at some point you are likely to receive a Dismissal Notice and Notice of Right to File a Civil Action. Often the reason selected in the notice will be: “The TWCCRD issues the following determination: Based upon its
Dismissal Notice and Notice of Right to File a Civil Action Read More »