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Employment Law

Ignore sexual assault allegations, prepare to pay huge damages

12/09/2015

Here’s a cautionary tale about ignoring a young employee’s plea for help and also ignoring her lawsuit later. Both courses of action may cost dearly—in this case, well over a million dollars.

Winter turns up heat on pay compliance

12/09/2015
The Fair Labor Standards Act is generally a fairly straightforward law—for most of the year. But winter weather—and the delays and closures that sometimes accompany it—can make wage-and-hour compliance more difficult.

The legal risks of failing to track hours

12/08/2015

Employers that don’t track how many hours employees work face a real disadvantage. If an employee sues for unpaid overtime, he or she will be able to use inexact estimates as proof of work done but unpaid. What’s more, should the employee win the case, those estimated hours end up doubled as punishment.

Case in point: How to handle tip-pooling arrangements in Texas

12/07/2015

You may have heard that the Department of Labor has been focusing some of its enforcement efforts on low-wage service industries, particularly restaurants and fast- food outlets. That’s true. But federal courts are also stepping in to ensure that low-wage employees get every penny they are entitled to. That’s what recently happened when the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in a tip-pooling case that the employee who makes coffee in the back (the barista) should not be participating in the restaurant’s tip pool.

Doughnut shop in Katy settles pregnancy bias claim

12/07/2015
The Katy Shipley Do-Nuts franchise has agreed to settle charges it discriminated against pregnant employees.

Question in Dallas: Can elected official claim ADA protection?

12/07/2015
Dallas District Attorney Susan Hawk, who admits she has a history of mental illness and drug abuse, checked herself into an inpatient treatment facility. Now, she maintains she is back on the job and fully capable of performing it. Not everyone agrees.

One year difference in age does not equal discrimination

12/07/2015
A recent case found that a mere one-year age difference wasn’t generally enough to show age discrimination.

Brief medical episode isn’t an ADA-covered disability

12/07/2015
A brief, transient medical episode that quickly resolves, leaving a worker as well as before the incident, isn’t a disability and doesn’t mean the employee is covered by the ADA or its later amendments.

Use crystal clear language in contracts when defining commissions, bonuses

12/07/2015

Do you pay some employees a bonus based on sales or hitting other quotas or targets? Make sure the agreement promising such bonuses is clear and unambiguous. Unclear language can result in you being tied up in years of litigation.

When can an employee’s transfer be considered illegal retaliation?

12/07/2015

To bring a case of retaliation for complaining about discrimination or harassment, employees must show that they suffered some sort of “adverse employment action” in response to their complaint. That’s easy if the employee is demoted, fired or transferred to a less desirable position. But what if the worker experiences more subtle retaliation, like having to do more work or being transferred to a potentially better position that doesn’t pan out?